Metropolitics

Navigating Jefes Fantasmas in New York City's Urban Platform Economy

Jackson Todd — 2023-03-03T06:00:00Z

How has the “platform economy” altered urban life, infrastructure, and labor? Jackson Todd examines New York City's deliveristas and the coercive practices employed by food delivery applications. What is the future of labor rights in the new economy?
The logistics of the so-called platform economy have reshaped our cities and communities. Urbanites can now get everything from groceries, toiletries and pet supplies to prescription medications, flowers and fast food delivered to their doors in

- Essays / work, labor, tech economy, tech sector, new economy, precarity, New York, United States, trade unions, food

Covid-19 Transformed New York's Destination Food Markets

Ivana Mellers — 2021-10-05T05:00:00Z

Ivana Mellers analyzes how New York's destination markets—key spaces of economic and social interactions—coped during the pandemic.
---- Series: New York Dossier: The Food Industry Faces the Covid-19 Pandemic Like supermarkets, restaurants, and coffee shops, New York City's three outdoor destination food markets—Queens Night Market, Bronx Night Market, and Smorgasburg—have been seriously impacted by the Covid‑19 pandemic. In March 2020, when organizers would ordinarily be planning their

- From the Field / Featured, market, markets, food, food culture, food industry, Covid-19, coronavirus, pandemic, New York, United States

Between Two Crises: New York's Artisanal Food Startup Founders

Nga Than — 2021-09-28T05:00:00Z

The Covid‑19 pandemic forced a pause to a decade of growth for New York City's artisanal food startups. Strategies employed by their founders reveal the precarity of their circumstances and the importance of support from city government.
---- Series: New York Dossier: The Food Industry Faces the Covid‑19 Pandemic Food startups—small-scale artisanal food preparation enterprises—have proliferated in many global cities since the 2007–2008 financial crisis. In New York City, food manufacturing

- From the Field / food industry, food culture, food, artisans, start-ups, businesses, manufacturing, precarity, Covid-19, coronavirus, pandemic, United States, New York

Can the New Economy Survive without Coffee Shops (and Their Wi‑Fi)?

Thomas R. Chung — 2021-09-21T05:00:00Z

Thomas R. Chung argues that coffee shops play an important role in the creative and tech sectors of the knowledge-based new economy, and shows how the pandemic has disrupted this important node in New York City's agglomeration economy.
---- Series: New York Dossier: The Food Industry Faces the Covid‑19 Pandemic The Covid‑19 pandemic hit close to home for many New Yorkers who depend on the hospitality industry, as dining out and drinking are integral parts of the social, cultural, and

- From the Field / coffee, food, food culture, coronavirus, Covid-19, pandemic, agglomeration economies, coffee shops, tech sector, knowledge-based economy, New York, United States, tech economy, creative industries, new economy

New York Dossier: The Food Industry Faces the Covid‑19 Pandemic

Sharon Zukin — 2021-09-14T05:00:00Z

Metropolitics is pleased to present the second dossier coordinated by faculty and students in the PhD program in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), which explore New York City–specific issues. This dossier, comprising four articles, examines New York City's food industry in the face of the Covid‑19 pandemic. Sharon Zukin introduces the series, with articles by Thomas R. Chung, Nga Than, and Ivana Mellers to follow.
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- Series / food, food culture, Covid-19, coronavirus, food industry, New York, United States

#IStayCamp. Health Conditions, Food Deprivation and Solidarity Problems in the First Days of Lockdown in the Roma Villages of Rome

Carlo Stasolla & Tommaso Vitale — 2020-04-28T05:00:00Z

Activist research in formal settlements of emergency housing in Rome during the Covid‑19 lockdown reveals how such settlements struggle with public health concerns and access to food, among other deprivations, and underscores the need for emergency interventions.
On March 9, 2020, “in order to counteract and contain the spread of the Covid‑19 virus,” Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree implementing a complete lockdown aimed at “avoiding any movement of individuals.” The

- From the Field / Roma, Rome, Italy, camps, Covid-19, lockdown, health, food, solidarity, coronavirus

The Risk of “Foodwashing” in Calls for Innovative Urban Projects

Paula Macé Le Ficher & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-02-22T06:00:00Z

Paula Macé Le Ficher analyzes the ways in which farming and food issues have been integrated into calls for innovative projects organized in Greater Paris, and highlights the potential these programs have for fostering new developments in the field of urban agriculture—while remaining realistic about extent to which they might transform the urban food system in the Paris region.
Since the start of the 2010s, food has emerged as an essential theme for urban projects. This rising prominence

- From the Field / food, Greater Paris, development, urban project, urban agriculture, foodwashing, calls for projects, farming, agriculture

Taste of Home: A Sociocultural Exploration of Food Habits and Health Among Bangladeshi Immigrants in New York City

Fatema Kamal — 2018-05-22T05:00:00Z

Resettlement in an entirely different country may have drastic consequences for an individual's health. This is particularly true among immigrants to the US from South Asia; people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives experience particularly severe obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes post-migration. Sociologist Fatema Kamal investigates the nutritional practices of Bangladeshi adults living in New York City, exploring the influence of cultural

- From the Field / immigration, food, New York, migration, Queens, identity, Bronx, Bangladeshi, nutrition, ethnic identity

Proclaiming “Veggie Pride” in Paris and New York

Elizabeth Cherry — 2016-11-22T06:00:00Z

How do animal-rights activists promote vegetarianism? Many activists use environmental and health arguments, but this is not always an acceptable tactic to other activists. In this article, Elizabeth Cherry explores how activists in Paris and New York take two different approaches to promoting vegetarianism while using the same tactic, a “Veggie Pride” parade.
Animal-rights activists oppose animal exploitation in all its forms. Since the mid‑1980s, animal-rights activism has centered on

- From the Field / health, environment, social movement, Paris, food, New York, meat, activism, animal rights, vegetarian, vegan, animal welfare, tactics, Veggie Pride

Let Bodegas Be Bodegas

Dory Thrasher — 2016-09-20T05:00:00Z

A new rule proposed by the US Department of Agriculture would impose new stocking rules on food stores that accept SNAP benefits, requiring them to carry more perishable and healthy food. This requirement would primarily affect small convenience stores. Dory Thrasher argues that this intervention, despite its beneficent intentions, is unlikely to transform the nutrition environment for low-income households.
In February, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a rule

- Debates / food, food deserts, bodegas, nutrition policy, SNAP, US Department of Agriculture, nutrition