Disaggregating the South Asian Ethnic Food Economy in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada

Immigrant-run ethnic food retailers can provide healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate foods to immigrant communities, alongside economic opportunities. Data reflecting South Asian food retailers over multiple time points are derived and made openly available. Using emerging hot spot analysis and spatial lag panel models with time fixed effects, this study investigates the distinct spatiotemporal relationships of different South Asian national groups with the production of the food retail environment in the Greater Toronto Area, through the lens of immigrant agency. Findings indicate that different South Asian immigrant groups and retailers emerge in distinct spatiotemporal patterns and have varying relationships with the built food retail environment. Overall, this study challenges the perspective of immigrants only assimilating to their host country’s food environment by highlighting the complex contributions of immigrants to the built environment. It serves as empirical support for perspectives that center immigrant power in food geography research, specifically in the immigrant diet and health subfield.