We were joined today in class by taco journalist Mando Rayo as he discussed his work and activism. Dr. Alvarez posed the question to him; how do you bring together both activism and food? Rayo replied with a two-part answer, stating that it’s about “learning about the struggle” of the culture as well as “getting people to go outside their bubbles”.
It’s not about critiquing the food and telling the people how to cook. It’s more important to understand the culture and to also learn beyond the ‘Instagram filter’. I interpret his response as pushing aside the taste of the food initially and prioritizing the amount of work required to bring it to relevance.
It was an endeavor to make it possible to serve the food at all, so it’s vital to first grasp this struggle before even thinking about the flavors. Additionally, we may even objectify the food with these Instagram filters for splendor. It’s exponentially more significant to comprehend the story of the culture and the people the food represents instead of just being eye candy for social media.
Thinking about the second part of this equation, Rayo pointed out it’s crucial for us to sometimes step out of the comfort zone. I look at local Mexican places in my area and I sometimes think that’s the pinnacle of the experience. It’s not though, and I don’t think I spend enough time trying and supporting other mom and pop shops.
I do also think something like eating barbacoa in the Rio Grande Valley would get me outside my bubble. It still amazes me how they cook the meat in a hole in the ground! We also saw this in ‘Ugly Delicious’. Experiencing something like this would be unlike anything I’ve ever done with Mexican food in New York.
Taco Literacy 
If you were to think about how you might use activism through foodways, what might that look like? That is, if you were making a kind of campaign or show, what would it look like?
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