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Inmate-Grown Produce Freshens Food Pantry Stocks

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Maryland food pantries are picking up fresh produce regularly from state prisons.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services says representatives of several pantries are returning Friday to the Maryland Correctional Training Center near Hagerstown to pick up fruits and vegetables grown by inmates.

The agency says 21 pantries have received more than 1,200 pounds of food this season from the prison. The donations include peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelons.

Public Safety Secretary Gary Maynard says the agency has prison-to-pantry programs across the state. He says prisons on the Eastern Shore have donated more than a quarter-million pounds of produce to food pantries.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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