Faculty

John Smithers PhD, University of Guelph, 1994 Professor and Chair Office: Hutt 118A Tel:519-824-4120 ext. 56722 jsmither@uoguelph.ca

Specialization

Alternative and Local Food Systems; The Role of Short Supply Value Chains in Enhancing Farm Viability and Local Food Production;  Landscapes of commodification and consumption in the Rural Realm; Agri-Environmental Management.

Research Interests and Areas of Expertise

Welcome! My primary research interests relate to how various types and processes of change are altering rural places and spaces in Canada and elsewhere. Once well understood in both its composition and function, the nature and purpose of rural space is now highly contested in many regions. While it might have been clear at one time that the purpose of the countryside was for primary production, in 2007 that is no longer so clear. Many of the changes that have affected society as a whole in recent decades have imprinted themselves on the rural landscape and have altered the nature of economic activity, the demographics of rural communities and the composition of “influential voices” in the governance of rural affairs. In some respects the contemporary countryside has become a canvas on which a wide variety social, economic and governance issues are playing out – sometimes happily and sometimes not.

Over the past decade my research has focused on how rural areas generally, and agriculture in particular, have been affected by, and have responded to pressures and processes of change. Specific research foci have included the sensitivity of agricultural systems to changes in either environmental conditions or environmental governance approaches. The former are reflected in issues such as climatic variation and change and the latter in agri-environmental programs and understanding farmer acceptance or rejection of these measures. More recently my focus has shifted to understanding how various forces are producing multiple types and trajectories of development in the same rural places – and acknowledging that these trends are not always complementary to each other. A series of analyses, conducted with graduate students, has explored the idea that agriculture and rural communities are becoming less connected than was historically the case – and have tried to identify points of potential reconnection. This idea of “reconnection” underlies my current interest and activity in local food systems and short(er) supply chains in the farm sector. I currently have running a multi-faceted program of research that is exploring how various food initiatives are forming and redefining producer-consumer relations and even the purpose of rural space. Along the way my collaborators and I have been looking at the Farmers’ Market as a site of local food trade, the formation of local food networks, the re-orientation of rural space around amenity and consumption, and the emerging environmental importance of re-localizing food (e.g. carbon costs and food miles). Some great graduate research opportunities along the way!

Professional and Community Activities

Like most faculty members I am involved in a variety of activities that relate to my ‘day job’ in some way. My current and recent service activities include the following:

• Vice Chair, City of Cambridge Farmers’ Market Advisory Committee
• Board Member – FarmStart Farm Incubator Program (a pilot farm project based at the St.Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario)
• Member of Land Management Committee – Grand River Conservation Authority (2001– 2004)

Current Research Projects

• Closing the Farm to Plate Gap: Needs and Prospects in the (short) Supply Chain, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada - Standard Research Grant (2008-2011: $116,000)
• New Markets, New Farms (?):  connecting immigrant farmers with ethno-cultural food communities in Ontario.   Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food – Sustainable Rural Communities Program (2007 – 2009; $32,000)
• Short Supply Chains and Local Food: Adding Value Through Farm – Food Linkages.  Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.  New Directions Research Program (2005 – 2008; $73,000)
• Assessing the Role of Local Food Systems in Re-linking Agriculture and Rural Communities.   Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – Standard Research Grant (2004-2007; $111,000) 
• Designing for Resiliency and Self-Reliance: An Evaluation of Options for Responding to Agricultural Drought in Canada.  Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Research Fund [with R. deLoe and R. Kreutzwiser] (2004-2007; $119,000)
• Local Food Systems: Linking and Sustaining Agriculture and Rural Communities in Ontario.  Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food – Sustainable Rural Communities Program [with A.E. Joseph] (2004-2007; $43,000)

Selected Recent Publications

Smithers, J, Lamarche, J, and Joseph, A.E. 2008 Unpacking the terms of engagement with local food at the Farmers’ Market: Insights from Ontario. Journal of Rural Studies - forthcoming (doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2007.12.009 )

Smithers, J. and Wilson, R., ‘Rural change and sustainability: Conclusion’ in Rural Change and Sustainability: Agriculture, the Environment and Communities ed S.J. Essex, A.W. Gilg, R.B. Yarwood, J. Smithers and R. Wilson  (Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CAB International) 373-381, 2005

Smithers, J., Joseph, A.E. and Armstrong, M. ‘Across the divide (?): Reconciling farm and town views of agriculture–community linkages’ Journal of Rural Studies 21(3), 281-295, 2005

Smithers, J. and Johnson, P. ‘The dynamics of family farming in North Huron County; Part I: development trajectories’ The Canadian Geographer 48(2), 191-208, 2004

Smithers, J., Johnson, P. and Joseph, A.  ‘The dynamics of family farming in North Huron County; Part II: farm – community interactions’ The Canadian Geographer 48(2), 209-224, 2004

Smithers, J. and Furman, M. ‘Environmental farm planning in Ontario: exploring participation and the endurance of change’  Land Use Policy 20, 343-356, 2003 

Smithers, J. and Blay-Palmer, A., Technology innovation as a strategy for climate adaptation in agriculture. Applied Geography. 21, 175-197, 2001

Graduate Students Supervised (since 2005)

Program	Student	Year	Title
Active
Masters	Bull, Jacqueline		Implications of the consumption and commoditization of the countryside on the local food sector; farm-restaurant partnerships.
Masters	Coop, Deanna		Community farms in Ontario: exploring prospects for local food on public land.
Doctoral	Mount, Philip Andrew		Investigating the effects of increased scale (in both farm and food chain) on adherence to fundamental principles of local food systems, through an examination of ‘local beef’ initiatives in Ontario and the EU.
Masters	Withers, Julia		Agri-Environmental Geography.
Masters	Young, Christie		Exploring options for connecting immigrant farmers with ethno-cultural food communities in Ontario.
Completed
Doctoral	Bloom, Shauna	2012	Producer engagement in local food systems and organizational capacity of local food promotion groups.
Masters	Shapiro, Emily L.	2009	The grocery store as a site of engagement in local food: prospects and challenges.
Masters	Morin, Sabrina	2009	New foods, new faces: Exploring options for localizing and linking production and consumption in ethno-cultural food systems in Ontario.
Masters	MacKinnon, Shauna L.	2006	Identifying and differentiating farm-community linkages in organic farming in Ontario.