Gentrification is one of the most pressing issues in the U.S. today. Since 2000, nearly 20% of neighborhoods with lower incomes and home values have experienced an influx of wealth and capital, often with the intent to change the area's demographics over time. In Los Angeles county, the number of gentrifying neighborhoods increased by 16% between 1990 and 2015. In that same period of time, 27% of New York City’s neighborhoods have (and continue to) gentrify, with average rents in some areas increasing as much as 78%. These neighborhoods that historically suffered from lack of investment are now reckoning with what feels like the choice between improved community infrastructure and resources, at the cost of displacing long-term residents.

But neighborhood revitalization doesn’t always have to come at the expense of its residents. In particular, hospitality businesses - often viewed as proxies for gentrification - are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between neighborhood members, community organizations, private enterprise, and the local government: as spaces for gathering and collaboration, as well as a resource to feed and care for the community. However, there are few publicly available resources aimed at mobilizing the hospitality industry to actively participate in anti-gentrification efforts. While there exist many organizers and businesses practicing community investment, their ideas and strategies still need to be captured in a hospitality-specific framework that models how businesses can improve, invest, and uplift the neighborhoods in which they operate.

Mainstream food and beverage media further contributes to these cycles of gentrification, by neglecting to evaluate hospitality businesses for their relationship to gentrification in their coverage. They often opt to avoid the topic altogether, or glorify new changes as objective improvements. This lack of accountability disincentivizes hospitality business owners and professionals from seriously engaging with the uncomfortable work of listening to their community and divesting from behaviors that contribute to displacement and exclusion in the neighborhood.