The diasporic meatscapes of the Tamil community in Toronto: How immigrants reconfigure food environments and infrastructures to secure a taste of home
2025
Bruckert, Michaël | Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation (UMR Innovation) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro) | Canada Research Chairs;Chaires de recherche du Canada;CAN;http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001804
Source Agritrop Cirad (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/609751/)
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Show more [+] Less [-]English. Although scholars have studied how people navigate their foodscapes, little research has addressed together the way immigrants experience and shape their food environments. This article explores how the members of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora eat and purchase meat in Toronto, and how they reconfigure the food infrastructures in the city. Unpacking the intertwined politics and practices of food consumption and distribution, it contributes to a dynamic and relational approach to migrant food environments. Drawing on observations and open-ended interviews with members of the Tamil community and with Tamil food entrepreneurs, I argue that, in Toronto, Tamils give specific materialities and meanings to their food environments and food practices, turning what I call “culinary affordances” into suitable meat and meatscapes for the community. Diasporic foodscapes connect different locations – real or fantasized, close or distant, endured or lamented – notably through immigrants' quest for home specific foods.
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