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Food gentrification is a key driver of socio‐economic and socio‐cultural change in urban spaces. The influx of affluent populations into marginalized neighborhoods often leads to the rise of new food outlets—upscale restaurants, artisan cafés, and boutique‐style food shops—that may initially complement but eventually displace local food cultures. This study examines Javastraat in Amsterdam as a prominent example of urban (food) gentrification in Europe, focusing in particular on the long‐term effects of gentrification on restaurants and food shops who identify as non‐European in their menus and food marketing. State‐led redevelopment in Javastraat has displaced local shops and eateries while imposing cosmopolitan ideals of diversity and sustainability. As a result, long‐established immigrant food establishments have been pressured to align their menus to the tastes of the incoming affluent residents and elite workers. This shift has generated insecurity and alienation among the owners and employees of these vital social gathering spaces. By framing Javastraat as a space in flux, we analyze the experiences of these stakeholders through the lens of social navigation and explore how these gastronomic professionals are navigating shifting food cultures and urban environments.

This thematic issue explores the importance of food geographies in understanding and shaping sustainable food systems in urban contexts. As cities strive to achieve sustainability goals, the importance of food as a critical urban system has become increasingly recognized. The contributions in this issue highlight the need for intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to address issues of food justice, equality, and sustainability in urban areas. The Covid‐19 pandemic, trade wars, and climate change have exacerbated existing inequalities in food access, underlining the urgency of rethinking and redesigning urban food systems. This issue brings together diverse perspectives from across disciplines and regions to critically assess theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches in food geographies, and to explore new avenues for innovation and collaboration. By examining the complex intersections of food, space, governance, and practice, this thematic issue illuminates potential pathways towards more just, equitable, and sustainable food futures for all. It also highlights the role of cities as key sites for transformative change in the pursuit of socio‐ecological and socio‐economical transitions.

As an essential urban matter, food has always been highly relevant in issues of social and environmental justice. Current debates around food call for a better understanding of the relationship between global and local food production and social and environmental justice. Specifically, discussions on urban greening concepts are considering whether and how social justice and sustainability goals can be achieved. This has become a pressing issue due to a growing awareness of negative effects and social imbalances in the production, consumption, and disposal of food. The article explores the normative foundations and constructions of “good and just food” that are considered appropriate to a sustainable food system and the power techniques related to personal and environmental responsibility that feature in the work of the German food policy councils seeking to initiate a transformation process. Using a governmentality approach based on Foucault, this article seeks to fill gaps in the literature regarding food policy councils and, thereby, contribute to our understanding of the local manifestations of global policy projects that address environmental and social justice in green cities.

Everyday life is a central element for understanding the (sub)urban. Broader forces shape the (sub)urban and manifest in both its geographical structures and everyday life. These forces also shape globalized and complex urban contexts. Recent debates have addressed the question of which research designs best decipher this interplay. We argue that the struggles of everyday life could be a fruitful starting point for (sub)urban studies. Our research on socio-spatial changes in suburbia shows that these struggles emerge in a multidimensional field of tension. The concept of struggles of everyday life simultaneously acknowledges the relevance of the everyday and the impact of structural forces. We demonstrate this with our research design, the essential elements of which are literature work, narrative-episodic interviews, expert interviews, vignettes, and a hermeneutic, iterative research process. Conceptually, our research is based on the epistemological framework of planetary urbanization and Henri Lefebvre’s perspective on everyday life. We outline which conceptual and methodical approaches are useful for deciphering the interweaving of everyday life and structural forces, through the example of a suburb of the City of Cologne, Germany. Thereby, we provide remarks on recent questions of comparative urbanism in conceptual and methodological terms.

Food and nutrition trends cater for many more functions than simply satisfying the physical need for food. Given the fundamental significance of everyday food it seems clear that it is also relevant in urban development processes. Nutrition trends and food outlets influence the attractiveness and quality of life of neighborhoods, and therefore also reflect the development of urban space. This article aims to bring together the topics of urban development, consumption, and current nutrition trends. Attention is focused on the role played by gastronomic landscapes in urban gentrification processes and how current nutrition trends are manifested. Empirical research was conducted between 2019 and 2020 in the case-study district of Ehrenfeld in the city of Cologne. In the past, this industrial neighborhood was affected by downgrading processes. After years of decline, rising vacancy rates, and outwards migration, there have been clear signs of upgrading in Ehrenfeld since the end of the 1990s. The neighborhood is also characterized by an extensive and continuously growing gastronomic landscape, which combines a multiplicity of national and international cuisines and food cultures. About one-third of the food outlets located on Venloer Straße were established between 2010 and 2020.

The text explores the implicit relationship between food practices and gentrification processes in a neoliberal city. Based on Bourdieu’s capital types, the text explores the ways in which one’s personal taste in food and urban space can lead to the transformation of whole neighbourhoods. In particular, it looks at the role food trucks played in the ways in which an East Austin neighbourhood gentrified from 2012-2020. The research finds that food trucks turn fallow lots into bustling urban spaces and places. Such convivial and vibrant urban settings attract the creative class and drive up property values. We argue that culinary practices, and food trucks in particular, are critical vehicles of the gentrification process.

Neuroimmune responses remain understudied in people with neck pain. This study aimed to (1) compare a broad range of systemic neuroimmune responses in people with non-specific neck pain ( N = 112), cervical radiculopathy ( N = 25), and healthy participants ( N = 23); and (2) explore their associations with clinical, psychological and lifestyle factors. Quantification of systemic neuroimmune responses involved ex vivo serum and in vitro evoked-release levels of inflammatory markers, and characterization of white blood cell phenotypes. Inflammatory indices were calculated to obtain a measure of total immune status and were considered the main outcomes. Differences between groups were tested using analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) and multivariable regression models. Compared to healthy participants, the ex vivo pro-inflammatory index was increased in people with non-specific neck pain (β = 0.70, p = 0.004) and people with cervical radiculopathy (β = 0.64, p = 0.04). There was no difference between non-specific neck pain and cervical radiculopathy (β = 0.23, p = 0.36). Compared to non-specific neck pain, people with cervical radiculopathy showed lower numbers of monocytes (β = −59, p = 0.01). There were no differences between groups following in vitro whole blood stimulation ( p ≥ 0.23) or other differences in the number and phenotype of white blood cells ( p ≥ 0.07). The elevated ex vivo neuroimmune responses in people with non-specific neck pain and radiculopathy support the contention that these conditions encompass inflammatory components that can be measured systemically. There were multiple significant associations with clinical, psychological and lifestyle factors, such as pain intensity (β = 0.25) and anxiety (β = 0.23) in non-specific neck pain, visceral adipose tissue (β = 0.43) and magnification (β = 0.59) in cervical radiculopathy, and smoking (β = 0.59) and visceral adipose tissue (β = 0.52) in healthy participants. These associations were modified by sex, indicating different neuroimmune associations for females and males.