The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification

by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli

Having "discovered" the flavors of barbacoa, bibimbap, bánh mi, sambusas, and pupusas, white middle-class eaters are increasingly venturing into historically segregated neighborhoods in search of "authentic" eateries run by―and for―immigrants and people of color. Fueled by media attention and capitalized on by developers, this interest in "ethnic" food and places contributes to gentrification, and the very people who produced these vibrant foodscapes are increasingly excluded from them.

Drawing on extensive fieldwork, geographer Pascale Joassart-Marcelli traces the transformation of three urban San Diego neighborhoods whose foodscapes are shifting from serving the needs of longtime minoritized residents who face limited food access to pleasing the tastes of wealthier and whiter newcomers. The $16 Taco illustrates how food can both emplace and displace immigrants, shedding light on the larger process of gentrification and the emotional, cultural, economic, and physical displacement it produces. It also highlights the contested food geographies of immigrants and people of color by documenting their contributions to the cultural food economy and everyday struggles to reclaim ethnic foodscapes and lead flourishing and hunger-free lives. Joassart-Marcelli offers valuable lessons for cities where food-related development projects transform neighborhoods at the expense of the communities they claim to celebrate.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 5, 2021

Reviews

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super dense book that took me awhile to chug through... if you're already familiar with issues like food insecurity, gentrification, redlining, etc. and the racism / classism underlying them, you can safely skim through chapters 1-4, though it's still a good, intersectional refresher.

Chapters 5-7 were the most interesting, in my opinion-- an intricate, nuanced analysis of the way ethnic foodscapes transform into cosmopolitan foodscapes (through appropriating or "reinventing" ethnic food and/or catering to and CENTERING the taste of gentrifiers) and thus promote gentrification of neighborhoods. Food is not just a symbol of gentrification (i.e. via fancy coffee shops, organic grocery marts, expensive taco stands, etc.) but it can also actively DRIVE gentrification. I think everyone who enjoys eating out, writes food reviews, and/or considers themselves a "foodie" (ew lol) should read this book-- or at least a summary of it. It definitely made me think more critically about certain biases that I have and reevaluate some of my own practices and language use in the future.

A favorite quote:
“Ethnic foodscapes have been fashioned over time by racially biased policies that underlie food apartheid and residential segregation. Abandoned by corporate retail capital, ethnic communities have turned to formal and informal food businesses and practices to fill the gap, creating an alternative foodscape that enables social reproduction. The resulting ethnic foodscape is both a spatial expression of racism and a platform for the enactment of ethnic foodways that have suddenly become intriguing to middle-class white consumers enthralled by their authenticity but blind to the struggles from which such foodways emerge. Ironically, the interest of outsiders in authentic ethnic food is once again threatening the food provisioning mechanisms of low-income people of color. By prioritizing the consumption habits and cosmopolitan tastes of white middle-class newcomers, gentrification produces a curated version of ethnic foodscape that destabilizes the food practices of longtime residents and alters the rhythms of neighborhood life. Although seemingly bringing people together, ethnic food is experienced differently along ethnoracial lines: what looks like an incredible bargain to an outsider might be out-of-reach for longtime residents; 'exotic and unusual' to some might be commonplace to others; 'upgraded and improved' becomes insulting and demeaning; 'hip and trendy' might also be exclusive and obnoxious; and 'authentic' is meaningless.”

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book occupies a unique niche in that I think it should be required reading for Yelp Elites and community organizers alike. This academic work tackles questions of inequality, race/ethnicity, immigration, and gentrification through the lens of food, and rarely with easy answers. It delves into food insecurity, hunger, taste, and conceptions of health, but also workforce, labor, and housing issues as they relate to changing foodscapes in San Diego. While Joassart-Marcelli does a deep-dive into the specific contested geographies of San Diego, its themes and patterns resonated a lot with my experiences in Los Angeles. I appreciate that author aims to center marginalized and immigrant communities needs and voices throughout, in part to rectify erasure and limiting or negative stereotypes in food and beyond.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I found this book by chance at the Harvard Book Store (Cambridge, MA) last month, as it has started my interest in sociology.

Joassart-Marcelli uses history, images, maps, Yelp and food expert reviews, as well as interviews with immigrants and people of color to aide her research of foodscapes in the San Diego neighborhoods of Barrio Logan, City Heights, and Southeastern San Diego.

