Michael Ableman

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Michael Ableman
NationalityAmerican, Canadian
Occupation(s)Writer, educator, farmer

Michael Ableman is an American-Canadian author, organic farmer, educator, and advocate for sustainable agriculture. Michael has been farming organically since the early 1970s 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. [1]

Contents

Biography

Ableman originally intended to become a photographer. However, in 1972 he joined an agrarian commune east of Ojai, California where he was to eventually manage 100 acres (0.40 km2) of pear and apple orchards. [2] After a time managing a nursery on the coast north of Santa Barbara, in 1981 Ableman took a job grafting orange trees at Fairview Gardens. When the previous manager left, Ableman remained, "farm-sitting," until 2001. [3] [4] At its peak the farm served as an important community and education center and a national model for small-scale and urban agriculture, hosting as many as 5000 people per year for tours, classes, festivals, and apprenticeships. Under Ableman's leadership, the farm was saved from development and preserved under one of the earliest and most unusual active agricultural conservation easements of its type in the country. [2]

A frequent speaker at conferences throughout North America, Ableman gave a plenary presentation on the future of farming at the Bioneers conference in 2005. [5]

Works

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Ableman | Michael Ableman". www.michaelableman.com. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Cooper, Arnie (June 2003). "Earthly Delights: Cultivating A New Agricultural Revolution" (PDF). The Sun Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Michael Ableman". fieldsofplenty.com. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Michael Ableman – Fields of Plenty". Deconstructing Dinner. Global Public Media. February 22, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  5. ↑ Collective Heritage Institute (2007) Bioneers 2005 Conference Catalogue [ permanent dead link ]. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
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