Who we Are
Sole Food Street Farms is an internationally recognized social enterprise that transforms vacant urban land into street farms. Our mission is to empower individuals with limited resources by providing jobs, agricultural training, and inclusion in a supportive community of farmers and food lovers.
As Program Director, Heather is responsible for the management and advancement of the mission of Sole Food Street Farms and Cultivate Canada Society. After several years with the David Suzuki Foundation, Heather joined the farm in the winter of 2022 with a background in non-profit and project management, communications, and community organizing. There’s nothing Heather loves more than the coming together of community through shared food and stories.
Kaum joined Sole Food in the spring of 2024 after three years of work at various food security organizations in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Kaum’s role is new to the farm and she’s excited to connect with Sole Food’s farming community, partner organizations, food businesses, and local produce enthusiasts. The only thing she loves more than cooking and farming is cooking for groups of people with produce she helped to grow.
Marcia served on the board of the Vancouver Farmers’ Markets Society, taught as a sessional lecturer in UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food System, and worked in the University’s Development Office for several years. As a fundraiser at UBC, Marcia was passionate about her work to help establish The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm. Marcia holds an M.Sc. in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from UBC.
Michael Ableman (he/him)
Co-Founder, Sole Food Street Farms
Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, photographer and former Executive Director of Sole Food. Michael has been farming organically since the early 1970s and is considered one of the pioneers of the organic farming and urban agriculture movements. He is a frequent lecturer to audiences all over the world, and the winner of numerous awards for his work. Michael is the author of five trade published books: On Good Land: The autobiography of an urban farm; Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it; Farm The City, and Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier. He also founded the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens in Goleta, California where he farmed for 20 years, and the Centre for Arts, Ecology and Agriculture based at his family home and farm on Salt Spring Island.