1 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: In July of twenty twenty four months before the presidential election, 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Robert Unanue, the CEO of Goya Foods, gave a speech 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: at the White House. 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 2: Good afternoon, it's a president. 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 3: Good after and everyone, it's such an honor and such 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 3: a blessing to be here in the greatest country in 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 3: the world. 8 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: He talked about Goya's mission and growth through the years, 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: from being a small bodega in New York City's Lower 10 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: East Side to now a billion dollar corporation, and then 11 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: Unanue changed the script. 12 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 3: We're all truly blessed at the same time to have 13 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 3: a leader like President Trump, who is a builder. We 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 3: pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 3: our country. 16 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: And at that moment, Robert Noiz support for Donald Trump 17 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: put his company, Goya and its products at the center 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: of a brief but pretty intense political controversy. You might 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: remember the viral photo of Ivanka Trump where she's holding 20 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: a can of Goya beans. At the same time, opposing 21 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: hashtags like Goya away were trending online and there were 22 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: calls for a boycott of all the company's products, especially 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: among Latinos and Latinas. Latino leaders like Representative Alexandria Acacio 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: Cortez and playwright lin Manuel Miranda advocated for people to 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: reconsider purchasing Goya Foods. 26 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 4: Do not expect a community that feels victimized by Donald 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 4: Trump and attacked by Donald Trump constantly, and that is 28 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 4: your loyal consumer base not to react and feel hurt 29 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 4: when they see you praising that person. 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: But Goya also had its advocates like Ivanka Trump. Many 31 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: threw their support behind the company, dismissing the boycott. 32 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 5: Cancel culture strikes again. 33 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: Goya Food CEO is refusing to apologize in the face 34 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: of a liberal boycott of his food company. 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 5: This country is too fat to boycott a food company. 36 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 3: This is a top ten dinner item for most family. 37 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,839 Speaker 1: And some of the loudest critics of the boycott were 38 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: Goya's main distributors, but Deega owners, many of whom are 39 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: Latinos and Latinas as well. 40 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 6: Goya Foods will remain on our shelves and our community 41 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 6: will continue. 42 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,399 Speaker 2: To buy Goya products. 43 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 3: Goya is in our community, bas Symphony, It's today. 44 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: Well, it turns out this was not the first time 45 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: that Goya, the giant food company, had found itself in 46 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: the middle of a controversy, and just like before, it 47 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: was about much more than just a can of beans 48 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: from Futuro Media. It's Latino USA, Marie Jojosa and today 49 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: Goya in three boycotts. Goya is a giant in the 50 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: United States food industry. Today, the company is worth over 51 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: one billion dollars and employees over four thousand people in 52 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: dozens of factories throughout the country and abroad. It's also 53 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: a staple in Latino homes across the US. The Latino 54 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: community is a huge part of Goya's consumer base. After 55 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: Goya Food CEO Robert Unanuez spoke in the White House 56 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: Rose Garden last summer, producer Gabriel Berebe realized she had 57 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: a lot of questions about the brand. Receiving all of 58 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: this attention, Gabriel started digging into Goya itself, the family 59 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: behind the brand, and some of the past controversies that 60 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: the company his weathered. Through Gabriel's reporting, she discovered a 61 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: common theme repeating itself over the years, something bigger than 62 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: any single news headline. Goya is more than pantry, staples 63 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: and spices to its customers. Specifically, it's Latino customers. For 64 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: many Latinos and Latinas, Goya is like a badge of identity. 65 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: So that's a pretty tall order for a company. Hey, Gabriel, 66 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:31,239 Speaker 1: welcome to the show. 67 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 7: Hi Maria. 