UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Foodways (Re)Presented: How San Francisco Bay Area Organizations Reconstruct Narratives about Race, Health, and Food A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Marilisa Cristina Navarro Committee in Charge: Professor Curtis Marez, Chair Professor Ricardo Dominguez Professor Julie Guthman Professor Sara Clarke Kaplan Professor Roshanak Kheshti Professor Kalindi Vora Professor K. Wayne Yang 2017 Copyright Marilisa Cristina Navarro, 2017 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Marilisa Cristina Navarro is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2017 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………........................iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………iv List of Images…………………………………………………………………………….vi Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..x Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..xi Abstract of the Dissertation……………………………………………………………..xix Introduction: Can You Picture This? Food Imagery, Diabetes, and Racial Constructions The San Francisco Bay Area and Measure D……………………………………………..1 Type 2 Diabetes and Premature Death…………………………………………………...10 Health as a Structural Condition……………………………………................................17 Food Justice and the Bay Area…………………………………………………………...20 Methods: Food and the Visual…………………………………………………………...23 Chapter Breakdown……………………………………………………………………...35 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….37 Chapter 1: Feeding the White Gaze: Modern Consumption in the New Racial Order Introduction………………………………………………………………………………40 The White Gaze and Consumption………………………………………………………41 Aunt Jemima, Rastus, and Uncle Ben……………………………………………………45 Thieving Coons, Chicken, and Watermelon……………………………………………..50 Black Bodies and Pathological Consumption……………………………………………59 Imperialism and Mexican Consumption…………………………………………………72 Making the Mexican American: Unhealthy Representations in Film and Home Economic Programs…………………………………………………………………………………73 Chili Queens and Health…………………………………………………………………78 Southwestern Foods and Cultural Tourism………………………………………………84 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….95 Chapter 2: What’s on Her Plate? Black Feminism and the Politics of Food Respectability Introduction………………………………………………………………………………97 Black Women as Pathology…………………………………………………………….105 Mothering the Family and the Nation…………………………………………………..129 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...............................143 Chapter 3: Growing Justice in a Food Desert Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..146 Space, Race, and Food………………………………………………………………….149 iv West Oakland…………………………………………………………………………...155 The Food Desert as Video Genre……………………………………………………….161 Postwar Restructuring and State Violence……………………………………………...171 Collective Ownership: The Racial-Economy of Mandela Foods………………………191 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...199 Chapter 4: Radical Recipe: Foodways as Racial Politics Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..202 Slow Food and Racial Difference………………………………………………………206 Fast Food, Industrial Agriculture and the San Joaquin Valley…………………………214 Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Culinary Whiteness………………………………..224 Interventions by Decolonize Your Diet and Afro-Vegan……………………………….233 The Effects of the Colonial Food System…………………………................................240 Reframing Foods………………………………………………………………………..248 Women of Color Cookbooks as Resistance……………………….................................257 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...266 Conclusion: Toward a Politics of Communal Care and Justice………………………...267 References………………………………………………………………………………272 v LIST OF IMAGES Image 1. Berkeley versus Big Soda, Coke bottle………………………………………….3 Image 2. Berkeley versus Big Soda, McDonald’s………………………….......................3 Image 3. Berkeley versus Big Soda, Sodas………………………………………………..4 Image 4. Berkeley versus Big Soda, Grocery Store……………………………………….4 Image 5. Berkeley versus Big Soda, Measure D………………………………………….4 Image 6. Food Porn………………………………………………………………………24 Image 7. Food Porn, Julianne Hough…………………………………………………….24 Image 8. Food Selfie……………………………………………………………………..25 Image 9. Y’a bon Banania, 1…………………………………………………………….43 Image 10. Y’a bon Banania, 2…………………………………………………………...43 Image 11. Aunt Jemima and Rastus……………………………………………………...47 Image 12. Watermelon Coon…………………………………………………………….51 Image 13. Dean Grose-“No Easter Egg Hunt This Year”……………………………….55 Image 14. “White House Invader Got Farther Than Originally Thought”………………56 Image 15. University of California, San Diego – Compton Cookout……………………58 Image 16. Sanka Advertisement…………………………………………………………59 Image 17. Virginia Gentleman and Fairfax County……………………………………...60 Image 