Food deserts, food mirages, and gentrification in Toronto, Canada
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6426875 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrycia Menko (University of Waterloo), Dana Lee Olstad (0000-0001-9787-9952, University of Calgary), Dana Olstad, Adrian Buttazzoni (0000-0002-1508-5946, University of Waterloo), Leia M Minaker (0000-0002-7751-2202, University of Waterloo) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 94 |
| Pages | 103490-103490 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health & Place (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1353-8292 • E-ISSN: 1873-2054 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.healthplace.2025.103490 |
| PMID | 40460666 |
| OpenAlex | W4410942497 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 59 |
Few studies have explored links between retail food environments and gentrifying neighbourhoods across cities. As populations shift and commercial development continues, unpacking "food gentrification" processes in low-equity areas is important for ensuring healthy and equitable food access across cities. To further investigate this potential phenomenon, we used both primary (retailer consultations) and secondary (Canadian census, Toronto Public Health food inspection, land use zoning) data to explore cross-sectional links between food deserts and food mirages, four measures of gentrification in Toronto using the GENUINE gentrification tool, and Business Improvement Areas (BIAs). Food deserts represented about a tenth (9.3 %) of all dissemination areas in Toronto while food mirages represented only 4.5 %. Yet, nearly half (45 %) of all low-equity areas in Toronto were food deserts and food mirages (affecting approximately 516,000 residents). All gentrification measures employed, including BIAs, were also significantly associated with the existence of food deserts (between 2.5 and 14.5 times higher odds, respectively) while only two were associated with the existence of food mirages after adjusting for commercial zoning (between 1.6 and 2.7 times higher odds, respectively). Surprisingly, food deserts, not food mirages, were more strongly associated with gentrification. Longitudinal research is needed to better capture and monitor the evolution of food mirages
Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Gentrification · Geography · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Business Improvement Districts
Association between household food insecurity and annual health care costs
Importing Ideas
Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States
The Urban Liveability Index
The intersection of neighborhood racial segregation, poverty, and urbanicity and its impact on food store availability in the United States
Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017
The Creative City and the Redevelopment of the Toronto Entertainment District
Spatial Characterization of Urban Vitality and the Association With Various Street Network Metrics From the Multi-Scalar Perspective
Gentrification and Food Retail Instability
From Operational to Aspirational? Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) in Mid-Sized Cities
Healthy Food Access in Low-Income High-Minority Communities
Geographic and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12
A systematic review employing the GeoFern framework to examine methods, reporting quality and associations between the retail food environment and obesity
Framing and the health policy process
Retail food environments research in Canada
Cities and the Creative Class
Neighborhood Diversity and Food Access in a Changing Urban Spatial Structure
Commercial Gentrification, Ethnicity, and Social Mixedness
New Retail Capital and Neighborhood Change
Causally speaking
Going outside the neighborhood
Exploring the distribution of food stores in British Columbia
Food mirages
Spatial patterning of supermarkets and fast food outlets with respect to neighborhood characteristics
A Study of the Role of Small Ethnic Retail Grocery Stores in Urban Renewal in a Social Housing Project, Toronto, Canada
Food Deserts, Oases, or Mirages
Ethnic enterprises and community development
Access to supermarkets among poorer neighborhoods
Toronto’s Little Portugal
Governing the Commercial Streets of the City
The Impact of Gentrification on Ethnic Neighbourhoods in Toronto
Urban rapid rail transit and gentrification in Canadian urban centres
Sari vs. Dim Sum – Business Improvement Areas and the Branding of Toronto's Ethnic Neighbourhoods
Foodscapes of southern Ontario
Changing Neighbourhoods
Reclaiming the European City and Lobbying for Privilege
Displacement or Succession
Ethnic Packaging and Gentrification
Life stories of food agency, health, and resilience in a rapidly gentrifying urban centre
Food insecurity, chronic illness, and gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area
Healthy Food Stores, Greenlining and Food Gentrification
A kinder, gentler gentrification
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |