00:00:16.727 --> 00:00:19.150
We're able to feed
a lot of people

00:00:19.150 --> 00:00:23.890
on a very small piece of
land using some time honored

00:00:23.890 --> 00:00:25.510
practices.

00:00:25.510 --> 00:00:27.670
I really wish that
Chez Panisse were

00:00:27.670 --> 00:00:29.350
located right next
to Michael's farm,

00:00:29.350 --> 00:00:32.560
because it's very
important that he's

00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:37.160
growing those vegetables for
flavor, that he's taking care

00:00:37.160 --> 00:00:40.360
of the land for
future generations,

00:00:40.360 --> 00:00:46.270
that he's thinking about my
nourishment and my good health.

00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:49.060
Only a generation
ago, the Goleta Valley

00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:51.510
just north of Santa
Barbara, California,

00:00:51.510 --> 00:00:54.668
was still mostly
farms and orchards.

00:00:54.668 --> 00:00:58.620
It's different now.

00:00:58.620 --> 00:01:02.370
All that remains of what was
once an agricultural cornucopia

00:01:02.370 --> 00:01:06.850
is a 12 acre island
in a suburban sea.

00:01:06.850 --> 00:01:09.720
It is a fragile
but magical island,

00:01:09.720 --> 00:01:12.060
alive with the
fragrance and colors

00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:14.520
of fruits and vegetables,
with the sounds

00:01:14.520 --> 00:01:17.220
of animals and people.

00:01:17.220 --> 00:01:21.090
Time and again, this tiny
farm has been almost lost

00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:24.930
to development, yet it
has somehow survived

00:01:24.930 --> 00:01:28.050
and continues to prosper.

00:01:28.050 --> 00:01:30.480
Fairview Gardens
has become a model

00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.050
of sustainable food
production and an inspiration

00:01:34.050 --> 00:01:36.830
for thousands of people.

00:01:36.830 --> 00:01:41.080
The hidden agenda behind a
lot of our community efforts

00:01:41.080 --> 00:01:44.440
was very simply to
get this community

00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:49.500
to identify with this land
as if it was their own.

00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:51.970
We were successful in that.

00:01:51.970 --> 00:01:55.350
The point was that if they
identified with it in that way,

00:01:55.350 --> 00:01:59.570
when the time came when
the place was threatened,

00:01:59.570 --> 00:02:04.029
which I knew it would come,
the people would rise up.

00:02:04.029 --> 00:02:04.570
And they did.

00:02:04.570 --> 00:02:28.955
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:02:28.955 --> 00:02:30.080
So what are we doing today?

00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.460
Que paso hoy?

00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:33.660
Carrots.

00:02:33.660 --> 00:02:35.910
Carrots for the stand.

00:02:35.910 --> 00:02:38.986
Or boxes, even though Stacy
requested two, because tomorrow

00:02:38.986 --> 00:02:40.110
she'll ask for another two.

00:02:40.110 --> 00:02:44.330
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:46.160
Peaches, yeah.

00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:49.106
We're going to try
to plant peppers.

00:02:49.106 --> 00:02:51.580
It's 6:30 on an April morning.

00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:55.230
Time for work assignments
at Fairview Gardens.

00:02:55.230 --> 00:02:58.770
Time to begin harvesting the
dozens of different crops

00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:00.990
that are grown here.

00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:03.630
Time too to prepare
the produce stand

00:03:03.630 --> 00:03:05.940
for the scores of
customers who depend

00:03:05.940 --> 00:03:10.230
on this farm for at least part
of their daily sustenance.

00:03:10.230 --> 00:03:12.965
We're feeding 400
to 500 families,

00:03:12.965 --> 00:03:16.260
both through farmers markets,
a community membership

00:03:16.260 --> 00:03:20.370
program, and the produce stand.

00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:23.430
It wasn't like that at all
when Michael Ableman first

00:03:23.430 --> 00:03:24.490
came here.

00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:29.020
20 years ago, there was
six rows of peach trees,

00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.290
there was the original
avocado orchard,

00:03:31.290 --> 00:03:34.980
and a few little haphazard
sections of row crops

00:03:34.980 --> 00:03:36.030
here and there.

00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:38.670
And certainly the
land was not farmers

00:03:38.670 --> 00:03:42.900
as intensively, not even
close to what we're now doing.

00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.550
I actually came to
this land because I

00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:47.820
was asked to graft the
orange trees that were here.

00:03:47.820 --> 00:03:51.450
I was the local
grafter in this county.

00:03:51.450 --> 00:03:54.000
Back then, a young man
named Chris Thompson

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.620
was running a farm.

00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:59.520
Soon after Michael was hired,
Chris left for another job.

00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:01.320
The owners of the
land, an elderly

00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:03.900
coupled with an interest
in organic farming,

00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:06.300
asked Michael to manage it.

00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:10.530
I don't have really
any formal training.

00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:13.327
Nobody really taught
me how to farm.

00:04:13.327 --> 00:04:15.660
I was always the kind of
person that read the directions

00:04:15.660 --> 00:04:18.990
after I used the product.

00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:21.510
My method of farming
is based on what

00:04:21.510 --> 00:04:25.830
I consider to be the most
important agricultural skill,

00:04:25.830 --> 00:04:29.010
and that is observation.

