Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2016·Canada (Vancouver)

A Story of Urban Farming and the Cultivation of Community and the Human Spirit

Matthew M. Mars

Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development

Urban Farm DB summary

Michael Ableman's book "Street Farm" tells the story of how an urban farm transformed vacant lots in Vancouver, Canada's Low Tracks neighborhood into sites for food production, partial community restoration, and nurturing the human spirit. The narrative reveals a tenuous balance between the promises of urban farming and the harsh realities of addiction, hunger, homelessness, and violence often characterizing inner-city conditions. Urban agriculture is presented as a means to sustainably produce food for a city while also feeding the souls of disenfranchised individuals and communities.