68 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: So Gabriel, tell us what happened that you were like, hmm, 69 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: I need to spend some more time thinking about Goya 70 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: food products and that this led you down a kind 71 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: of rabbit hole. 72 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 7: So, Maria, before the boycott, I had no idea who 73 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 7: the unan my family was. I grew up with Goya beans, 74 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 7: but didn't know or never really thought about how this 75 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 7: company became a symbol of Latino identity in the US. 76 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 7: Clearly it wasn't about how much people love their beans 77 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 7: or Adobo. It was something much deeper than that. Goya 78 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 7: evokes emotions for many Latinos, and in researching Goya, I 79 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,679 Speaker 7: found three separate boycotts spanning decades, where Goya's carefully crafted 80 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 7: image as a symbol of Latino identity was thrown into question, 81 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 7: one in Miami, one in New York and Puerto Rico, 82 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 7: and the other one from the summer. And together they 83 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 7: helped tell a not so rosy story about this powerful company. 84 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,040 Speaker 7: But before I jump in It's important to understand the 85 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 7: history of the brand and how the Unanui family used 86 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 7: their immigrant background to craft their business image. 87 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: Okay, so we know that Goya was founded in the 88 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties by then Prudencio Unanui and his wife Carolina. 89 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: And Don Prudencio was actually a merchant from Spain right. 90 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 7: He arrived in Puerto Rico from Spain in nineteen oh two, 91 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 7: then moved to the United States and started a small 92 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 7: business in New York City importing goods from Spain. That 93 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 7: business eventually became Goya Foods. Robert Unanui, Goya's current CEO, 94 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 7: often tells his grandfather's story. 95 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 3: He misstaste from home and he had an idea that 96 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 3: other immigrants also miss taste from home. 97 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 7: Don Prudencio started importing goods like olive oil and other 98 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 7: canfish products to his shop on the Lower East Side, 99 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 7: serving the Spanish immigrant community. 100 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: But Goya then ends up being really a Latino brand 101 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: for the entire population. I mean, it grows and this 102 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: is you know their primary customers are Latinos and Latinas. 103 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: So tell us the story of how Don Purudencio becomes 104 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: so successful in expanding this business. 105 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 7: Well after World War Two, US factory owners took advantage 106 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 7: of the depression in Puerto Rico to outsourced cheap labor 107 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 7: from the island and in Espana. Just one year, the 108 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 7: Puerto Rican population in New York City nearly quadrupled from 109 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 7: thirteen thousand to over fifty thousand people. I spoke with 110 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 7: Puerto Rican food historian Professor Cruz Miguel Artist Quadra about 111 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 7: how you nonally capitalized on this migration wave to grow 112 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 7: his business. 113 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,119 Speaker 6: The political and economical transform mentioned that occurring Puerto Rico 114 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 6: in the nineteen forties opened a huge, big door to Nan. 115 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 6: The success of Goya Foods and it's entanglement with Puerto 116 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 6: Rican food habits and colinary traditions. 117 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 8: Was at his door step. 118 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 6: And make no mistake, and Megrant himself, and I know 119 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 6: that this big first migration would travel with its food memories. 120 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: Wow, food memories. I mean that's a great concept, right, 121 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: This notion of you know, eating rice and beans as 122 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: a kid, or tortillas or you know, making fresh tamalis 123 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: over the holidays with your family. I mean, there is 124 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: this this thing food memories, and we all have them. 125 00:07:55,600 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 7: Yeah, it's this idea that food is personal or ortiz 126 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 7: Quadra often refers to this term food or palette memories. 127 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 7: He first coined the term in his book Eating Puerto Rico, 128 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 7: and he uses this concept to describe the intimate bond 129 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 7: with food formed by cultural and historical practices. So this 130 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 7: idea that the food we eat reflects our values, choices, 131 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,559 Speaker 7: and culture, and it's central and understanding Goya's rise. 132 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: So more Puerto Ricans moved into New York City and 133 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: there was the experience of racism and xenophobia that a 134 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 1: lot of outsider communities experience. Puerto Ricans are not immigrants, right, 135 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: because they're just moving from one part of the United 136 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: States to another part of the United States. But as 137 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: it was in New York City, that wasn't welcoming to 138 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: many Puerto Ricans. I mean that increases the need for 139 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: food to be a place where you find solace and 140 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: comfort right exactly. 