00:04:29.010 --> 00:04:32.460
As he has most days since
first arriving here,

00:04:32.460 --> 00:04:36.510
Michael Ableman traverses the
farm from one end to another,

00:04:36.510 --> 00:04:40.260
looking carefully at his
crops and taking notes.

00:04:40.260 --> 00:04:43.950
After a while you begin to
notice the subtle changes that

00:04:43.950 --> 00:04:48.730
are taking place in the
soil, in the shininess

00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:52.560
of the leaves of the plants,
in the bark, in the fruit.

00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:54.150
You look closely
and you see what's

00:04:54.150 --> 00:04:58.020
happening amongst the
insect life on the farm,

00:04:58.020 --> 00:05:00.660
and you learn an
incredible amount in a 20,

00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:04.260
or 25 minute, or half hour walk.

00:05:04.260 --> 00:05:08.880
People are constantly surprised
at what little subtle thing I'm

00:05:08.880 --> 00:05:11.850
aware of in every
corner of the farm.

00:05:11.850 --> 00:05:16.380
Because I have observed and
walked this land day after day

00:05:16.380 --> 00:05:18.480
after day, watching
the subtle changes

00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.775
and beginning to
understand what happens.

00:05:20.775 --> 00:05:24.450
And because after a while, the
plants tell you what they need.

00:05:31.650 --> 00:05:33.570
Even on a little
farm like this one,

00:05:33.570 --> 00:05:36.170
there is, of course, much
more to consider then

00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:38.760
the proper care of plants.

00:05:38.760 --> 00:05:40.650
Like most small
farmers, Michael had

00:05:40.650 --> 00:05:44.160
to learn how to repair old
equipment and keep it running.

00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.020
That wasn't easy initially.

00:05:46.020 --> 00:05:49.890
The entire farm was
undergirded with metal pipes.

00:05:49.890 --> 00:05:52.300
Through the years,
specialized crops

00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:53.910
have been grown on the land.

00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:56.370
Each required a different
irrigation system.

00:05:59.270 --> 00:06:01.890
I found them all
with the tractor.

00:06:01.890 --> 00:06:04.400
I ran into everything.

00:06:04.400 --> 00:06:07.930
I pulled up galvanized pipes
with the rippers and the disk.

00:06:07.930 --> 00:06:10.730
I ran into valves.

00:06:10.730 --> 00:06:16.180
And that's how I
discovered what was where.

00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:18.800
In the early
1980's, urban sprawl

00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:20.810
discovered the Goleta Valley.

00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:23.360
Hundreds of acres of
farmland where rezoned

00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.020
for residential development.

00:06:26.020 --> 00:06:31.610
I began to see that the
neighborhood was changing.

00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:35.750
That the Goleta Valley was no
longer an agricultural region.

00:06:35.750 --> 00:06:39.140
I knew that if this place was
going to survive economically,

00:06:39.140 --> 00:06:42.680
that we had to change our
direction and our focus

00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.440
to appeal to the
thousands of people

00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:48.000
that were moving in around us.

00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.330
It was time to diversify.

00:06:50.330 --> 00:06:53.900
Michael and his crew began
planting other crops.

00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:57.530
Lettuce and broccoli and
carrots and cabbage and potatoes

00:06:57.530 --> 00:06:58.560
and on and on.

00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.350
So before I knew
it, this place had

00:07:00.350 --> 00:07:03.115
been colored in with
100 different fruits

00:07:03.115 --> 00:07:03.740
and vegetables.

00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:04.770
Incredibly diverse.

00:07:04.770 --> 00:07:22.460
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:07:22.460 --> 00:07:23.930
Word spread.

00:07:23.930 --> 00:07:27.020
People came to buy the
tasty organic produce being

00:07:27.020 --> 00:07:31.080
grown at Fairview Gardens and
sold at several local markets.

00:07:31.080 --> 00:07:33.560
The farm began to prosper.

00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.930
In the early days we never
talked about organic.

00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:37.550
We never used that word.

00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:41.555
We gave people a tree
ripe peach to taste.

00:07:41.555 --> 00:07:44.330
When we first started selling
corn at the produce stand,

00:07:44.330 --> 00:07:46.659
some people would
almost faint when

00:07:46.659 --> 00:07:47.825
they'd encounter an earworm.

00:07:50.380 --> 00:07:54.400
And it took us a long time
to educate people to the fact

00:07:54.400 --> 00:07:58.540
that the sign of an earworm
is a sign that no poisons have

00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:00.620
been used.

00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:04.280
Blessed with skilled coworkers
who could help to run the farm,

00:08:04.280 --> 00:08:06.720
Michael was occasionally
able to take time off

00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:09.390
from travel, especially
during the winter.

00:08:09.390 --> 00:08:13.250
One of his first trips
took him to mainland China.

00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:15.770
What I saw completely
blew my mind, really.

00:08:15.770 --> 00:08:18.590
There was this
expanse for as far

00:08:18.590 --> 00:08:22.430
as I could see of this
amazing network of fields

00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:27.380
of vegetables, surrounded by
waterways and pathways all

00:08:27.380 --> 00:08:32.000
being worked by families working
together in these fields.

00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.580
And this land was
land that not only

00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:36.650
had been worked by
these people's parents

00:08:36.650 --> 00:08:39.929
and grandparents, but by
their great-grandparents

00:08:39.929 --> 00:08:42.020
their great-great-grandparents,
and in some cases

00:08:42.020 --> 00:08:43.909
all the way back for
some 4,000 years.

