About
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The Project | Covid-19 Research | Awards and Recognition
The Project
This project considers the place of food production and consumption in Italian-Canadian culture, examining cuisine as one of the defining traits of cultural identity for Italian immigrants that settled within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) over the past one hundred years. It begins with an overview of the history of Italian immigration to Toronto and key neighbourhoods built and transformed by this diaspora, including the establishment of landmark food businesses that persist to this day. Using a sociocultural, historical lens, the project further highlights the impact and contributions of the Italian community on Toronto’s food industry, tracing the growth and enduring legacies of restaurants in the face of cultural demographic shifts towards the turn of the century. This project further outlines the importance of recognizing and preserving the culinary traditions of diasporas, particularly in times of crises that impact local businesses and threaten to erase the cultural footprint of immigrant communities.
In an effort to preserve Italian-Canadian culinary traditions, as well as to deploy them in service of foreign language acquisition, Prof. Lobalsamo oversees a student-led research initiative centred on identifying, analyzing, and archiving culinary artifacts (such as menus and advertisements) from historically significant Italian-Canadian eateries in the GTA. Students enrolled in Cucina italiana (UTM), Scholars in Residence (UTM), Work Study (UofT), internships, and those who volunteer, have the opportunity to participate in a community-engaged field experience in which they visit (in-person or remotely) Toronto’s Italian eateries, interview proprietors, and identify culinary artifacts for preservation in a new digital archive being developed at UTM. To help ensure that the diaspora mark, success, and memory will not simply fade away, researchers Samantha Arpas, Adriano Pasquali, and Dellannia Segreti (UTM) consider the factors that have changed the perception of Italian food over time and examine the current landscape of food establishments.
Documenting Italian Eatery Closures in the GTHA
A Story of How Ontario's COVID-19 Emergency Lockdown Measures Affected Consumer Behaviours Towards Eateries.
Updated: January 19, 2022
This project looked at consumer behaviour patterns and restaurant closures per region to see if there was a correlation. We were able to collect consumer behaviour patterns through a series of questions in the form of a questionnaire that was distributed online. This was then analyzed with data that we had about the number of closures per region. This research has opened various future directions to consolidate the findings.
Contributors
Dellannia Segreti
Lead Researcher
Samantha Arpas
Lead Researcher
Jia Ying Gu
Researcher
Awards and Recognition
2020
Scholars in Residence, University of Toronto.
2021
Scholars in Residence, University of Toronto.
Student Engagement Award, University of Toronto.
Poster Competition: Humanities Winner.
2022
NYU Conference: Digital Mapping (invited).
Associate of American Teachers of Italian (AATI) Conference, Lucca, Italy (invited).
Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of Toronto Mississauga.
Sustainable Action Award, University of Toronto.
Credits
Teresa Lobalsamo, Faculty Supervisor
Samantha Arpas, Project Manager
Dellannia Segreti, Project Manager
Adriano Pasquali, Regulatory Coordinator
Katherine (Kate) Ferrin, Omeka Exhibit Creator and Researcher