Kaitlyn Bean

For this project, I want to incorporate my previous projects’ themes of satire and irony toward greenwashing, faux activism, and cynicism by creating a mock punch card about gentrification of foods, particularly collard. Collards can be a staple item for the black community and have been a staple in low income communities as well. Places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and even Neiman Marcus has gentrified food by selling collard greens for $66 in their meal kits and suggesting that “collards are the new kale”. I want to mimic a punch card you would get from a coffee shop or pizza place that give you a free item or meal after you accumulate 5-10 purchases. The punch spots would be collard leaves, and the free items you get would be results of gentrification. Again, I would make up a mock brand called Stole Foods to mimic Whole Foods.

TAITOR JOES: LOYALTY CARD

In keeping with my theme of food gentrification, I’ve decided to tackle everyone’s fav, Trader Joe’s. I made another stamp card, which I’ve since learned is also referred to as a “Loyalty Card”, and covered the topic of gentrification and discussed the concept of Othering, which I hope to incorporate into the other component of my project.

“cultured” “healthy” “clean” “elevated” “simplified”

My second project component features a fake product that demonstrates the way white people use food as a means of gentrification, shame, Othering, and colonization. I made a fake non-dairy product, which white people typically love, that is considered “cultured” because of the active cultures in it.  Because whiteness often has no culture to cling to when it comes to food, a common refrain is to become obsessed with “health” food in a way that shames and Others BIPOC and the food that is important to their cultures- that is, until it becomes “clean” and “elevated” and “simplified”.   I thought it would be interesting to use “cultured” to project double meaning, as white people use food science- like active cultures- to bolster their latest health trends, and because “white culture” is essentially non-existent without gentrifying and colonizing. These “health foods” and alternatives usually shame other cultures into thinking their foods are “gross”, “smelly”, “unhealthy”, and “bad for you” since many of them utilize dairy and animal products.