Biography

Jonathan Thomas is a scholar, farmer and sustainable agriculture advocate from Pennsylvania. He farms a 90-acre organic hay and vegetable farm and has participated in direct marketing of locally grown farm products for almost 20 years. Jonathan is currently completing field research on farm succession in the northeastern U.S. and is completing requirements for his Ph.D. in anthropology. Over the past ten years, Jonathan has taught a number of classes as an adjunct instructor at Temple University and Millersville University on issues of sustainable food crop production, human spatial behavior, and social issues of urban growth in the post-industrial city. Jonathan is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture. He served on the Certification Committee of the Pennsylvania Certified Organic. He is an advisor on the Lebanon County Committee of the Farm Service Agency and a member of the Slow Food Convivia: Susquehanna Heartland in south central Pennsylvania.