00:08:43.909 --> 00:08:46.950
The same land.

00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:48.870
And I thought to myself,
well, wait a minute.

00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:54.730
How could these people maintain
the same land for 4,000 years

00:08:54.730 --> 00:08:59.640
when we can deplete ours
in this part of the world,

00:08:59.640 --> 00:09:03.800
in some cases in a
decade, in 10 years.

00:09:03.800 --> 00:09:06.080
What began with a
trip to China became,

00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.890
in succeeding years, a journey
through five continents,

00:09:09.890 --> 00:09:13.190
camera in hand.

00:09:13.190 --> 00:09:15.290
I had studied photography,
but my photography

00:09:15.290 --> 00:09:19.211
was art for art's sake
without any particular voice.

00:09:19.211 --> 00:09:20.460
I didn't have a story to tell.

00:09:23.520 --> 00:09:26.460
Suddenly the photographer
who had been dormant

00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:31.520
for so long and the farmer
found a common voice,

00:09:31.520 --> 00:09:33.385
and I began
photographing like crazy.

00:09:33.385 --> 00:09:45.510
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:09:45.510 --> 00:09:48.580
In time, his slides
would become a book

00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:52.420
called, From the Good Earth,
filled with powerful images

00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:54.520
of land and people.

00:09:54.520 --> 00:09:58.180
I was fascinated by what I had
heard about what was going on

00:09:58.180 --> 00:10:02.770
in the Andes, in the mountains
of Peru, where people were

00:10:02.770 --> 00:10:05.890
farming land that was so steep
that farmers have been known

00:10:05.890 --> 00:10:08.290
to fall out of their fields.

00:10:08.290 --> 00:10:11.890
I witnessed fields
of potatoes the size

00:10:11.890 --> 00:10:16.060
of most people's front
lawns with some 30, 40

00:10:16.060 --> 00:10:18.520
varieties in a single field.

00:10:18.520 --> 00:10:20.650
Such diversity, the
farmers explained,

00:10:20.650 --> 00:10:23.510
helped keep pests in check.

00:10:23.510 --> 00:10:26.550
I spent another
winter in Africa,

00:10:26.550 --> 00:10:28.940
which was fascinating as well.

00:10:28.940 --> 00:10:33.020
I traveled to visit
the Hopi in Arizona

00:10:33.020 --> 00:10:36.890
to see how people
could survive in really

00:10:36.890 --> 00:10:41.720
one of the harshest climates,
often without irrigation water.

00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.840
And I began to
develop this sense

00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:48.140
that there were
some things that we

00:10:48.140 --> 00:10:51.800
could learn from these
traditional cultures.

00:10:51.800 --> 00:10:54.410
He brought along photographs
of Fairview Gardens

00:10:54.410 --> 00:10:56.270
to show farmers in
other countries what

00:10:56.270 --> 00:10:58.670
he and his colleagues
were doing at home.

00:10:58.670 --> 00:11:01.400
On one excursion, he
traveled with a companion

00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:03.470
through the wheat
fields of Sicily.

00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:07.130
They were welcomed
everywhere as honored guests.

00:11:07.130 --> 00:11:09.440
It got to the point,
quite literally,

00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.770
where everywhere
we left, we left

00:11:12.770 --> 00:11:17.960
with arms full of homemade pasta
sauce in bottles or olive oil

00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.200
or wine or bread or
cheese, and the car smelled

00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.140
like a traveling delicatessen.

00:11:26.950 --> 00:11:31.740
The poorer the people were,
the more they offered you.

00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:34.930
His hosts had few
material goods,

00:11:34.930 --> 00:11:37.320
but they were rich
in other ways.

00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:39.450
In their connections
to the land,

00:11:39.450 --> 00:11:41.700
in their relationships
to each other,

00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:44.085
in culture, tradition,
and community.

00:11:44.085 --> 00:11:56.178
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:11:56.178 --> 00:11:58.380
But back in the
United States, Michael

00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:00.450
saw things less endearing.

00:12:00.450 --> 00:12:03.870
Vast acreage planted
to a single crop,

00:12:03.870 --> 00:12:07.200
immensely susceptible
to pests and disease,

00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.350
and protected only by
floods of chemicals.

00:12:10.350 --> 00:12:12.750
Small farmers forced
out of business,

00:12:12.750 --> 00:12:15.540
selling their land to
giant conglomerates.

00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:19.920
Tasteless, uniform produce
packaged in plastic

00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:23.250
and transported
across continents.

00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:25.260
In the Central
Valley of California

00:12:25.260 --> 00:12:28.510
where 40% of America's
vegetables are grown,

00:12:28.510 --> 00:12:31.640
he found a stark and
silent landscape.

00:12:31.640 --> 00:12:38.010
The first thing that I noticed
was it was absolutely desolate.

00:12:38.010 --> 00:12:39.510
Where were the people?

00:12:39.510 --> 00:12:41.850
There were no families
working in the fields.

00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:43.380
I didn't see any birds.

00:12:43.380 --> 00:12:45.770
There were no insects buzzing.

00:12:45.770 --> 00:12:47.820
All that I could
see with these flat

00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:50.370
fields, often with
a single tractor,

00:12:50.370 --> 00:12:53.160
maybe moving its way along.