Despite myself not being academic and research-driven, this book was an understandable read. Many of my reactions to Joassart-Marcelli's research and key points had me saying "hmm...", and really encouraging me, a white person, to reflect on how I understand foodscapes beyond my own– especially as someone who visited San Diego in 2018.

Additionally, as an FYI Joassart-Marcelli has a talk on YouTube that addresses the topics presented in this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F17p...

Thank you, Pascale, for your incredibly interesting research!

[nuhtahshuh · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was less storytelling and more research paper, I enjoyed Pascale Joassart-Marcelli’s descriptions of the changing foodscapes in San Diego’s neighborhoods due to gentrification. From white foodies obsessed with “discovering” authentic (and, of course, Instagramable) food to racist governmental policies that create food apartheid, The $16 Taco details both small and large impacts to the immigrants and people of color who call these communities home.

[KT · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent interdisciplinary study Intending to generate a better understanding of the role of food - an element that until recently has been ignored or interpreted as a by-product or mere symbol of urban change.
The book rejects the cultural turn in the social sciences that has focused on the role of culture in shaping cities and social exclusion, and considers gentrification as driven by changes in consumer preferences, including new politics of identity formation increasingly linked to consumption and lifestyles. In this research, gentrification is often attributed to changing individual preferences for urban living rather than to a politico-economic structure that encourages an inflow of capital in particular areas.
Instead, the author considers food as an agent in the transformation of neighbourhoods and sheds light on contemporary forms of gentrification by bringing together consumption and production aspects couched in the framework of food sovereignty in order to envision effective struggle against food apartheid to achieve food justice in which people have the ability to determine the what, how, and where of food procurement

The book also reaffirms the centrality of displacement in gentrification, challenging claims that gentrification is good for everyone. This is done by paying attention to everyday embodied practices including those related to feeding and eating. In addition the author rejects the "from below" approach to ethnic food that views it as a romanticised form of self-identification imbued in nostalgia, as well as the "from above" approach that is an elitist discourse and consumer-driven commodity, and instead advances an understanding of how food, ethnicity and place are coproduced.

The author presents the irony of outsiders' interest in authentic ethnic food that threatens the food provisioning mechanisms of low-income people of colour. By prioritising the consumption habits and cosmopolitan tastes of white middle-class newcomers, gentrification produces a curated version of ethnic foodscape that destabilises the food practices of longtime residents and alters the rhythm of neighbourhood life. Altouhh seemingly bringing people together, ethnic food is expereinced differently along ethnoracial lines: what looks like a bargain to an outsider might be unaffordable to longtime residents; "exotic and unusual" to some might be commonplace to others; "upgraded and improved" becomes insulting and demeaning; "hip and trendy" might be exclusive and obnoxious; and "authentic" is meaningless.
In addition, it's worth noting that in a multicultural context in which foodies become "omnivorous", rejecting "highbrow" food, in order to maintain their social and cultural superiority, white cultural elites continue to distinguish themselves by controlling knowledge about and access to "good food". Thus "good food" must be constantly rediscovered or reinvented to confer status. One way to achieve this distinction is to attach particular moral values to food, including democracy and "colour-blindness". For example, consuming an "authentic" taco at Las Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan conveys a host of signifiers including that one is colourblind, open to "foreign" cultures, supportive of local economies, unfazed by simple, "dangerous" settings. However, this act of consumption does not confer the same status to Latine residents of Barrio Logan for whom eating at Las Cuatro Milpas is presumably less self-conscious and intentional.

Discussions of race were nuanced including how bodies are objectified and performances interpreted through racialised notions that tie particular behaviour with race, ethnicity or immigrant status. Surveying Yelp reviews, the author addresses the stereotyping and racialisation of food workers' body.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the criticism of economist and "ethnic food guru" Tyler Cowen, whose insipid and racist recommendations exemplifies the attitude of many white, highly educated, middle-class consumers who become "urban pioneers" in search of authenticity without much if any consideration of the impacts of their "discoveries" on these neighbourhoods. Their forays into immigrant and ethnic neighbourhoods both express and trigger a broader transformation of foodscapes where heritage, culture, and ethnicity are aesthically reproduced and reimagined through a selective process that results in a caricatured, decontextualised, and whitewashed version of ethnic foodscapes

[Lisa of Hopewell]

I learned of this book here: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesd...