Food gentrification: a concept under debate and reflections from literature
Keywords:
Food gentrification, foodification, gourmetization, food, gentrificationAbstract
Despite the rise in the conceptualization and use of the term food gentrification and given the complexity of food-related dynamics in urban territories, a critical reflection on the ontological concomitance between food and gentrification is necessary. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyze the theoretical discussions generated around the conceptualization of food gentrification through a systematic literature review. The study concludes that the literature on food gentrification has transcended urban studies, becoming articulated with processes of foodification and gourmetization. This is innovative as it provides a mapping of the theorization of food gentrification, all from a panoramic perspective on an emerging construct.
Downloads
References
Alkon, Alison Hope y Josh Cadji (2018). Sowing Seeds of Displacement: Gentrification and Food Justice in Oakland, CA. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 44(1), 108-123. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12684
Alkon, Alison Hope; Yahya Josh Cadji y Frances Moore (2019). Subverting the new narrative: food, gentrification and resistance in Oakland, California. Agriculture and Human Values, 36(4), 793-804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09954-x
Anguelovski, Isabelle (2015a). Healthy Food Stores, Greenlining and Food Gentrification: Contesting New Forms of Privilege, Displacement and Locally Unwanted Land Uses in Racially Mixed Neighborhoods. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39(6), 1209-1230. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12299
Anguelovski, Isabelle (2015b). Alternative food provision conflicts in cities: Contesting food privilege, injustice, and whiteness in Jamaica Plain, Boston. Geoforum, 58, 184-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.10.014
Aptekar, Sofya y Justin Myers (2020). The tale of two community gardens: green aesthetics versus food justice in the big apple. Agriculture and Human Values, 37(3), 779-792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-10011-w
Bonotti, Matteo y Anne Barnhill (2022). Food, Gentrification and Located Life Plans. Food Ethics, 7(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-022-00101-7
Borghini, Andrea y Nicola Piras (2022). Eating Local as Public Art. Aisthesis (Italy), 15(1), 15-27. https://doi.org/10.36253/Aisthesis-13449
Bourlessas, Panos; Samantha Cenere y Alberto Vanolo (2022). The work of foodification: an analysis of food gentrification in Turin, Italy. Urban Geography, 43(9), 1328-1349. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2021.1927547
Bourlessas, Panos; Mirella Loda y Matteo Puttilli (2022). Food and urban changes. Variations of foodification. Rivista Geografica Italiana, 4, 5-12. https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa4-2022oa14991
Breyer, Betsy y Adriana Voss-Andreae (2013). Food mirages: Geographic and economic barriers to healthful food access in Portland, Oregon. Health and Place, 24, 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.07.008
Caramaschi, Sara (2023). Ingredients for displacement: an exploration of the role of street food advocates in San Francisco’s changing environment. Urban Geography, 45(3), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2189393
Caruso, Olivia; Michael Chrobok y Nevin Cohen (2022). Gentrification and Food Retail Instability: A Census Tract Analysis of the Bronx, New York, 2008 and 2017. Professional Geographer, 74(3), 485-502. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2021.20 00440
Cenere, Samantha y Panos Bourlessas (2022). What do we really talk about when we talk about foodification? Reflections from Porta Palazzo neighbourhood in Turin, Italy. Rivista Geografica Italiana, 4, 61-80. https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa4-2022oa14997
Chun Tie, Ylona; Melanie Birks y Karen Francis (2019). Grounded theory research: A design framework for novice researchers. SAGE Open Medicine, 7, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118822927
Cohen, Nevin (2022). Roles of Cities in Creating Healthful Food Systems. Annual Review of Public Health, 43, 419-437. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-052220-021059
Crespi Vallbona, Montserrat y Marta Domínguez Pérez (2016). Los mercados de abastos y las ciudades turísticas. Pasos Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 14(2), 401-416.
De Souza Bispo, Marcelo y Larissa Lucena Almeida (2020). Food trucks and food parks as a social innovation of eating out practice: A study in João Pessoa - Brazil. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 20, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2020.100209
Delve; Ho Lai Yee y Alex Limpaecher (2022). Open, Axial, and Selective Coding in Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide. 24 de noviembre de 2025. Recuperado de https://delvetool.com/blog/openaxialselective
Di Virgilio, María Mercedes; María Agustina Frisch; Sara González; Sebastián Grenoville; Candela Hernández; Beatriz Nussbaumer y José Manuel Vega-Barbero (2024). Gourmetización y gentrificación: paisajes alimentarios desde la ciudad hasta el campo. Íconos - Revista de Ciencias Sociales 79(28), 15-35. https://doi.org/10.17141/iconos.79.2024.6025
Fantini, Andrea (2023). Right to the city or environmental gentrification? A discussion about risks and potential of urban agriculture. Urban Geography, 44(5), 1003-1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2174351
Frixa, Emanuele (2022). Foodification and ‘responsible’ practices during the pandemic: The case of Cucine popolari in Bologna. Rivista Geografica Italiana, 4, 46-60. https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa4-2022oa14996
García-Henche, Blanca (2018). Urban experiential tourism marketing: Use of social media as communication tools by the food markets of Madrid. Journal of Tourism Analysis: Revista de Análisis Turístico, 25(1), 2-22.
García-Henche, Blanca (2017). Los mercados de abastos y su comercialización como producto de turismo de experiencias. El caso de Madrid. Cuadernos de Turismo, 39, 167-189.
García-Lamarca, Melissa y Aaron Vansintjan (2021). Ordinary and extraordinary greening: Tensions amidst Saint-Henri, Montréal’s development boom. En I. Anguelovski, P. Kotsila, D. Moore, y M. Lennon (Eds.), The Green City and Social Injustice: 21 Tales from North America and Europe (pp. 187-199). Routledge.
Giampiccoli, Andrea; Anna Dłużewska y Erasmus Mzobanzi Mnguni (2023). Tourists, locals and urban revitalization through street food in Warsaw. Food and Foodways, 31(2), 135-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2023.2199968
Gómez-Varo, Irene; Xavier Delclòs-Alió y Carme Miralles-Guasch (2021). Vitalidad urbana y vida cotidiana: revisitando a Jane Jacobs desde el análisis espacial del comercio alimentario en Barcelona. Cuadernos Geográficos, 60(3), 147-167. https://doi.org/10.30827/cuadgeo.v60i3.16962
González, Sara (2020). Contested marketplaces: Retail spaces at the global urban margins. Progress in Human Geography, 44(5), 877-897. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519859444
Guimarães, Pedro (2023). Reabilitação ou gentrificação comercial? Discurso e práticas associadas à transformação dos mercados municipais de comércio em Portugal. Revista de Urbanismo, 48, 135-155. https://doi.org/10.5354/0717-5051.2023.68020
Harris, Deborah y Rachel Phillips (2021). What’s better than a biscuit?: Gourmetization and the transformation of a Southern food staple. Food and Foodways, 29(3), 243-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1943614
Hernández-Cordero, Adrián y José Antonio Vázquez-Medina (2024). Presentación del dossier. Alimentación y gentrificación en América Latina. Íconos - Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 28(79), 7-14.
Joassart-Marcelli, Pascale y Fernando J. Bosco (2020). Contested Ethnic Foodscapes: Survival, Appropriation, and Resistance in Gentrifying Immigrant Neighborhoods. En J. Agyeman y S. Giacalone (Eds.), The Immigrant-Food Nexus (pp. 59-80). The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11862.003.0007
Lin, Jinping; Bowen Zhang; Jiajia Feng,; Zeyu Yi; Hao Zhang; Man Luo; Zhujun Zhong y Fei Zhao (2023). Determining food tourism consumption of wild mushrooms in Yunnan Provence, China: A projection-pursuit approach. Heliyon, 9(3), e14638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14638
Loda, Mirella; Sara Bonati y Matteo Puttilli (2020). History to eat. The foodification of the historic centre of Florence. Cities, 103(60), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102746
Loda, Mirella y Matteo Puttilli (2022). History (still) to eat. The impact of the pandemic on the catering sector in the historical centre of Florence. Rivista Geografica Italiana, 4, 13-29. https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa4-2022oa14992
Lütke, Petra y Eva Jäger (2021). Food Consumption in Cologne Ehrenfeld: Gentrification through Gastrofication? Urban Science, 5(26), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci5010026
Mariano-Juárez, Lorenzo; Xavier Medina y David Conde-Caballero (2023). Popular cuisines at foodie tables. Social class, distinction, and food transformation and incorporation in contemporary gastronomies. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 33, 100791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2023.100791
Martínez, Enrique; Francisco Fuentes y Didier Bazile (2015). History of Quinoa: Its Origin, Domestication, Diversification, and Cultivation with Particular Reference to the Chilean Context. En K. Murphy y J. Matanguihan (Eds.), Quinoa: Improvement and Sustainable Production (pp. 19-24). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118628041.ch2
Martínez Salvador, Laura y David Alvarado Ramírez (2019). Protección institucional de la agrobiodiversidad. Un análisis desde los Sistemas Agroalimentarios Localizados de quínoa boliviana y amaranto mexicano. En M. C. Renard Hubert y J. M. Tolentino Martínez (Eds.), Red SIAL México. Diez años de contribución a los estudios de los Sistemas Agroalimentarios Localizados (pp. 165-182). IICA; CONACYT; Red SIAL-México.