141 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 6: Food is so important it can't trace you back to 142 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 6: your homeland. Goya became the food link to the homeland 143 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 6: and to the food of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora. 144 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 7: Don Pruencio continue to build Goya around the city's growing 145 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 7: immigrant community, from Latin America. He knew that capitalizing on 146 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 7: food memories was a powerful business strategy. His grandson Robert 147 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 7: talked about this in an interview. 148 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 9: Now, what a lot of people feel is when an 149 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 9: immigrant comes into this country, they'll soon switch over to 150 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 9: American cuisine hot dogs and hamburgers and things like that. 151 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 9: But food is a deep tradition for most immigrants. And 152 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 9: that's what makes the brand and our cuisine so powerful 153 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,319 Speaker 9: to the immigrant community is that tie to homeland and was. 154 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: In It was basically a brand strategy that Goya embarked 155 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: on in a very big way, and essentially it worked. 156 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 7: Slowly but steadily. Goya became a staple of not just 157 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 7: Puerto Rican kitchens, but Latino households all across the US. 158 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 6: They are gaining lots of money, taking the advantage of 159 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 6: the palade and the memory palate not only of Puerto Ricans, 160 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 6: but also of Caribbean and Central American migrations to the USA. 161 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 7: By nineteen eighty, Goya had over one thousand employees and 162 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 7: expanded their operations across the country. And this is where 163 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 7: my research took a turn into the crazy world of 164 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 7: Goya Archives. Yes, in this growth in the seventies and eighties, 165 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 7: Goya began producing these television advertisements. They even had their 166 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 7: own show, eld Super Show Goya l Superja, cooking shows 167 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 7: with big names like Celia Cruz. 168 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: Then I actually remember seeing that commercial and remember Celiac 169 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: Gruz doing that little dance as she's like, I got 170 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: this sat see. 171 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 7: I know that ad was pretty catchy. Goya started to 172 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 7: build a really compelling narrative of their business empire. They 173 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 7: created a brand off of the idea of being part 174 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,559 Speaker 7: of the American dream for Latinos, in particular, in the 175 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 7: nineteen eighties, immigration from Latin America soared even more, and 176 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 7: Goya's growth followed. They started selling impanadas for the Colombian 177 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 7: community in New York and Miami, and refried beans and 178 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 7: salsa for the Mexican community in Texas and on the 179 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 7: West Coast. The business, its workers, and its consumers became 180 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 7: known as La grand Familia Goya, the Grand Goya family. 181 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: Okay, so where did the Boycotts begin to fit in 182 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: in this story? 183 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 7: Well, Maria, this claim to family status, it came at 184 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 7: a cost. In nineteen ninety eight, the image of the 185 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 7: happy family of La Grande Familia Goya was thrown into question, 186 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 7: and for the first time in the public spotlight, Goya 187 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 7: was caught up in an ugly dispute with its employees. 188 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 7: They were mostly Latino immigrants working in Goya's regional Florida 189 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 7: factory in Miami, and they were trying to unionize to 190 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 7: improve working conditions. This dispute raised the question what did 191 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,079 Speaker 7: it mean to be part of the Grand Goya family. 192 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 10: The level of arrogance of this family, It was almost 193 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 10: like they were running a plantation and these were the 194 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 10: indentured servants on the plantation. 195 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, Goya faces its first public boycott. 196 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: Stay with us, Hey, We're back and when we left off. 197 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: A group of immigrant workers at Goya's factory in Miami 198 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: challenged Goya's carefully craft narrative of lagran Familia Goya, which 199 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: means the grand Goya family, and Gabriel is going to 200 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: pick up this story from here. 201 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 7: Goya's factory in Miami Dade County was a pillar for 202 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 7: the food company. It supplied Goya products to the major 203 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 7: grocery stores throughout the state of Florida. On the wall 204 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 7: of the large Miami warehouse, there was a painting that 205 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 7: read La grand Familia Goya juntos oi yenel nuevo Millennio 206 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 7: The Grand Goya Family together now and in the New Millennium. 