Ken MacDonald is a cultural geographer at the University of Toronto and a faculty member in the Departments of Human Geography and Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, and the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies. He is also a core member of the Culinaria Research Centre.
I have a wide range of research interests that have involved diverse projects in the mountains of northern Pakistan and India, where I have studied social and agro-ecological responses to environmental risk, the impacts of market-oriented biodiversity conservation projects; the labour economy of mountaineering and adventure tourism; and the production of cultural identity.
I also have interests and research experience in the area of agricultural change, public modes of food distribution, and food security. Some projects include:
- An ethnographic study of the cultural politics of agrarian change in the wine sector of Languedoc-Rousillon (Occitanie), France. This project has a specific focus on the historical role of cooperative production and the challenges posed to cooperatives brought on by a large-scale, capital intensive, shift to organic production.
- An analysis of the history of food distribution in Toronto, with a specific focus on public markets and the shift from public to private responsibility for food distribution infrastructure and the restriction of equitable access to food on the streets and public spaces of the city. This project includes an assessment of the potential role of neighbourhood markets in creating more equitable and affordable modes of food distribution across the city.
- An assessment of the rise of vulnerability within urban food systems, with a specific focus on Toronto and the social means through which people develop the capacity to cope with inequitable access to food intensified by crises such as the recent pandemic and those about to be brought on by climate change.
Mike Lawler is a settler residing on Treaty 13 territory. He is currently completing a PhD in Geography at the University of Toronto, with a focus on food insecurity, institutional food systems, and diaspora foodways. Mike has managed multiple farmers’ markets throughout Toronto, including Underpass Park Farmers’ Market and the Junction Farmers’ Market, with a particular focus on ensuring access for young farmers and vendors from equity-deserving communities. He has also led international experiential education programs based on food and agriculture across Thailand, where students worked on organic farms, received in-depth culinary education, and participated in emergent eco-tourism initiatives with local farming communities. Prior to living and working in Thailand, Mike cooked professionally at Cava, a long-established fine dining restaurant focused on Spanish cuisine. He has also led historical food tours — focused on themes of immigrant foodways, gentrification, and community resistance — in Kensington Market and Chinatown. He has volunteered with a wide range of NGOs and community organizations, including Friends of the Greenbelt, Community Food Centres Canada, the Varsity Blues badminton team, and the U of T Food Coalition. In his spare moments, he enjoys cycling, preparing overly elaborate meals, and listening to records.