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Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
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thewanderer
10/31/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
But isn't food racism an inherent part of racism in general? I think that, by definition, racism is not liking someone for their differences, for their otherness--- ie they look "weird"; they speak another language or highly accented English; they spend their free time differently; they have unusual attitudes, values and beliefs; they eat "peculiar" foods; etc. Food racism is just one easy way to judge others because food is tangible, and invokes many senses.
My parents live in an agricultural city in CA with a huge population of Mexican immigrants. When you go to a grocery store there you'll find at least two huge rows of (I think the store calls it) Ethnic Foods catered to Mexicans. My (half-Mexican) husband loves it because he can find the stuff he grew up with as a kid---stuff we couldn't even find when we were living in NYC---but I can't tell you how many times I've overheard somebody in the store grumbling "Why they hell are they selling all this crap here?" #foodracism
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thesciencegirl
10/31/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
Food as a tool of racism... not so surprising or original. Not sure why the media feels the need to give it a name now. #foodracism
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willwriteforfood
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
That wasn't racist because of food, that was just racist.

I was at Talladega two years ago and the number of people who booed Montoya was astounding. Granted, Nascar crowds boo a lot of guys, like Jeff Gordon, but Montoya gets shit on partly because he used to be a Formula One driver, but mostly because he's South American. Nice way to show your "patriotism," Americans.

The guy drives the Juicy Fruit car! How could you not love him for that alone? #foodracism
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morninggloria
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
It would have also been considered food racism if an especially slender Latina movie star/model were encouraged to "GO EAT A TORTA!" #foodracism
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Lymed
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
If only we could talk about food deserts as a part of health reform. If we could talk about the fact that we have Americans who have malnutrition because they don't have access to foods with the nutrients the body needs. And perhaps we can combine that discussion with a discussion of hospital deserts and primary care deserts and why they are often the same places that are food deserts, and they are not just in cities, they are also in poor rural communities. #foodracism
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BearDownCBears
10/30/09

@Lymed: My money's on a health reform part 2 in a couple years, dealing with provider care (cost), because clearly this one's just going to, at best, knock out insurance (coverage). This food desert/care desert stuff seems more in line provider policy.

That CBO analysis was kind of depressing this morning, and convinced me further that we won't "bend the curve", even if we link rates to Medicare (and especially by funding subsidies only with income taxes), and only by going after providers' fee-for-service model will costs go down. Won't THAT be fun. #foodracism
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Lymed
10/30/09

@BearDownCBears: There are already moves to change the fee-for-service model and my understanding is a lot of the bills being discussed would include some programs that start to move to a medical home primary care (which is often paid for on a per capita rather than per service) and trials of paying hospitals by diagnosis rather than procedure which increases the hospital desire to reduce complications and extra charges. The biggest part of the health reform bill is insurance, but not all of it. #foodracism
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HarpMadness
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
That's not food racism. That's just plain old generic racism. Thanks for playing, mainstream media, here are your parting gifts. #foodracism
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
10/30/09

@HarpMadness: Is it bitchy if I want Don Pardo to give their parting gifts to the Jezzie writers? #foodracism
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Sputnik_Sweetheart
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
When I saw the phrase "food racism" used on CNN, I got all excited. Finally, someone is about to discuss grocery store discrimination and food deserts as a matter of public policy! Oh wait no - it's about tacos.

Oh no, we can't talk about that. Why, those are real issues that affect real people. I mean, that's not news! But NASCAR, that's news! Does Obama eat tacos? Questions have been asked. It would be irresponsible not to address them. #foodracism
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itsonreserve
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
No one will talk about "food deserts." Don't you know we are all supposed to go to the farmer's market or drive out to the country with our kids to get local food. Duh. Can't the only small corner store near you stock local zebra tomatoes? Sheesh.