207 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 7: It was painted in Goya's large signature blue lettering. Ridolfo Chavez, 208 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 7: a truck driver who worked for Goya for nearly a decade, 209 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 7: was part of this family, or at least he thought 210 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 7: he was. 211 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 11: My name of Rodolpho Chaves hem Orno for Nicaraua. I 212 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 11: left Nicaraua in nineteen eighty four. 213 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 7: Rodolpho came to the United States when he was seventeen. Maria, 214 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 7: his high school sweetheart from Nicaragua, eventually joined him in 215 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 7: California and they got married. After five years, Ridolfo, his wife, 216 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 7: and their baby daughter drove from Los Angeles to Miami 217 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 7: in search of better job opportunities. 218 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 11: We were starting to go through the America dream and 219 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 11: we was working as a handyman. 220 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 2: Whatever we can do, we do it. 221 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 11: But Lady Anna, a friend of us, got me a 222 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 11: job in Goya for to Florida. 223 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 7: Rodolpho started working as a truck driver for Goya, delivering 224 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 7: goods throughout most of South Florida. 225 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 11: The truck was very old trucks going four o'clock in 226 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 11: the morning from Miami to Naples, and. 227 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 7: Even though he was in Florida, Ridolfo remembers how chilly 228 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 7: some of those early mornings were. 229 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 11: That truck didn't have no hitter, That wind got through 230 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 11: even you close the window, but you can feel the 231 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 11: bridge from outside. 232 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 7: And during those first few years, I've enjoyed working at Goya. 233 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 11: They make us feel like a family, like they said, 234 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 11: that big family Goya, and it was nice at the beginning, 235 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 11: it was very nice. 236 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 7: Ridolpho liked his coworkers and had a good relationship with 237 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 7: his boss. Most of the people he worked with were 238 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 7: also immigrants, mainly from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and 239 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 7: they were mostly Latino men. He said he felt supported 240 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 7: by everyone at the plant and said he felt grateful 241 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 7: for this job. But then the company appointed Mary Ann Unaway, 242 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 7: the third generation of Unanways to run Goya, to head 243 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 7: the Florida operations. 244 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 11: She came and she have a new point of view 245 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 11: of business and she started doing a lot of changes. 246 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 7: Those changes included cutting back on worker pensions and benefits, 247 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 7: shortening their vacation times, eliminating overtime, and most notably cutting 248 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 7: back on operation costs, which led to this infestation of rats, 249 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,160 Speaker 7: mice and roaches in the warehouse. 250 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 2: And there was mice all over. 251 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 11: We deal as a truck driver because when they pulled 252 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 11: a piallet inside, something jumping from the palt something jump 253 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 11: on you. 254 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 2: And that's what you guys care. They jump into to you. 255 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 2: So we deal with that and we told the company 256 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 2: about it, but they didn't caret Ceta. 257 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 7: This rat infestation was only one problem on top of 258 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 7: many that Goya's workers began facing. Their hours became longer, 259 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 7: their time off was cut short, while their paychecks were cut, 260 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 7: and every time they tried to speak up about it, 261 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 7: they experienced pushback from Goiaz management. Fed Up with the 262 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:54,120 Speaker 7: declining working conditions, Goya's workers started a campaign to unionize 263 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 7: in the Miami operation and fight for better working conditions, 264 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 7: which included better hours, our pension, retirement plans, and sanitary 265 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 7: warehouse protocols. 266 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 11: So I joined the union and then we presented to 267 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 11: the company we were asking for about it to take place, 268 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 11: and that's when Goya started the very very rough campaign 269 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 11: against the union. 270 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 7: At first, Goya refused to recognize the workers demands to 271 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 7: join the union known as Unite. So the workers took 272 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,159 Speaker 7: their demands to the public. 273 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 2: And we marched with data March Rodolfo. 