Robert Lemon
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042454
- eISBN:
- 9780252051296
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042454.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter examines Mexican street food as a spatial practice that shapes the cultural landscape of Oakland, California. Community activist Emilia Otero fights for street food vendors’ right to ...
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This chapter examines Mexican street food as a spatial practice that shapes the cultural landscape of Oakland, California. Community activist Emilia Otero fights for street food vendors’ right to occupy public space along city’s streets in East Oakland. She helps legitimize informal commerce in the Fruitvale district and paves the way for street food vendors to develop their businesses--from pushcarts and taco trucks to restaurants. The chapter calls attention to the friction that arises between the rationally planned city and the ways in which marginalized community groups live the city through their daily routines. It argues that remaking city streets to accommodate informal cultural practices is a way claim one’s right to the city.Less
This chapter examines Mexican street food as a spatial practice that shapes the cultural landscape of Oakland, California. Community activist Emilia Otero fights for street food vendors’ right to occupy public space along city’s streets in East Oakland. She helps legitimize informal commerce in the Fruitvale district and paves the way for street food vendors to develop their businesses--from pushcarts and taco trucks to restaurants. The chapter calls attention to the friction that arises between the rationally planned city and the ways in which marginalized community groups live the city through their daily routines. It argues that remaking city streets to accommodate informal cultural practices is a way claim one’s right to the city.
Robert Lemon
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042454
- eISBN:
- 9780252051296
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042454.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
In San Francisco, young economic developers help immigrant women turn their small, informal businesses into thriving corporations, while others try to take advantage of the boom in boutique food ...
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In San Francisco, young economic developers help immigrant women turn their small, informal businesses into thriving corporations, while others try to take advantage of the boom in boutique food trucks. These entrepreneurs discuss how they package and market street foods for middle-class consumption. The chapter introduces basic urban geographic concepts, such as cultural capital, cosmopolitanism, symbolic capital, social distinction, and the geographic imagination. It argues that elevating immigrant foods for middle-class consumption creates complex issues that pertain to cultural appropriation, which can cause ethnic exclusion and spur gentrification.Less
In San Francisco, young economic developers help immigrant women turn their small, informal businesses into thriving corporations, while others try to take advantage of the boom in boutique food trucks. These entrepreneurs discuss how they package and market street foods for middle-class consumption. The chapter introduces basic urban geographic concepts, such as cultural capital, cosmopolitanism, symbolic capital, social distinction, and the geographic imagination. It argues that elevating immigrant foods for middle-class consumption creates complex issues that pertain to cultural appropriation, which can cause ethnic exclusion and spur gentrification.
Robert Lemon
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042454
- eISBN:
- 9780252051296
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042454.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This introduction places taco trucks within a historical context and presents geographical concepts that are used throughout the book. It briefly reviews Mexican street food origins, from the Aztec ...
More
This introduction places taco trucks within a historical context and presents geographical concepts that are used throughout the book. It briefly reviews Mexican street food origins, from the Aztec capital's cuisine to modern-day tacos in Los Angeles. It takes a close look at the advent of the taco truck in California and how taco trucks mirror Mexican immigration patterns across the nation. The chapter then discusses the ways taco trucks fit into contemporary geographic discourses related to landscape contestation, sociospatial practices, urban policy, city planning, food studies, and cultural landscape studies. It presents the friction of how taco trucks--as an expression of the informal economy--are emerging within rationally controlled cities, and that a community’s definition of “quality of life” most often determines a taco truck's place within a city.Less
This introduction places taco trucks within a historical context and presents geographical concepts that are used throughout the book. It briefly reviews Mexican street food origins, from the Aztec capital's cuisine to modern-day tacos in Los Angeles. It takes a close look at the advent of the taco truck in California and how taco trucks mirror Mexican immigration patterns across the nation. The chapter then discusses the ways taco trucks fit into contemporary geographic discourses related to landscape contestation, sociospatial practices, urban policy, city planning, food studies, and cultural landscape studies. It presents the friction of how taco trucks--as an expression of the informal economy--are emerging within rationally controlled cities, and that a community’s definition of “quality of life” most often determines a taco truck's place within a city.
