London sits in the middle of southwestern Ontario’s farmland, among the most productive agricultural land in Canada. Corn, soft fruit, tobacco historically, and a substantial greenhouse industry to the south.
Covent Garden Market has operated on the same downtown site since 1845 and remains the best single view of what the surrounding county produces. The city’s local food movement is well established, and the restaurants have reliable access to nearby growers.
The university gives London a student population and the restaurants that follow, concentrated in Richmond Row and the downtown core. Lake Erie is forty minutes south, with perch and pickerel on menus through the region, and the Ontario wine country around Lake Erie’s north shore is close.