274 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 7: Along with the other workers who were part of the 275 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 7: union negotiations, they held a demonstration outside of a Winn 276 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 7: Dixie supermarket in Miami. It's one of Goya's largest distributors 277 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 7: in the region. During the March, three Goya workers went 278 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 7: inside the supermarket and asked the manager to sign a 279 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 7: petition listing their demands. 280 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 11: Goya find out that the same day, of course, and 281 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 11: they knew who was inside, so those people they didn't. 282 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 2: Next day they came to work, they got fire. 283 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 7: Goya fired three of Rodolpho's coworkers after that incident for 284 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 7: making a scene at the supermarket and in the Miami warehouse. 285 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 7: They became known as the wind Dixie three. But you know, 286 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 7: USA reached out to Goya about the incident, but the 287 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 7: company didn't respond. The firing of the Windixi three became 288 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 7: this cautionary tale for any of Goya's workers who tried 289 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 7: to push union negotiations further. 290 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 11: During this time, you know, the union effort to organize 291 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 11: and it was getting low, low than the most city 292 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 11: of the work. It was very It was frustration. It 293 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 11: was very I mean because of all these changes, because 294 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 11: of the fire employee, and they fired a couple more. 295 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 11: Hard to remember exactly, but I know they especially because 296 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 11: of the with this trio. Everything went down the rain. 297 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 11: But they didn't care about workers. They didn't. They only 298 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,959 Speaker 11: care about losing their power. Power to fire you whenever 299 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,680 Speaker 11: they want, power to change your benefit whenever they would 300 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 11: have And that's what that's what it is, you know, 301 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 11: most about power. 302 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 7: After his friends got fired, Ridolfo's belief in the union's 303 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 7: mission just got stronger. He kept wearing his Union shirt 304 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 7: visible under his Goya uniform, and eventually a little over 305 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 7: a year after the wind Dixie incident, Ridolfo got a call. 306 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 11: But there was a conversation disparture. The picture told me, no, 307 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:25,639 Speaker 11: you don't have no rap tomorrow. You had to go 308 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 11: and see Maric Christina, which is what the hr when 309 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 11: they told me that I was fired. 310 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 2: I fired. 311 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 11: You were kind of pressure that night and talked to 312 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 11: my wife and said, I don't know what's going to 313 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 11: happen tomorrow, but I guess I lost my job. And 314 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 11: you know, it was kind of frustration. After ten years 315 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 11: almost ten years. At that day, it was like, my, 316 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 11: my word, my American dream went down the grain. Because 317 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 11: you are so used to working on a play for 318 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 11: so many years that you don't you don't think about 319 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 11: you think about the future will be hard. 320 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 7: Rodolf Was said the company told him he was fired 321 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 7: for being insubordinate, and Rodolfo was one of several Goya workers, 322 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 7: including the wend Dixie III, who Goya fired for trying 323 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 7: to unionize. A battle for settlements ensued and the whole 324 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 7: thing got even uglier. The negotiations lasted sixteen years, and 325 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 7: in twenty fourteen, the National Labor Relations Board finally charged 326 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 7: Goya with fifteen violations of the National Labor Relations Act 327 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 7: and Goya had to pay over three million dollars to 328 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,199 Speaker 7: the NLRB to distribute to the employees who were wronged. 329 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 7: The regional director of the union, Harris Rayner, stepped into 330 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 7: negotiations with Goya on behalf of the current and fired workers. 331 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 10: They went after those long term employees not only to 332 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 10: get rid of them, but to send a message to 333 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 10: all the other employees that if you stand up for 334 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 10: your rights, here's what's going to happen to you. And 335 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 10: those employees were engaged in something that was later called 336 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 10: protected concerted activity, which is when employees act together to 337 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 10: achieve an end that's legal, and they act in a 338 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 10: legal manner and the company punishes them illegally for exercising 339 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 10: their rights. 340 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 7: These charges included illegally disciplining employees by withholding wage increases 341 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 7: and taking away benefits, ignoring worker complaints about unsanitary working conditions, 342 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 7: taking away pension and benefit plans. But when Rayner stepped 343 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 7: in to bring Goya to the bargaining table with the union, 344 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 7: Goya wouldn't budge. 