But in all seriousness the classism and racism of some local food movements annoy me. In Philly, the local organization takes food stamps and sets up competitively priced markets in some of these food deserts, so in that way it's an example of how these organization could actually help with an existing problem. But the writing surrounding "fresh, local, organic" is a lot of blaming us for not, I don't know, quitting our second job so we can go pick apples. Blech.
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missteenwordpower
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
Um, that's not food racism. That's just regular old racist racism. Thanks again, Media! #foodracism
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SheelaNaGig
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
When I heard this, I thought it was obvious that the offensive/racist portion of the comment wasn't the taco reference, but the implicit "lazy Mexican" stereotype...the driver was too busy eating to be as good at his job as the white guys. I was puzzled that anyone thought the choice of food was the issue, or that Montoya not being Mexican was pertinent. Good job, CNN.

On an unrelated note, do we need to show those two douche cannons in the picture when the story isn't about them? Someone think of the children. #foodracism
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Lymed
10/30/09

@SheelaNaGig: I think the assumption that all Latinos eat Mexican food is racist. It is racist in the same way referring to a Colombian or a Salvadorian as Mexican is racist. It's insinuating that all Latinos are the same. #foodracism
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SheelaNaGig
10/30/09

@Lymed: Point taken and agreed with. I think the remark is racist on a multitude of levels.

I also think the context of being a NASCAR driver matters as well, since Montoya is one of the very few non-white people in the entire industry ever and possibly the only current non-white driver who runs a full schedule. I don't think anyone would make a similar comment about a white driver. #foodracism
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mommy_dearest
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
When I was in college, I was a tutor at the Office of Minority Affairs. We had a new tutor of Mexican descent, who was also new to the area. He read a newspaper story about a man who had been a victim of some crime, and through the whole thing, he thought the victim was being referred to as a "Taco man", which he thought was a strange slur, particurlarly in liberal Seattle. He finally realized that what he read as "Taco man" was actually "Tacoman", or a person from the city of Tacoma. That made me laugh so much! #foodracism
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MerryLilly
10/30/09

@mommy_dearest: LOL, awesome story #foodracism
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miyamyo
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
Does this mean I can eat tacos and tell people I was out driving? #foodracism
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pantsless economist...access RESTORED
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
Griese should have said Montoya was out avenging the death of his father. #foodracism
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sassyredhead
10/30/09

@pantsless economist...access RESTORED: Prepare to die! #foodracism
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la vie en hypnose
10/30/09

@pantsless economist...access RESTORED: this word food racism, I don't think it means what CNN thinks it means #foodracism
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FontWhore (the Great Nubling Hope)
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
The guy was Colombian? I'm surprised he could put the coke down long enough to eat a taco. You KNOW how THEY ARE. #foodracism
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BeckySharper
10/30/09

In reply to Food Racism Isn't What We Thought It Was
Oh right, because all Latinos are Mexicans. And Mexicans eat tacos! No, he wasn't an ignorant bigot at all.

(Psst, Bob!--Next time say Montoya's eating an arepa.) #foodracism
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tewkesbury
10/30/09

@BeckySharper: I very clearly remember when Oprah's Book Club read "One Hundred Years of Solitude," the remote spot they did at a reader's home featured a reader serving foods she deemed thematically appropriate to the book. In this case, the reader chose tacos. #foodracism
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BeckySharper
10/30/09

@tewkesbury: Heh. Did anyone correct her? Should have been arepas or arroz con coco. I still have packets of arroz con coco mix in my pantry that I bought on my last trip to Colombia. #foodracism
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Sunny Bundy
10/30/09

@BeckySharper: In a Spanish language class about 4 years ago, an adult classmate was arguing with the professor (who was from Mexico City) that Spaniards ate "basically" the same things as Mexicans. I've been to Madrid. There do not serve Mexican food there.
While I'm at it, TexMex (while completely fabulous) is not the same food that's eaten in the interior of Mexico. Mexico is a big country, geez. #foodracism
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tewkesbury
10/30/09

@BeckySharper: not that I remember! As a friend pointed out at the time, it was almost as offensive as if she'd gone the other way and just set out piles of coffee and cocaine. #foodracism
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
10/30/09

@tewkesbury: Did anyone serving ask "Would you like a generous side of ignorance with your racism?"
*headdesk* #foodracism
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BeckySharper
10/30/09

@Sunny Bundy: Yeah, it's not like all Mexicans eat tacos either. And the food is VERY different from Spain. What a dumbass that dude was. #foodracism
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