Street Farm

Street Farm

Adult nonfiction
"And if food is the next thing, man, drugs have been the thing
until now. In fact, to say they've moved on would be wishful
thinking. Wind your way through the neighborhood between Carrall and
Columbia streets on East Hastings, nearby, and you hear 'rock, paper,
down' repeated over and over, to on one in particular. It's a mantra
in an open offering of crack, powder cocaine, and heroin to everyone
who walks by. And it kills; there are more drug-related deaths here
than anywhere else on the continent. Every kind of dope is available
here, along with an amazing array of stolen bicycles, suitcases, cell
phones, clothing, shoes, and in a back alley, a cheap hotel room, or
the comfort of your car, any number of illicit sexual experiences are
on offer."
One of Vancouver, Canada's low rent districts is not exactly the
neighborhood where you'd expect to find a functional organic garden.
Surprise, surprise! It and four other similarly situated plots,
including an orchard with a good range of fruits, are the subject of
Michael Ableman's Street Farm.
In 2009 Ableman was invited to Vancouver to meet with people
from social service organizations and nonprofits. They made him an
offer he couldn't refuse. He was to create urban farms to teach
salable skills to people whom society had given up on, reclaim land,
and make good food more widely available. By 2016, when the book was
published, the project was a success.
"...We produce over twenty-five tons of fresh produce per year,
including tree fruit from a large urban orchard, supply more than
thirty area restaurants, sell at five Vancouver farmers' markets, and
operate a community supported agriculture program. We also donate up
to $20,000 of produce per year to community kitchens and provide jobs
to twenty-five people. Central to our vision from the beginning has
been a commitment to building a community with and for the people
we've hired and trained--among them the poor and homeless, the drug-
addicted and mentally I'll--and the story of the farm is as much about
the farmers I've come to work with as it is the food we've produced
together."
Ableman serves up both strands of the story. You learn what
went well and what didn't. There were snags aplenty. The containers
at one site rotted and had to be replaced. Theft took its toll. But
the biggest obstacles revolved around bureaucracy and red tape.
Scattered through the narrative are poignant and very personal farmer
portraits.
Ableman also offers musings on pertinent topics including a
manifesto at the end. If you have concerns about the increasingly
industrialized food production systems in first world nations, the
separation of most people from the sources of nourishment, and the
paucity of either jobs or good food for the most vulnerable of our
fellow citizens, you'll find much food for thought in Street Farm.
On a personal note, we did not have to build Orono Community Garden on
such dangerous turf. But when we got the space it was very neglected
with seriously depleted soil. It took a lot of work to get it to the
state it's in today. Work has been going since I think April. I
haven't been able to participate yet what with the semester ending and
working to stabilize Joey and clean sweep. But I hope I'll be able to
very soon.
A great big shout out goes out to all my readers who are gardeners.
jules hathaway


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