345 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 10: They clearly felt like these employees had no right to 346 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 10: ask for anything, to organize to have a union. I mean, 347 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 10: I've never seen such dictatorship, the level of arrogance of 348 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 10: this family. It was almost like they were running a 349 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 10: plantation and these were the indentured servants on the plantation. 350 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 7: Reiner also brought up another point that highlighted the further 351 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 7: hypocrisy of Goya's mistreatment of its workers in the factory. 352 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 10: And then they felt like that because they were Spanish 353 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,119 Speaker 10: speaking and most of the employees were from Latin countries, 354 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 10: that they could just talk to them separately and try 355 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 10: to flim flam them and lie to them and manipulate 356 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 10: them in any way that they could. It's an incredible 357 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 10: story of arrogance and social class. 358 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 7: After the union made complaints to the National Labor Relations Board, 359 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 7: Reiner cited cases where the Unanois themselves lied to the 360 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 7: terminated employees. The unanoways told the fired employees that the 361 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 7: union had lost the case and the judge decided against them. 362 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 7: They did this to convince these former employees to sign 363 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 7: settlement agreements, which then allowed Goya to private settle disputes 364 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 7: on their own terms, rather than giving workers a fair 365 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 7: chance of representation. Efforts to negotiate a union contract with 366 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 7: Goya lasted years and eventually petered out. It's a common 367 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 7: tactic to squash unionizing efforts, draw out the negotiation process 368 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 7: long enough for support for the union to die out, 369 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 7: and that's exactly what happened. The efforts to negotiate a 370 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 7: union contract did die out after a sixteen year deadlock. 371 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 7: Goya never agreed to union contract in the Miami plant, 372 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 7: and Rudolfo never got his job back. In fact, most 373 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 7: of the workers who were fired during that period had 374 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 7: their benefit and retirement plans taken away and never received 375 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 7: settlements from Goya. 376 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 11: They don't care about customer, they don't care about workers. 377 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 2: They just care about making a profit. 378 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 11: There's only a few families that lived through the agony 379 00:24:54,359 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 11: of Goya to the family Goya. 380 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 7: After the Miami protests, the Goya brand remained mostly out 381 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 7: of a critical spotlight. The boycott and labor disputes hadn't 382 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 7: amounted to damaging the company's reputation, and Goya continued expanding 383 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 7: their brand rapidly in the US throughout the two thousands. 384 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 7: But over a decade later, in twenty seventeen, Goya once 385 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 7: again found itself entangled in another controversy. This time it 386 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 7: was with the Puerto Rican community in New York. The 387 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 7: Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City is one 388 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 7: of the city's largest parades. Every June, thirty five blocks 389 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 7: in Manhattan are closed and flooded with Puerto Rican music, dancing, 390 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 7: and floats. The parade is sponsored by big corporations like 391 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 7: Coca Cola, Google, Jet Blue, and Goya had been a 392 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 7: sponsor since the inaugural parade in nineteen fifty eight. They 393 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 7: even had their own Goya float and dancers in the 394 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 7: lineup every year, but that all changed in twenty seventeen 395 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 7: because of a controversy over a man named Oscar Lopez Rivera. 396 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,880 Speaker 5: Organizers of New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade are being 397 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 5: criticized for honoring a convicted terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera, who 398 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 5: was recently pardoned by President Obama. Sponsors of the parade, 399 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 5: pulling out at and T, Coca Cola, Jet Blue, Goya, 400 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 5: and even the Yankees have all removed their support. 