Inmates serve five-course meal to the public in historic Ohio prison event

Nearly 60 members of the public attended a special five-course dinner inside the walls of the Grafton Correctional Institution in northeast Ohio.

The event, the first of its kind in the state's history, showcased the culinary skills of incarcerated men who are part of a transformative program aimed at giving them a second chance in life.

“Figuratively what is happening is that we're reframing what's possible in prison,” explained Chef Brandon Chrostowski, the founder of EDWINS, the organisation behind the program. “What’s actually happening? We’re about to do a dinner for 60 people inside of prison next to our garden with our class of 20 plus inmates who make it all possible.”

The ingredients for the meal were harvested from the prison's own garden, a symbol of growth and new beginnings. “The garden is just a way to, you know, really express ourselves from the ground up, really express ourselves with what we're cooking and who's preparing it and who's growing it. So it's just not just a garden, right? It's not just nourishment. It speaks for so much more,” Chrostowski emphasised.

Incarcerated men in the program, who are serving sentences ranging from short-term to life, learn more than just cooking techniques - they also gain certifications needed to work in the restaurant industry upon release.

For inmate Greg Sigelmier, the program has been life-changing. “This could be the rest of my life. And they’re doing this for everybody. They’re not looking at me as a number. They’re looking at me as a person,” he said.

“It’s a program that I actually want to carry to the outside when I leave here. There’s housing. There’s so many different opportunities that they make available to us, and they actually care.”