Matta, Raúl (2023). From the Plate to Gastro-Politics Unravelling the Boom of Peruvian Cuisine. Palgrave Macmillan.
McKenzie, Joanne; Matthew Page; Evan Mayo-Wilson; David Moher y Yemisi Takwoingi (2024). Prisma 2020 Flow diagram. 23 de julio, (enlace).
Narayanan, Nipesh Palat (2022). Delhi ke momos mast hote hain: Constructing the city through food. Rivista Geografica Italiana, 4, 81-98. https://doi.org/10.3280/rgioa4-2022oa15000
Oliveira Freire, Ana Lucy (2018). Mercados públicos: de equipamentos de abastecimento de alimentos a espaços gastronômicos para o turismo. Geografares, 25, 176-198.
Ong, Vanessa; Kelly Skinner y Leia M Minaker (2021). Life stories of food agency, health, and resilience in a rapidly gentrifying urban centre: Building a multidimensional concept of food access. Social Science and Medicine, 280, 114074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114074
Oths, Kathryn S.; Katy M. Groves y Toni J. Copeland (2019). All’s Well That Ends Well: How Alabama Farmers Marketers “Last Stand” Against Modernity Was Finally Resolved. Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment, 41(1), 45-55. https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12225
Palomino Gonzales, María (2016). Gourmetización del alimento andino y la estetización del agricultor como parte del boom gastronómico peruano. Razón y Palabra, 20(94), 581-595.
Pedret-Massanet, Cecilia; Luis López-Lago Ortiz y Diego Allen-Perkins (2023). From stigma to haute cuisine: Strategies, agents, and discourses in the revalorisation of Carob as a gourmet product. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 31, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2023.100677
Peña, Lorena (2023). Pastrami’s gourmetisation in Jewish cuisine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 32, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2023.100696
Rick, Christopher; Jeehee Han; Brian Elbel y Amy Ellen Schwartz (2023). The Link between Gentrification, Children’s Egocentric Food Environment, and Obesity. Housing Policy Debate, 33(1), 85-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2022.2125788
Roseberry, William (1996). The rise of Yuppie Coffees and the reimagination of class in the United States. American Anthropologist, 98(4), 762-775.
Sbicca, Joshua (2019). Urban agriculture, revalorization, and green gentrification in Denver, Colorado. Research in Political Sociology, 26, 149-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0895-993520190000026011
Sbicca, Joshua; Sara González; Guadalupe Ramos y Ricard Espelt (2018). Gentrificación, privilegios e injusticia alimentaria. FUHEM Ecosocial, 24 de noviembre (enlace).
Shah, Karishma (2023). Calculating the Impacts of Food Gentrification in Portland, Oregon. Food Ethics, 8(12), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41055-023-00120-y
Shen, Xiwei; Mingze Chen; Mengting Ge y Mary G. Padua (2022). Examining the Conceptual Model of Potential Urban Development Patch (PUDP), VOCs, and Food Culture in Urban Ecology: A Case in Chengdu, China. Atmosphere, 13(9), 1369. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13091369
Talamini, Gianni; Weike Li y Xin Li (2022). From brick-and-mortar to location-less restaurant: The spatial fixing of on-demand food delivery platformization. Cities, 128(June), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103820
Vázquez-Medina, José Antonio; Adrián Hernández-Cordero; Sofía Inés Lagos y Francisco Ramón Rangel-Trujillo (2020) Gentrificación y alimentación en Santa María la Ribera. Estudios Sociales: Revista de Alimentación Contemporánea y Desarrollo Regional, 30(55), 1-25.
Zukin, Sharon; Scarlett Lindeman y Hurson, Laurie (2017). The omnivore’s neighborhood? Online restaurant reviews, race, and gentrification. Journal of Consumer Culture, 17(3), 459-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540515611203
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Laura Elena Martínez Salvador
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Los autores/as conservan los derechos de autor y ceden a la revista el derecho de la primera publicación, con el trabajo registrado con la licencia de atribución de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial (CC-BY 4.0), que permite a terceros utilizar lo publicado siempre que mencionen la autoría del trabajo y a la primera publicación en esta revista. Encrucijadas permite y se anima a todas las personas autoras a depositar la versión final publicada en repositorios institucionales o temáticos de acceso abierto, cumpliendo en caso necesario los términos establecidos por la entidad financiadora de la investigación.
