- Benchmarking the North American Food Economy
- Creative Industries and the Creative Economy
- Creative Rural Economies
- Global Creativity
- Happiness & Geography
- Idea Factory
- Innovation and Creative Industries
- Jurisdictional Advantage
- Mega-regions
- Music & Entertainment Economy
- Ontario in the Creative Age
- Prosperity in the Creative Age
- Salon Camden@MPI
- Strength in Services
- Toronto 2010 Election Series
Benchmarking the North American Food Economy
Food is not just essential to human survival; it is also an increasingly noteworthy sector of advanced economies. The food sector is a site of tremendous product and process innovation. It is part of the wider cultural economy, where symbolic value is greater than physical value. It is also an area where economic inequality – so often discussed in the abstract – can clearly be observed.
Like all economic activity, the food economy takes different forms in different places. The MPI’s Food Economy Project investigates variation in the food economy across North American Cities. Through the construction of a Regional Food Quality Index (RFQI), this project examines how variables like food cost, food selection, food quality, and food variables differ from city-region to city-region. By focusing on the “3As” of regional food quality (access, availability, and assurance), the index will not only create a score that can be used to compare and benchmark regions with each other, it will also allow for deeper analysis of the regional relationships between food and food quality with public health, social welfare, and other public goods. The objective of this research is to contribute to the growing public policy interest in North America and beyond regarding the role of the food economy in sustaining and enhancing economic, environmental, social and cultural life in North American city-regions.
PUBLICATIONS
Insight – Food Deserts and Priority Neighbourhoods in Toronto
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Whelan, A., Wrigley, N., Warm, D. & Cannings, E. (2002). Life in a ‘Food Desert’ Urban Studies 39(11),2083-2100.
- Toronto City Summit Alliance. (2007). Strong Neighbourhoods: Supporting the Call to Action. Discussion Paper for Toronto Summit 2007. February 26-27, 2007.
- Hulchanski, J.D. (2007). The Three Cities within Toronto: Income Polarization among Toronto’s Neighbourhoods,1970-2000. Center for Urban & Community Studies, University of Toronto. Research Bulletin 41.
- Larsen, K. & Gilliland, J. (2008). Mapping the evolution of ‘food deserts’ in a Canadian city: Supermarket accessibility in London, Ontario, 1961-2005 International Journal of Health Geographics. 7(16), 1-16.
- Toronto Public Health. (2010). Food Connections: Toward a Healthy and Sustainable Food System for Toronto.
TEAM
Kevin Stolarick, Martin Prosperity Institute
Patrick Adler, Martin Prosperity Institute
Mark Denstedt, Martin Prosperity Institute
Zara Matheson, Martin Prosperity Institute