00:12:53.160 --> 00:12:57.570
Where, too, was the welcome
he'd found all over the world?

00:12:57.570 --> 00:12:59.550
They didn't want me there.

00:12:59.550 --> 00:13:00.577
I had to lie.

00:13:00.577 --> 00:13:02.910
I had to tell them that I was
photographing for a school

00:13:02.910 --> 00:13:07.080
project in order to
do what I was doing.

00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:10.320
The only people who
entered those fields

00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:14.810
were people who had paid $1,000
to be led across the border

00:13:14.810 --> 00:13:19.500
and shipped like baggage to
harvest and to hoe, period.

00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:22.170
Everything else was
done by machines.

00:13:22.170 --> 00:13:26.850
I really responded
in a very, kind of,

00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:32.520
really a very emotional way
to what I was experiencing.

00:13:32.520 --> 00:13:35.940
After I saw what was
going on visually,

00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:38.970
I felt driven to learn
a little bit more

00:13:38.970 --> 00:13:42.690
about why it was happening and
what exactly was happening.

00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:46.320
The facts, gleaned from
books and scientific reports,

00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.230
were no less alarming
than what he'd seen.

00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:52.980
He learned that 46 acres
of prime American farmland

00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:57.430
is converted to non-agricultural
uses every hour.

00:13:57.430 --> 00:14:00.300
That California is
losing topsoil at a rate

00:14:00.300 --> 00:14:04.080
80 times faster than
nature can rebuild it.

00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.920
That the average bite
of food eaten in America

00:14:06.920 --> 00:14:10.550
travels more than 1,000
miles from field to plate,

00:14:10.550 --> 00:14:13.566
requiring an immense
expenditure of energy.

00:14:13.566 --> 00:14:18.310
That pesticides poison 70,000
Americans and a million people

00:14:18.310 --> 00:14:21.910
worldwide every year,
sometimes fatally.

00:14:21.910 --> 00:14:25.030
And that chemical agriculture
is the largest source

00:14:25.030 --> 00:14:29.390
of groundwater pollution
in the United States.

00:14:29.390 --> 00:14:32.290
We pay less for food than
any country in the world,

00:14:32.290 --> 00:14:35.430
but we're paying for
it in our health.

00:14:35.430 --> 00:14:38.080
We're paying for it in
the loss of topsoil,

00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.687
in the pollution of groundwater.

00:14:39.687 --> 00:14:42.020
And the people who are doing
the work are paying for it.

00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.230
Troubled, Michael Ableman looked
elsewhere in the United States

00:14:48.230 --> 00:14:52.200
for signs of hope,
and he found them

00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.900
in farmers markets,
urban gardens,

00:14:54.900 --> 00:14:58.020
and other organic farms.

00:14:58.020 --> 00:15:01.950
There was a movement afoot
all around the country seeking

00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:04.440
a new relationship with
the land and with food,

00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:07.920
and he was glad
to be part of it.

00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:11.610
The farm grew increasingly
productive and successful,

00:15:11.610 --> 00:15:13.425
finding new markets
for its produce.

00:15:16.540 --> 00:15:18.880
But it was the calm
before the storm.

00:15:26.180 --> 00:15:29.140
Farming is always a
risky proposition.

00:15:29.140 --> 00:15:32.510
Too little rain or too
much, an entire planting

00:15:32.510 --> 00:15:35.030
can be lost to a
single cloudburst.

00:15:35.030 --> 00:15:38.690
But by the late 1980's,
weather was the least

00:15:38.690 --> 00:15:41.480
of Michael Ableman's worries.

00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:43.850
Fairview Gardens was endangered.

00:15:43.850 --> 00:15:47.000
Almost overnight, the entire
area adjoining the farm

00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:48.425
began filling up with houses.

00:15:53.550 --> 00:15:56.040
It was really an
assault. The construction

00:15:56.040 --> 00:15:59.070
would start at 7
o'clock every morning

00:15:59.070 --> 00:16:01.500
and would go straight
through the day, all the way

00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:02.670
till evening.

00:16:02.670 --> 00:16:04.180
There was dust everywhere.

00:16:04.180 --> 00:16:08.430
The noise was horrible,
and it went on for months.

00:16:08.430 --> 00:16:12.540
They had 20, 25 different
pieces of very heavy machinery

00:16:12.540 --> 00:16:15.330
over there operating
all day long.

00:16:15.330 --> 00:16:16.570
It was like a war zone.

00:16:19.450 --> 00:16:22.926
That land next door was
[INAUDIBLE] habitat.

00:16:22.926 --> 00:16:24.426
There was tons of
life, I mean there

00:16:24.426 --> 00:16:29.670
was deer and possum and
raccoons and coyote and hundreds

00:16:29.670 --> 00:16:31.800
of different types of birds.

00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:34.500
In a matter of months
it was all gone.

00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:38.700
Fairview Gardens was completely
encircled by houses and strip

00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:39.740
malls.

00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:43.890
And then the moving
vans started lining up.

00:16:43.890 --> 00:16:48.140
The kids that moved
in gravitated here.

00:16:48.140 --> 00:16:50.280
They started playing
on our compost piles

00:16:50.280 --> 00:16:53.090
and building forts
in the orchards.

00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:55.470
But their parents
began to complain.

00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:59.270
They weren't used to
living next to a farm.

