Review: The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification, by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli

Abstract

Book Review| February 01 2023 Review: The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification, by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli Pascale Joassart-Marcelli. The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2021. 288 pp. Illustrations, maps, and tables. Paperback $30.00. Sean M. Crotty Sean M. Crotty SEAN M. CROTTY is an associate professor of geography and affiliated faculty, Center for Urban Studies, Texas Christian University. He lived in San Diego for nine years while completing an MA and PhD in geography at San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research examines the spatial dimensions of a variety of messy urban phenomena, from the locational strategies of informal day-laborers to the adaptive reuse of abandoned grain silos. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar California History (2023) 100 (1): 96–98. https://doi.org/10.1525/ch.2023.100.1.96 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Sean M. Crotty; Review: The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification, by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli. California History 1 February 2023; 100 (1): 96–98. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/ch.2023.100.1.96 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCalifornia History Search If you are looking for a simple, apolitical book to talk about at your next big family meal or book club meeting, The $16 Taco probably will not fit the bill. However, if you are interested in understanding the ways that food and power intersect to create landscapes of hunger and plenty in U.S. cities, then order The $16 Taco immediately. Joassart-Marcelli uses the lens of the foodscape, “the social, political, economic, and cultural setting in which food acquires meaning and value” (6–7), to frame a compelling argument for the centrality of food in much broader structural issues of social, political, cultural inequalities made material in cities across the United States. The book is interdisciplinary in nature, and readers with expertise in history, economics, urban planning/studies, critical race theory, food studies, and geography will all find sections that speak directly to their particular areas of interest. The $16 Taco reflects... You do not currently have access to this content.