Books
In preparation. J. Sumner and M. Classens (Eds.) Teaching food studies. Edward Elgar Press. Call for chapter proposals.
In preparation. M Classens, N. Spiegelaar, and M. Lawler (Eds.) Hungry for change: How post-secondary campuses are transforming food systems. UofT Press.
2021. M. Classens. From dismal swamp to smiling farms: Food, agriculture, and change in the Holland Marsh. UBC Press.
Open access to the book can be found here.
Other work in peer reviewed publications
2023. Classens, M., and Martin, M.A. “Good morning Metro shoppers!” Food Insecurity, COVID-19 and the Emergence of Roll-call Neoliberalism. Capital and Class. https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168231199912
2023. Classens, M., Adam, K., and Srebot, S. “Food systems change and the alternative campus foodscape.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2023.123.010
2023. Deawuo, L. Ama, and Classens, M. “Confronting Anti-Black, Anti-Indigenous, and Anti-Asian Racisms in Food Systems in Canada.” (Editorial) Canadian Food Studies, 10(1): 1-4.
2023. Classens, M., and N. Burton. Prefigurative spaces of critical food literacy: The case for campus food growing spaces. In, Routledge Handbook for Sustainable Diets, K. Kevenay and P. Prosperi (Eds).
2022. Classens, M., and Martin MA. From food charity to food solidarity. In David Szanto, Amanda Di Battista and Irena Knezevic. Food studies: Matter, meaning, movement. An open education resource published with support by Carleton University and Rebus Community.
2022. Martin, MA., and Classens, M. Household foodwork: An essential service, essentially devalued. In David Szanto, Amanda Di Battista and Irena Knezevic. Food studies: Matter, meaning, movement. An open education resource published with support by Carleton University and Rebus Community.
2021. Classens, M., and J. Sumner. Reflecting on food pedagogies in Canada. Canadian Food Studies 8(4) DOI: https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i4.572 (Special issue on Food Pedagogies in Canada)
2021. Classens, M,. K. Adam, S. Deris Crouthers, N. Sheward and R. Lee. Campus food provision as pedagogy: Following students on the path to equitable food systems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Special issue on Critical and Equity-Oriented Pedagogical Innovations in Sustainable Food Systems Education.)
2021. Wilson, A., M. Bessey, J. Brady, M. Classens, K. Lee, C.Z. Levkoe, J. Marshman, T. Martens, S.L. Ruder, P. Stephens, and T. Soma. Looking back on food studies in 2020-2021 in so-called Canada. Canadian Food Studies 8(3) DOI: https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i3.520
2021. Classens, M., E. Hardman, N. Henderson, E. Sytsma, and A. Vestula-Sheffield. Critical food systems education, neoliberalism, and the alternative campus tour. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 45(3): 450-471.
2020. M. Classens and E. Sytsma. Student food literacy, critical food systems pedagogy, and the responsibility of postsecondary institutions. Canadian Food Studies 7(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v7i1.370
2019. Wekerle, G.R. and Classens, M. Challenging property relations and access to land for urban food production. In, C. Tornaghi and C. Certomà (Eds.). Urban gardening as politics. London and New York: Routledge.
2018. Classens, M. The matter of matter: Making property in the Holland Marsh. Society and Natural Resources 31(2): 246-259.
2016. Classens, M. The transformation of the Holland Marsh and the dynamics of wetland loss: A historical political ecological approach. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 7(4): 507-518.
2015. Classens, M. What’s in it for the volunteers? An SROI approach to volunteers’ return on investment. Nonprofit Management & Leadership 26(2): 145-156.
2015. Classens, M. Food, space and the city: theorizing the free spaces of FoodShare’s Good Food Markets. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 24(1): 44-61. (Special issue on Food and the City).
2015. Wekerle, G., and M. Classens. Food production in the city: (re)negotiating land, food and property. Local Environment, 20(10): 1175-1193. (Special issue on Political Gardening).
2014. Classens, M. The nature of urban gardens: toward a political ecology of urban agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values, 32(2): 229-239.