00:16:59.270 --> 00:17:01.999
They weren't used to
hearing roosters crow early

00:17:01.999 --> 00:17:05.240
in the morning.

00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.480
I did have a neighbor call, left
me a message on my answering

00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.020
machine that said that
he would rather look over

00:17:12.020 --> 00:17:16.609
his fence at condominiums, and
that the dust from the tractor

00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:19.955
was ruining the
plaster in his pool.

00:17:19.955 --> 00:17:23.599
At first, they were
mad about the compost.

00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:26.450
Sometimes it would get a little
smelly during the summer.

00:17:26.450 --> 00:17:28.790
A lot of flies flying around.

00:17:28.790 --> 00:17:31.850
So there was a time
there that some

00:17:31.850 --> 00:17:36.060
of the neighbors and myself
would get upset about that.

00:17:38.600 --> 00:17:41.900
I see the borders of
the farm as extending

00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:43.660
beyond the edges of the fields.

00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:47.270
We provide the nourishment
for the local community,

00:17:47.270 --> 00:17:49.370
and in turn we
should be receiving

00:17:49.370 --> 00:17:52.710
waste and material being
generated by the community.

00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:56.450
We should use that, recycle it.

00:17:56.450 --> 00:17:58.550
His neighbors disagreed.

00:17:58.550 --> 00:18:01.040
They demanded that
the piles be removed,

00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:03.290
and got a letter from the
health department ordering

00:18:03.290 --> 00:18:06.110
Fairview to stop composting.

00:18:06.110 --> 00:18:10.780
I was threatened with jail
time over that compost.

00:18:13.887 --> 00:18:15.970
What we did though is we
invited all the neighbors

00:18:15.970 --> 00:18:20.630
over for a dinner to talk
about the new relationship,

00:18:20.630 --> 00:18:23.230
and we served them
a homegrown meal.

00:18:23.230 --> 00:18:26.050
And we talked about
what their needs were,

00:18:26.050 --> 00:18:29.830
what we were trying to do here.

00:18:29.830 --> 00:18:33.790
The neighbors agreed to
let the compost, compost.

00:18:33.790 --> 00:18:35.965
But a year later the
complaints resumed.

00:18:35.965 --> 00:18:37.870
It seems that some
of the newcomers

00:18:37.870 --> 00:18:40.120
were getting less sleep
than they'd been used to.

00:18:40.120 --> 00:18:42.790
They blamed the roosters,
demanding their removal

00:18:42.790 --> 00:18:45.100
from the farm.

00:18:45.100 --> 00:18:50.710
This proved to be a much more
drawn out, extensive battle.

00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:52.980
Eventually there
was a big hearing

00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:56.950
at the county, where the
county officials suggested

00:18:56.950 --> 00:18:59.320
in all earnestness that
we cut the vocal cords

00:18:59.320 --> 00:19:02.030
of the offending beasts.

00:19:02.030 --> 00:19:05.540
My sister is a family court
judge in the state of Delaware.

00:19:05.540 --> 00:19:07.730
Her comment was that
if she, as a judge,

00:19:07.730 --> 00:19:11.150
was in the place of
judgment on this case,

00:19:11.150 --> 00:19:13.940
she would recommend cutting
the vocal cords of those

00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.100
doing the complaining.

00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:18.200
But for every neighbor
who complained,

00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.250
another came forward
to defend the farm.

00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:23.870
I'd say that was a
really neat place

00:19:23.870 --> 00:19:26.752
to go and visit when I first
started going over there,

00:19:26.752 --> 00:19:28.460
because you can just
walk around the farm

00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:33.680
and look at all the
activities that are happening.

00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.390
It kind of just draws
you in immediately.

00:19:36.390 --> 00:19:38.130
We got a lot of people
out to the farm,

00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:42.050
and I think that's what started
getting it in everybody's mind

00:19:42.050 --> 00:19:44.060
that this was really a
treasure that they had

00:19:44.060 --> 00:19:46.820
in the community that really
deserved to be protected

00:19:46.820 --> 00:19:49.030
and taken care of.

00:19:49.030 --> 00:19:52.270
The rooster riot, as the
incident came to be called,

00:19:52.270 --> 00:19:54.820
brought a flood of supporters
to a public hearing.

00:19:54.820 --> 00:19:57.250
And, in the end, the
county backed down.

00:20:01.040 --> 00:20:03.140
Most people who have
complained have actually

00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:08.240
come to appreciate us, often
through their kids who turn out

00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.370
to be the best ambassadors here.

00:20:10.370 --> 00:20:12.560
They love to come out here
and run around the trees.

00:20:12.560 --> 00:20:14.750
They like to come and
play hide and seek.

00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:18.500
As long as there's not too many
kids, Michael doesn't mind it.

00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:20.840
If they're real quiet and
they're not doing anything

00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:22.460
they shouldn't be
doing, if they're

00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:28.130
respecting the property,
then he's OK with it.

00:20:28.130 --> 00:20:31.850
How many of you have
been on a farm before?

00:20:31.850 --> 00:20:35.150
On an April afternoon, children
from a neighborhood school

00:20:35.150 --> 00:20:37.610
come to visit Fairview Gardens.

00:20:37.610 --> 00:20:39.680
Together with their
teachers, they

00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:43.100
are introduced to several of
the crops grown on the farm.

00:20:43.100 --> 00:20:46.250
Smell it and then
pass it around.