18. Dinnertimin’ at McDonald’s………………………………………………….61 Image 19. Riley eating The Luther………………………………………………………66 Image 20. Janet before The Luther………………………………………………………68 Image 21. Janet after The Luther………………………………………………………...68 Image 22. The Greaser and the Gauntlet………………………………………………...75 vi Image 23. The Chili Queens in Haymarket Plaza, San Antonio, Texas, 1933…………..83 Image 24. The Frito Bandito……………………………………………………………..87 Image 25. The Frito Bandito ad………………………………………………………….88 Image 26. Taco Bell ad – American cowboys enjoying tacos…………………………...90 Image 27. Taco Bell ad – Make a Run for the Border…………………………………...91 Image 28. Taco Bell Chihuahua………………………………………………………….93 Image 29. McDonald’s McBurrito……………………………………………………….94 Image 30. Purest Poison - Lays Chips and profile……………………………………...109 Image 31. Purest Poison – amputated foot……………………………………………...109 Image 32. Purest Poison – gangrene foot……………………………………………….109 Image 33. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama and young girl……………………………...118 Image 34. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama and hula hoops……………………………..119 Image 35. Purest Poison – factory farming……………………………………………..124 Image 36. Purest Poison – Foot and scalpel……………………………………………124 Image 37. Purest Poison – profile licking………………………………………………125 Image 38. Let’s Move – White House………………………………………………….128 Image 39. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama, school gardens…………………………….128 Image 40. Purest Poison – Man’s anatomy……………………………………………..131 Image 41. Let’s Move – Obama Family………………………………………………..137 Image 42. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama in White House library…………………….138 Image 43. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama picnic………………………………………140 Image 44. Let’s Move – Michelle Obama with students in kitchen……………………141 vii Image 45. West Oakland grocery store, 1950s…………………………………………165 Image 46. West Oakland, grocery store produce, 1950s……………………………….165 Image 47. West Oakland grocery stores graph…………………………………………165 Image 48. People’s Community Market Store Illustration……………………………..167 Image 49. West Oakland food justice – White House………………………………….168 Image 50. West Oakland food justice – women with produce…………………………168 Image 51. Mandela Foods – Sean Bell working at Mandela Foods Co-Op …………...171 Image 52. Mandela Foods – Carrots……………………………………………………178 Image 53. Mandela Foods – Broccoli…………………………………………………..178 Image 54. Mandela Foods – Yellow bell peppers………………………………………179 Image 55. Mandela Foods – Donuts and Burgers signage……………………………...180 Image 56. Mandela Foods – Food desert signage………………………………………180 Image 57. Mandela Foods – Mandela Foods – State Discount Market store…………..181 Image 58. Mandela Foods – Young man and apple……………………………………183 Image 59. Mandela Foods – Olympians………………………………………………..183 Image 60. Mandela Foods – Lemons…………………………………………………...184 Image 61. Mandela Foods – Peaches…………………………………………………...184 Image 62. Mandela Foods – White Onions…………………………………………….184 Image 63. Mandela Foods – Tomatoes…………………………………………………185 Image 64. Mandela Foods – Red bell peppers………………………………………….192 Image 65. Mandela Foods – Limes and Lemons……………………………………….192 Image 66. Mandela Foods – Mushrooms……………………………………………….193 Image 67. Mandela Foods – Arugula…………………………………………………...193 viii Image 68. Mandela Foods - Erick Ismael Sanchez de Leon at farmers’ market……….194 Image 69. Mandela Foods - Erick Ismael Sanchez de Leon stocking at Mandela Foods Co-Op…………………………………………………………………………………...195 Image 70. Hominy and Spinach in Tomato-Garlic Broth soup………………………...243 Image 71. Purépecha Bean Soup……………………………………………………….247 Image 72. Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rinds and Jalapeños…………………………...249 Image 73. Pickled Verdolagas………………………………………………………….253 Image 74. Dandelion Salad with Pecan Dressing………………………………………255 Image 75. Kick-Ass Chayote Salad with Pickled Red Onions…………………………256 Image 76. Teff Biscuits with Maple-Plantain Spread…………………………………..262 Image 77. Quinoa con Leche…………………………………………………………...274 ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Ethnic Studies Department at UCSD who provided training, resources, conversations, and support throughout my graduate career. In particular, I would like to thank faculty who mentored me during the initial stages of the dissertation, including Patrick Anderson and Shelley Streeby. I am also incredibly grateful for conversations with graduate students within and outside of Ethnic Studies who listened to my ideas as they were clumsily still coming together and offering useful insights, including Josen Diaz, Allia Homayoun Griffin, LeKeisha Hughes, Nicole Rangel, Christina Sanchez Volatier, and Salvador Zarate. I am indebted to graduate administrative coordinator Christa Ludeking, who provided endless administrative assistance and replied to my