Famous farmer foresees change

Michael Ableman farms on an island in British Columbia but said Alaska is more of an island than where he lives.

"Your food insecurity is as bad as I've ever seen," he said to no one in particular Saturday as he toured the Arctic Organics farm. "What happens when the planes and trucks stop moving?"

Not an insignificant question as the cost of fuel continues to go up with little hope for relief in the near term.

"That whole concept of a global food supply is based on cheap fossil fuel. It's no longer a left-wing, radical theory" to understand that shipping food all over the world is no longer a viable way to feed people, he said.

"We're augmenting a totally unsustainable diet."

And the worst of it is, Ableman said, the most vulnerable people -- elderly and poor -- will be the first to suffer when food supplies go wanting.

Ableman spoke that day in Anchorage at the annual UAA Sustainability Fair. He took time out to talk farming with Sarah and River Bean, who grow organic produce and some fruit on a small acreage near the Butte.

FARMER, AUTHOR, ACTIVIST

A farmer and author of three books on his favorite subject, sustainable agriculture, Ableman came to international note several years ago when he fought to save his small farm just north of Santa Barbara, Calif., from development.

Amidst some of the most expensive real estate in the nation, Ableman's 12.5 acres are now the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens.

The Goleta, Calif., center describes itself as "a model for small-scale urban food production, agricultural preservation and farm-based education."

About 10 years ago, Ableman parlayed his international fame to enable a move with his family to Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia and to create The Center for Art, Ecology and Agriculture.

"You have to feed people," Ableman said as he sat in the Beans' farmhouse munching on sweet carrots. "We must make it absolutely sure that we protect farms."