00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:48.250
How does that smell?

00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:50.420
Isn't that nice?

00:20:50.420 --> 00:20:53.752
There is time for
play, a chance to crawl

00:20:53.752 --> 00:20:54.960
through the asparagus forest.

00:20:57.860 --> 00:21:01.420
There's a lesson in
the avocado grove.

00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:05.370
Soil is what we depend on for
our food and for our lives.

00:21:05.370 --> 00:21:07.900
It's very important, OK?

00:21:11.260 --> 00:21:14.710
Every tour ends with a treat.

00:21:14.710 --> 00:21:17.730
You have to be very careful
so the carrots don't break.

00:21:17.730 --> 00:21:19.930
And we'll wash them for
you right over here.

00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:22.060
We hear it from
people all the time,

00:21:22.060 --> 00:21:25.820
my children are
eating vegetables.

00:21:25.820 --> 00:21:27.280
Well those kids
have come out here.

00:21:27.280 --> 00:21:29.113
They know the people
who are producing them.

00:21:29.113 --> 00:21:31.330
They see the fields where
they're coming from,

00:21:31.330 --> 00:21:33.970
and they're eating food
that was picked that day,

00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:37.170
so it actually taste
like something.

00:21:37.170 --> 00:21:42.660
Each year, more than 5,000
people walk through this farm.

00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:45.810
There are no fences
that we've put up

00:21:45.810 --> 00:21:47.370
on the edges of the farm.

00:21:47.370 --> 00:21:49.260
There's no keep out signs.

00:21:49.260 --> 00:21:52.590
There are no
pesticides being used.

00:21:52.590 --> 00:21:56.310
It's a pretty much an
open door policy here.

00:21:56.310 --> 00:22:01.510
Signs throughout the garden
allow for self-guided tours.

00:22:01.510 --> 00:22:06.125
The more I spent time around
the farm, I think the more Mike

00:22:06.125 --> 00:22:10.160
and I became encouraged to
grow more stuff here at home.

00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.930
And now even my
younger sister who's

00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:15.680
an actress and a very
flamboyant individual

00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:20.250
is starting to grow
plants and get bad hair.

00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.550
They'd kept the compost.

00:22:25.550 --> 00:22:27.440
They'd saved the roosters.

00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:28.970
They'd reached out
to the community

00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:32.030
through educational
tours and public events.

00:22:32.030 --> 00:22:34.985
And their organic produce
was increasingly popular.

00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:47.150
But by 1993, Fairview
Gardens faced

00:22:47.150 --> 00:22:49.910
another threat, the most
dangerous threat the farm

00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:51.470
had ever faced.

00:22:51.470 --> 00:22:56.950
This place was zoned
for 52 condominiums.

00:22:56.950 --> 00:22:58.700
The owners of the land
were under pressure

00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:01.160
to sell it to
developers, and that

00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:04.370
would mean the end of the farm.

00:23:04.370 --> 00:23:06.290
There was only one way out.

00:23:08.949 --> 00:23:10.490
Michael and his
colleagues would have

00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:16.940
to form a nonprofit organization
and buy the land themselves.

00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:20.210
We had to raise 3/4
of a million dollars.

00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:22.730
I didn't have a penny of it.

00:23:22.730 --> 00:23:26.840
First, they needed $25,000
for an option guaranteeing

00:23:26.840 --> 00:23:29.300
that developers couldn't
buy the farm before they

00:23:29.300 --> 00:23:30.290
raised the money.

00:23:30.290 --> 00:23:31.756
Hello, John?

00:23:31.756 --> 00:23:33.380
Yeah, this is Michael
Ableman calling--

00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:38.120
I made two phone calls calling
up to ask someone for money.

00:23:38.120 --> 00:23:39.045
It's hard to do.

00:23:39.045 --> 00:23:42.610
The first one said, yes,
we'll give you $10,000.

00:23:42.610 --> 00:23:43.910
Boom.

00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:46.910
The second one said,
yes, give you $15,000.

00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:47.765
There we had it.

00:23:47.765 --> 00:23:49.940
We signed the option papers.

00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:51.830
The clock was running.

00:23:51.830 --> 00:23:54.890
They had one year to find
the rest of the money.

00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:58.520
I realized I had
bitten off a big chunk.

00:23:58.520 --> 00:24:01.910
There were people who told
me it could not be done.

00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:05.420
And there were many
nights that I woke up

00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:07.700
wondering how the hell we
were going to pull this off.

00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:10.520
But once again, local
supporters of the farm

00:24:10.520 --> 00:24:14.350
rallied around it, raising
money wherever they could.

00:24:14.350 --> 00:24:18.440
We had wonderful people
who came through and helped

00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:23.330
lead this effort, and
went to their friends

00:24:23.330 --> 00:24:26.030
and to various foundations.

00:24:26.030 --> 00:24:29.630
In eight months they
raised $800,000,

00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:32.750
enough to purchase and preserve
the farm as a land trust

00:24:32.750 --> 00:24:33.725
for future generations.

00:24:33.725 --> 00:24:49.260
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:24:49.260 --> 00:24:53.670
On a Saturday afternoon in
June, Enrique and Yolanda Coria,

00:24:53.670 --> 00:24:55.620
professional musicians
from Oakland,

00:24:55.620 --> 00:24:59.400
stopped by to visit the farm
and offer an impromptu concert

00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:00.000
to the crew.