401 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 7: Lopez Rivera is a controversial figure. He was a leader 402 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 7: of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, a group that 403 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 7: advocated for independence of Puerto Rico. He also spent thirty 404 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 7: five years in prison for being accused of conspiracy to 405 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 7: overthrow the United States government, but after the FBI failed 406 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 7: to connect him to a threat of bombings carried out 407 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 7: in the name of the pro independence group, people began 408 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 7: calling for his release. In twenty seventeen, President Obama commuted 409 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 7: rivera sentence, so when the organizers of the Puerto Rican 410 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 7: Day Parade named the twenty seventeen event in honor of 411 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 7: Lopez Rivera, these corporations essentially boycotted the parade. But what 412 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:23,399 Speaker 7: they didn't expect was a boycott to their boycott. Here's 413 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 7: artist isabel Turner and her mother at that parade. 414 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 12: Everybody's waving a flag, blasting from music from cars, people 415 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,159 Speaker 12: are singing on top of floats. It just makes my 416 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,680 Speaker 12: heart feel so warm to see so many people filled 417 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 12: with so much pride for their homeland. 418 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 7: But that year the parade was different for Isabelle and 419 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 7: many other Puerto Ricans. Parade organizers and many in the 420 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 7: Puerto Rican community were calling to boycott Goya products after 421 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 7: the company pulled its sponsorship. So this is what I'm 422 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 7: talking about, the boycott. Of the boycott and Isabelle joined in. 423 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 12: I think the main thing was people saying, you're Goya, 424 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 12: You're a nicon symbol for the Puerto Rican community, Like 425 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,479 Speaker 12: how could you leave? Like how could you drop out 426 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:05,719 Speaker 12: of this? 427 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 7: For Isabelle, Goya pulling out of this parade led to 428 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 7: a larger realization about the company's role in her life. 429 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 7: Goya was more than just a pantry staple for her. 430 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 7: It was a means to make these dishes that feel 431 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 7: like home and buying families together. 432 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 12: Whenever I think of family events, I always think of 433 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,359 Speaker 12: my mom making out roskongandulas, which is a Puerto Rican 434 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:32,120 Speaker 12: rice dish that normally requires a Knagoya beans. Or Christmas time, 435 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 12: we'll have coquito and that will normally get the cream 436 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 12: of coconut from a Goya can. So I started thinking 437 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 12: about how Goya is just such an integral, almost part 438 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 12: of my identity, or that for so long I thought 439 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 12: of it as something that was really ingrained in who 440 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 12: I was and who I was as a Puerto Rican. 441 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 7: But at this point boycotting Goya products wasn't enough for Isabelle. 442 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 7: She began asking deeper questions. 443 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 12: Who was behind these products? Whose cultures have been boiled 444 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 12: down to fit into these package goods. If Goya is 445 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 12: so ingrained in such a part of the family, should 446 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 12: it be given the status of a family member? 447 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 7: And as an artist and photographer, she turned to art 448 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 7: as a way of processing what had happened at the 449 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 7: twenty seventeen parade. It led to this entire photography series 450 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 7: called Tiana kiss Er Bueno translating to it has to 451 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 7: be good, Goya's most popular marketing slogan. At first, Tiana 452 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 7: Kisser Bueno looks like a colorful shrine to Goya, with 453 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 7: canned vegetables and Goya prayer candles laid out on an 454 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 7: altar of banana leaves. But you have to look closer 455 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 7: and see what Isabelle's really doing here. She dug through 456 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 7: hundreds of negatives of old photographs of her family. She 457 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 7: selected photos like a black and white portrait of her 458 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 7: mother's first communion in Puerto Rico, this weathered, early colored 459 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 7: photograph of her her aunts in grade school posing on 460 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 7: a playground in front of a tenement building in the Bronx. 461 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 7: She took these precious heirlooms and neatly reprinted them onto 462 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 7: the labels of Goya cans. So at first the cans 463 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 7: just look like what do you see it at bodega? 464 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 7: But look closer and you'll see photos of Isabel's family 465 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 7: on each can. The most darring part of Isabel's metaphor 466 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 7: here is that every face is covered with a white 467 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 7: price tag. 468 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 12: My culture has a monetary value now because a corporation 469 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 12: decided that once upon a time, maybe they had good 470 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 12: intentions and they wanted to sell packaged goods, but they 471 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 12: progressed so far from that now and they've decided that 472 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 12: they were going to sell culture. I wanted people to 473 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 12: see that like, oh I could buy this, Oh I 474 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 12: could take this. Oh this is for sale. Oh this 475 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 12: is for sale. Oh this Stanley picture that's for sale. 476 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 12: These cultures have become commodities. 