Michael Ableman

Michael Ableman is an American author, organic farmer, educator, and advocate for sustainable agriculture. He is founder the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, California. Ableman is author of From the Good Earth, On Good Land and Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It. He is featured in the award-winning PBS national broadcast Beyond Organic.^[1]

Biography

Ableman originally intended to become a photographer. However, in 1972 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.^[2][3] A frequent speaker at conferences throughout North America, Ableman gave a plenary presentation on the future of farming at the Bioneers conference in 2005.^[4]

Ableman lives with his family on an organic farm on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.

Works

• Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It. Chronicle Books (2005). ISBN 978-0811842235
• On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farmer. Chronicle Books (1998). ISBN 978-0811819213
• From the Good Earth: A Celebration of Growing Food Around the World, with Cynthia Wisehart, Sam Bittman. Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, (1993). ISBN 9780810925175

Quotation

I believe that to deal with the great unraveling taking place around us, we’ve got to come back home, immerse ourselves in that which goes on in our neighborhoods and communities, in our own backyards or on the land we farm. We can feel paralyzed by the broader world scene, but we have enormous power in and around the places where we live.

—Michael Ableman, author of Fields of Plenty, speaking at the 2005 Bioneers Conference

See also

• Clara Whitehill Hunt
• Lawrence Fraser Abbott
• Adeline Pond Adams

References

1. ^ "Beyond Organic". Bullfrog Films. http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/bo.html. Retrieved 2009-02-24. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Cooper, Arnie (June 2003). "Earthly Delights: Cultivating A New Agricultural Revolution" (PDF). The Sun Magazine. http://www.thesunmagazine.org/_media/article/pdf/330_Ableman.pdf. Retrieved 2009-02-24. 
3. ^ "Michael Ableman - Fields of Plenty". Deconstructing Dinner. Global Public Media. 22 February 2007. http://www.globalpublicmedia.org/deconstructing_dinner_michael_ableman_fields_of_plenty. Retrieved 2009-02-24. 
4. ^ Collective Heritage Institute (2007) Bioneers 2005 Conference Catalogue. Retrieved on 2009-02-25.

External links

• Ableman's website.
• Michael Ableman Urban Agriculture: Real Food and the People Who Grow It
• Ableman, M. (October 3, 2006). Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: the Risks of Convenience and Consolidation. Counterpunch.

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