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:13.510
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:25:13.510 --> 00:25:17.420
It's a fairly diverse network
of people who are involved here.

00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:22.300
We have people from Mexico who
are involved with field work.

00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:26.552
We've got interns, people who
come all the way from Europe,

00:25:26.552 --> 00:25:31.291
the East coast, the Northwest
to learn in a hands on way

00:25:31.291 --> 00:25:32.790
what we're doing
how we're doing it.

00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:42.920
When interns come
here, I surprise them

00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:46.550
when I tell them that what
I want them to do every day

00:25:46.550 --> 00:25:49.790
is to walk around
with a small notebook,

00:25:49.790 --> 00:25:53.950
and take notes of what
they're observing.

00:25:53.950 --> 00:25:55.790
He told us to write
down what you're

00:25:55.790 --> 00:25:57.470
noticing from week to week.

00:25:57.470 --> 00:25:59.390
What is to look like this week?

00:25:59.390 --> 00:26:00.680
Is it producing fruit?

00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:01.430
Is it not?

00:26:01.430 --> 00:26:03.050
Are there insects on it?

00:26:03.050 --> 00:26:05.630
If so, what do they look like?

00:26:05.630 --> 00:26:07.910
I read Michael's
book, and it really

00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:09.850
inspired me to
want to come here.

00:26:09.850 --> 00:26:11.750
You never get a
day off, but you're

00:26:11.750 --> 00:26:15.350
surrounded by all of this
life all of the time.

00:26:15.350 --> 00:26:18.830
I'm getting a master's in
environmental education,

00:26:18.830 --> 00:26:22.280
so it was good for me,
for myself, to find this,

00:26:22.280 --> 00:26:27.140
but also so I can teach
children about it in the future.

00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:28.880
I'm immersing myself in it.

00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:33.860
I want this to be a part of my
life, part of everybody's lives

00:26:33.860 --> 00:26:35.420
in a bigger way.

00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:37.070
I don't think that
farming should just

00:26:37.070 --> 00:26:42.440
be something that certain people
do and nobody else knows about.

00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:44.030
One of the best
things is working out

00:26:44.030 --> 00:26:46.240
in the fields with
the Mexican workers,

00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:47.825
just practicing my Spanish.

00:26:47.825 --> 00:26:48.800
It's a lot of fun.

00:26:48.800 --> 00:26:50.070
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:26:50.070 --> 00:26:52.240
He says that the ones
that are red on top

00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:54.770
are good, because we're
going to sell them here.

00:26:54.770 --> 00:26:58.970
And the other ones are not,
because they're so hard.

00:26:58.970 --> 00:27:01.550
You could transport them to
Chicago and sell them there.

00:27:04.875 --> 00:27:06.610
Good work, guys.

00:27:06.610 --> 00:27:07.610
Go for it.

00:27:07.610 --> 00:27:10.550
Over the years, the
farmers here have steadily

00:27:10.550 --> 00:27:13.490
increased their understanding
of organic methods.

00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:17.240
Instead of using chemicals,
they rely on natural predators

00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:20.990
and carefully nourished
soil to help control pests.

00:27:20.990 --> 00:27:23.540
If you don't sleep for
five days straight,

00:27:23.540 --> 00:27:27.080
if you don't eat well,
eventually you get sick.

00:27:27.080 --> 00:27:28.050
Plants are similar.

00:27:28.050 --> 00:27:33.030
If plants are grown in
soil that is fertile,

00:27:33.030 --> 00:27:34.970
that's well balanced,
they're grown

00:27:34.970 --> 00:27:40.160
at the right time
of year, generally

00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.770
there are no pest problems.

00:27:42.770 --> 00:27:44.660
These are planted weeds.

00:27:44.660 --> 00:27:48.710
And they're planted, not
for our own nourishment,

00:27:48.710 --> 00:27:50.480
but for the nourishment
of the soil.

00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:53.660
Natural fertilizers keep
the soil and the plants

00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:55.130
rich and healthy.

00:27:55.130 --> 00:28:00.620
We plant a mixture of legumes
before the winter rains.

00:28:00.620 --> 00:28:03.770
Legumes have the ability to
fix nitrogen on their roots

00:28:03.770 --> 00:28:06.680
from this sea of
nitrogen that we live in.

00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:12.720
We plant things like vetch, and
Austrian peas, and fava beans.

00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.230
You get the advantage of
all that organic matter,

00:28:15.230 --> 00:28:20.510
and we also get the nitrogen.
That's one of the key practices

00:28:20.510 --> 00:28:23.930
that we have here,
very important.

00:28:23.930 --> 00:28:27.500
Yields per acre on this
farm are about double those

00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:30.110
achieved by large-scale
commercial growers using

00:28:30.110 --> 00:28:33.050
chemicals.

00:28:33.050 --> 00:28:37.070
One day each week, members
of Fairview Gardens CSA

00:28:37.070 --> 00:28:39.290
drop by to pick
up their produce.

00:28:39.290 --> 00:28:43.230
CSA stands for Community
Supported Agriculture.

00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:46.490
People make a sort of a
social contract with us.

00:28:46.490 --> 00:28:49.430
They agreed to subsidize a
portion of our farm budget

00:28:49.430 --> 00:28:51.950
in order to help us
at a time of the year

00:28:51.950 --> 00:28:54.110
when we need income,
the wintertime.

