Street Farm

Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier

By: Michael Ableman

Narrated by: Michael Canaan

Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Street Farm is the inspirational account of residents in the notorious Low Track in Vancouver, British Columbia, one of the worst urban slums in North America, who joined together to create an urban farm as a means of addressing the chronic problems in their neighborhood. It is a story of recovery, of land and food, of people, and of the power of farming and nourishing others as a way to heal our world and ourselves.

During the past seven years, Sole Food Street Farms, now North America's largest urban farm project, has transformed acres of vacant and contaminated urban land into street farms that grow artisan-quality fruits and vegetables. By providing jobs, agricultural training, and inclusion in a community of farmers and food lovers, the Sole Food project has empowered dozens of individuals with limited resources who are managing addiction and chronic mental health problems.

Sole Food's mission is to encourage small farms in every urban neighborhood so that good food can be accessible to all, and to do so in a manner that allows everyone to participate in the process. In Street Farm, Michael Ableman chronicles the challenges, growth, and success of this groundbreaking project and presents compelling portraits of the neighborhood residents-turned-farmers whose lives have been touched by it. Throughout, he also weaves his philosophy and insights about food and farming, as well as the fundamentals that are the underpinnings of success for both rural farms and urban farms. Street Farm will inspire individuals and communities everywhere by providing a clear vision for combining innovative farming methods with concrete social goals, all of which aim to create healthier and more resilient communities.

©2016 Michael Ableman (P)2016 Michael Ableman

Amazing insight, great narrative, but one issue...

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The struggle I had with the narrator was the way he changed his voice when quoting women in the book. It was squeally and high pitched. Their voices obviously didn't sound like that and using the change in tone gave it a rather disrespectful air and became quite annoying to listen to after a while.