Student Design Awards winner: CoFood Initiative

WINNER: Brief 2, Cultivating Community - How might we reimagine common spaces to build diverse communities through food? 

‘CoFood Initiative’ operates within the criminal justice system using a participatory and systems led approach to develop inmates’ skills helping them to build and re-build their relationships via cooking and gardening. 

CoFood Initiative uses a participatory and systems-led approach within the criminal justice system in order to connect inmates with their families and friends via cooking and gardening classes. Lack of spaces, support and opportunities in correctional facilities make it difficult for inmates to build relationships with their visiting families or other inmates. Thirty-eight percent of inmates who maintain visits are less likely to re-offend (Prison Reform Trust, 2016) However, visits can be difficult to navigate. CoFood Initiative helps inmates to develop new skills whilst building and re-building relationships via cooking and gardening. 

Megana Mikuciauskaite, with collaborators:
Atlana Puntigam, Alec Strobel & Bryan Branco   

University of the Arts London 

L&G Award of £500