00:28:54.110 --> 00:28:56.900
We use their
investment to purchase

00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:01.640
seeds, tools, pay our
labor costs and water,

00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.390
and whatever else we might
have to get crops going.

00:29:05.390 --> 00:29:07.376
So that by the time
we begin our CSA

00:29:07.376 --> 00:29:08.750
season, which is
in mid-March, we

00:29:08.750 --> 00:29:10.897
have something to offer to them.

00:29:10.897 --> 00:29:12.980
And then they reap the
benefit of their investment

00:29:12.980 --> 00:29:16.130
throughout our 37-week
season by coming

00:29:16.130 --> 00:29:19.880
and picking up their produce
once a week here at the farm.

00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:21.560
It's important to us
to feel like we're

00:29:21.560 --> 00:29:23.040
part of that community.

00:29:23.040 --> 00:29:25.940
And of course it's really
to us that our children

00:29:25.940 --> 00:29:29.885
get pesticide-free food
and as organic as possible.

00:29:29.885 --> 00:29:32.270
That means a lot to us as well.

00:29:32.270 --> 00:29:34.340
We'll send you some stuff today.

00:29:34.340 --> 00:29:36.770
OK, I can probably do
that, and then whatever

00:29:36.770 --> 00:29:38.300
asparagus we can swing too.

00:29:38.300 --> 00:29:38.870
All right?

00:29:38.870 --> 00:29:39.800
Thank you.

00:29:39.800 --> 00:29:41.720
OK, bye.

00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:44.610
We have a marketing
philosophy that

00:29:44.610 --> 00:29:48.410
has our food mostly sold
locally and directly, which

00:29:48.410 --> 00:29:51.740
means that we try to sell
it as close to the farm gate

00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:53.081
as we possibly can.

00:29:53.081 --> 00:29:55.330
How far do you think those
nectarines travelled to get

00:29:55.330 --> 00:29:56.450
here?

00:29:56.450 --> 00:29:57.680
From Washington?

00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:58.850
Washington State?

00:29:58.850 --> 00:30:01.370
What do you think?

00:30:01.370 --> 00:30:02.160
Floria.

00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:02.660
Florida.

00:30:02.660 --> 00:30:06.566
Would you believe
they grew in Goleta?

00:30:06.566 --> 00:30:07.940
Even in the last
five years, I've

00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:11.956
seen an increase in interest,
not just in our food

00:30:11.956 --> 00:30:13.580
but I think in organic
food in general.

00:30:13.580 --> 00:30:15.710
And that helps a farm
like us since we have

00:30:15.710 --> 00:30:17.022
been organic all these years.

00:30:25.060 --> 00:30:28.360
After a decade of
uncertainty, Fairview Gardens

00:30:28.360 --> 00:30:31.630
is finally safe,
protected as a land trust

00:30:31.630 --> 00:30:34.300
and an educational
institution called the Center

00:30:34.300 --> 00:30:36.190
for Urban Agriculture.

00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:38.770
The firm has become
a model for others,

00:30:38.770 --> 00:30:41.770
from nearby schools to
inner city neighborhoods.

00:30:41.770 --> 00:30:43.420
And people from
around the world now

00:30:43.420 --> 00:30:45.670
contact Fairview
Gardens for assistance

00:30:45.670 --> 00:30:48.460
in protecting
their own farmland.

00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:52.150
But just as he did 20
years ago, Michael Ableman

00:30:52.150 --> 00:30:55.480
has new ideas about what
this farm might become,

00:30:55.480 --> 00:30:58.040
and how it might help
change the world.

00:30:58.040 --> 00:31:00.700
I believe that we need
to go beyond organic.

00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:04.000
There are many
large-scale organic farms

00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:09.880
whose labor practices are not
so good, whose care of the soil

00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:13.900
is not so good, who are using
the same industrial methods.

00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:16.600
Let's create an energy
revolution in agriculture,

00:31:16.600 --> 00:31:20.560
and learn how to farm
without the incredible amount

00:31:20.560 --> 00:31:23.140
of diesel fuel and gasoline.

00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:27.730
And figure out ways to grow and
to serve our local communities,

00:31:27.730 --> 00:31:31.540
so that foods are not
shipped these long distances.

00:31:31.540 --> 00:31:36.130
Large-scale organic farms began
to adopt organic practices

00:31:36.130 --> 00:31:38.670
in the narrow sense of the word.

00:31:38.670 --> 00:31:42.110
They began eliminating
the use of poisons.

00:31:42.110 --> 00:31:43.560
And I think we
need to honor that.

00:31:43.560 --> 00:31:45.390
I think that's an
important thing.

00:31:45.390 --> 00:31:47.670
It's a good step.

00:31:47.670 --> 00:31:51.540
But it's only the first step.

00:31:51.540 --> 00:31:53.520
As the Fairview Gardens
crew begins work

00:31:53.520 --> 00:31:57.810
on yet another morning, they
have much to be proud of.

00:31:57.810 --> 00:32:01.020
In spite of many threats
to its existence,

00:32:01.020 --> 00:32:03.420
this farm is still thriving.

00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:06.300
A symbol of a different
kind of agriculture

00:32:06.300 --> 00:32:08.340
in tune with the
melodies of life.

00:32:08.340 --> 00:32:10.490
[MUSIC PLAYING]