2014. Classens, M., J.J. McMurtry and J Sumner. Doing markets differently: the case of Foodshare Toronto’s Good Food Markets. In J. Quarter, S. Ryan, and A. Chan (Eds.). Social purpose enterprises: case studies for social change (215-235). Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
2013. Sumner, J., J.J. McMurtry and M. Classens. Pitfalls and possibilities: the case of Foodshare Toronto’s Good Food Markets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In F. Miazzo and M. Minkjan (Eds.), Farming the city: food as a tool for urban development (73-77). Amsterdam, ND: CITIES Foundation.
2012. Bardekjian, A., M. Classens, and L. A. Sandberg. Reading the urban landscape: the case of a campus tour at York University, Ontario, Canada. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(3): 249 - 256.
Edited Journals
2023 Leticia Ama Deawuo (Ed) and Michael Classens (collaboration assistant), Speical Issue, Confronting Anti-Black, Anti-Indigenous, and Anti-Asian Racisms in Food Systems in Canada, Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne des Éstudes sur L’alimentation. Open access here.
2021 Co-editor with Jennifer Sumner, Special issue, Food Systems Pedagogy in Canada, Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne des Éstudes sur L’alimentation. Open access here.
2014 Co-editor with Amanda DiBattista, Special issue, End Times and Beginnings, UnderCurrents: A Journal of Critical Environmental Studies, 18.
Book Reviews
2022. M. Classens. Book Review. Food Insecurity on Campus: Action and Intervention (Edited by Katherine M. Bronton and Clare L. Cady) for Gastronomica, 22(3): 90-91.
2018 M. Classens. Book Review. Moving natures: Mobility and environment in Canadian history (Ben Bradley, Jay Young and Colin M Coates) for The Canadian Geographer, 62(2): e5-e6.
2017 M. Classens. Book Review. Persistent progressives: The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (John F. Freeman) for Rural Sociology 82(4): 800-802.
2016 Classens, M. A review of Na Li’s Kensington Market: Collective memory, public history and Toronto’s urban landscape. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 25(1): 89-90.
2015 Classens, M. Book Review, Amy Miller (2014). The carbon rush: the truth behind the carbon market smokescreen. The Goose, 14(1), article 5.
2014 Classens, M. Book Review, Loraine Johnson (2010). City farmer: Adventures in urban food growing. UnderCurrents: A Journal of Critical Environmental Studies, 18: 53-54.
Public work
December 2022. Garcia, C., Rockbrune, S., Rutherford, S., and Classens, M. Building back through addressing environmental inequity. Building Back Differently Project. https://vitalptbo.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2022/12/BBD-environmental-inequity.Dec_.5.22.pdf
September 2022. Martin, MA., Classens, M., and Favreau, J. Food (in)security and COVID-19. Building Back Differently Project. https://peterborough.tracking-progress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/05/Building-Back-Differently-Food-insecurity.April-4.2022.pdf
March 2022. What to read now: Spring 2022. Gastronomica Podcast https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/what-read-now-spring-2022
May 2021. From crisis to continuity: A community response to local food systems challenges in, and beyond, the days of Covid-19. Available here
December 15, 2020. Why does Canada insist that donating to food banks works? Huffington Post
December 13, 2020. Holiday food drives: Tossing a can of beans into a donation bin is hardly enough. The Conversation
Growing change with regenerative food systems. Trent Magazine 51(1) Fall 2020, 18-20.
June 15, 2020. All food systems go: How community and collaboration can create a fairer, healthier food system. Trent News https://www.trentu.ca/ers/news-events/27101
October 23, 2019. Chefs in Peterborough train to create sustainable plant-based dishes. Peterborough Examiner (Clifford Skarstedt) https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/news/peterborough-region/2019/10/23/chefs-in-peterborough-train-to-create-sustainable-plant-based-dishes.html
October 19, 2019. Growing Popularity of Plant-Based Eating Prompts Changes to On-Campus Food Options. Trent News https://www.trentu.ca/news/story/25437