Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, photographer and urban and local food systems advocate. Michael has been farming organically since the early 1970′s and is considered one of the pioneers of the organic farming and urban agriculture movements. He is a frequent lecturer to audiences all over the world, and the winner of numerous awards for his work. Ableman is the author of four trade published books: From the Good Earth: A celebration of growing food around the world; On Good Land: The autobiography of an urban farm; Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it, and most recently Street Farm; Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier. Michael Ableman is the founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens in Goleta, California where he farmed for 20 years; co-founder and director of Sole Food Street Farms and the charity Cultivate Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia; and founder and director of the Center for Arts, Ecology and Agriculture based at his family home and farm on Salt Spring Island.

“Michael Ableman is one of a handful of inspiring visionaries on the planet who are redefining our future food systems.” – Patrick Holden, founding director, Sustainable Food Trust

“Ableman is a gracious rebel who knows that industrialized farming wrings the life out of both soil and communities. His joy in stewardship and in people celebrates a psychic sustainability that won’t appear on spreadsheets.” – Sierra Magazine

“Michael Ableman has never been one to settle for low-hanging fruit. His mission to test the mettle of agriculture by cuddling it ever closer to the hearths of the urban dilemma.” – Santa Barbara Independent

“Whenever Michael Ableman sees a barrier, he runs over and kicks it in. Lucky for us, this strikingly focused anarchist writes about it too, sharing the deeply moving story of reclaiming land and building real community in the most unlikely places, from the ground up. Read this book and be amazed.” – Dan Barber, chef/co-owner, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns; author of The Third Plate

Michael Ableman

Links to writing, photography, teaching, lecturing and consulting work.

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Foxglove Farm

Michael Ableman presently farms at his family farm and agricultural education centre on Salt Spring Island, in British Columbia, Canada.

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Sole Food Street Farms

Michael Ableman is the co-founder and director of the Vancouver based Sole Food Street Farms.

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