Bio

Caroline Abels is an independent journalist, essayist, and editor focusing on local and small-scale agriculture, particularly issues related to the humane treatment of farm animals. She also writes about environmental issues and Zen Buddhism, which she has practiced for 10 years.

From 1997 to 2003, Caroline worked at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was the paper’s first cultural arts writer. From 2004 to 2006, she earned a master's in Environmental Advocacy and Organizing from Antioch University New England. She is currently a member of the editorial board of Whole Terrain, Antioch's journal of reflective environmental writing.

Since 2007, she has been the editor of a new quarterly magazine, Vermont’s Local Banquet, which covers the sustainable agriculture movement in Vermont. Her goal as a writer and editor is to produce work that is viscerally felt, meticulously investigated, and consistently honest. 

In 2007, Caroline went on a six-week solo trip through India. This year she joined with six other Vermont residents to establish the Vermont State House Food Garden, the first public vegetable garden planted on the lawn of an American state capitol in modern times.