Author
Abstract Problem, research strategy, and findingsU.S. suburbs have increasingly diversified in the past 2 decades. Most working-class and lower income immigrant households settle in older suburbs of metro regions, reversing their decline. In this study I examined the multifaceted contribution of immigrant food entrepreneurs toward the wellbeing of a multiethnic, working-class suburb (Upper Darby, PA). This mixed-methods study relied on historical research, a survey, and field observation to explore how immigrant-run food stores shaped the food environment. The historical research examined the contribution of immigrant food businesses to vacancy and food access over time and found that persistent operation, ownership, and business transfer of ethnic food businesses stabilized the community and provided continuous access to food. A cross-sectional survey of a sample of residents demonstrated that ethnic food businesses contributed to the diversity and density of the food environment, creating a healthier environment and enabling residents to navigate it according to their needs, preferences, and budgets. The sample size was relatively small (n = 115) for this exploratory research design. Insufficient data points and large number of explanatory variables posed challenges for some statistical tests (e.g., multinomial logistic regression), which did not yield strong results.Takeaway for practiceCommunity development stakeholders, including planners, recognize newcomers’ contributions toward labor markets and local economies but have paid less attention to the health effects of immigrant revitalization. This study’s findings call planners’ attention to equitable development practices, such as creating economic inclusion pathways for immigrant populations, as an important strategy to invest in equitable, multicultural, and healthy communities.
Suggested Citation
Maryam Khojasteh, 2023.
"Unplanned Food Access,"
Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(2), pages 210-224, April.
Handle:
RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:89:y:2023:i:2:p:210-224
DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2022.2094450
Download full text from publisher
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:89:y:2023:i:2:p:210-224. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rjpa20 .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.