477 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 7: Isabelle also saw that Goya had created this strong association 478 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 7: between their products and the American dream. They even state 479 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 7: this mission on their website. But Isabelle believes that Puerto 480 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 7: Ricans have never been granted the American dream, and she 481 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 7: felt that Goya never really cared about the relentless hardships 482 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 7: the Puerto Rican community and even the larger Latino community 483 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 7: has faced. The twenty seventeen Periode was Isabelle's AHA moment, 484 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 7: and she hasn't looked back since. 485 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 12: It was also a death or a goodbye to Goya 486 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 12: in a lot of ways, goodbye to that chapter of 487 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 12: them being my iconic symbol for my culture. This alignment 488 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 12: with Goya as the icon of culture, Puerto Rican culture, 489 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:55,800 Speaker 12: LATINX culture, it doesn't work. 490 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 7: By twenty seventeen, Goya was already a household prom for 491 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 7: all Americans, not just Latinos. The company exceeded one billion 492 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 7: dollars in revenue in twenty eighteen, just like with the 493 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 7: boycott from the Goya workers in Miami twenty years before. 494 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 7: The one after the twenty seventeen parade died out, and 495 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 7: then in twenty twenty another reckoning came, and this one 496 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 7: gained a ton of attention. 497 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 3: We're all truly blessed at the same time to have 498 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 3: a leader like President Trump, who was a builder. 499 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 7: After Goya's president expressed his support for Donald Trump, I 500 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 7: wanted to know what these boycotts looked like within the 501 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 7: Latino community. In the context of a global pandemic. Latinos 502 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 7: were experiencing a coronavirus death rate nearly three times higher 503 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 7: than white Americans and a disproportionately high rate of unemployment 504 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 7: compared to the national average. Black and barn Latinos especially 505 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,160 Speaker 7: had a lot more to worry about at the time 506 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,400 Speaker 7: than whether or not to buy Goya products. I still 507 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 7: saw Goya on the shelves of grocery stores and bovegas, 508 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 7: and I wanted to know if these calls for a 509 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 7: boycott were really resonating with Latinos, the community that Goya 510 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 7: says it's foreign represents, or was it all just noise. 511 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 7: A few weeks after Unnoy's comments, I met a bar 512 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 7: owner in San Francisco's Mission District who had stopped buying 513 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 7: Goya for her restaurant. 514 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 13: It felt kind of shitty, to be honest, I don't know. 515 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 13: I'm not gonna lie. It kind of was like a 516 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 13: punch to my gut, Like my favorite black beans were 517 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 13: a Goya. Yeah, yeah, I made a conscious choice not 518 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 13: to purchase them after that. 519 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 7: This is Mari Soil Gonzalez. We met at Lupulandia, the 520 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,479 Speaker 7: Mexican bar she opened in November of twenty nineteen on 521 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 7: Mission Street. The space is colorful, bright pink and blue 522 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 7: paintings lined the wall, and this massive mural a sholo 523 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 7: the Mexican hairless dog breed reaches the high ceilings over 524 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 7: the bar. 525 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,720 Speaker 13: Food is everything, So when we were able to open 526 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,920 Speaker 13: a restaurant that could highlight Mexican flavors like things that 527 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 13: I think my mom would enjoy is everything. 528 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 7: Marisol used Goya products to make these dishes, from the 529 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 7: seasoning for their rice dishes to Goya beans for their tacos. 530 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 7: But after they decided to boycott Goya, Mariso and her 531 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,279 Speaker 7: husband turned to making food from scratch at home and 532 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 7: at the restaurant. 533 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 13: And I always say, like, my mom used to make 534 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 13: this for me, Like this was like something that used 535 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 13: to love. And you know, even Anthony remembers his grandma 536 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,399 Speaker 13: making felo for him. There's just certain things that kind 537 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,760 Speaker 13: of I don't know. They not only do they taste delicious, 538 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 13: but they like remind you of certain things, like there's 539 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,439 Speaker 13: this nostalgia for like, uh, yeah, I remember my mom 540 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 13: used to make this for me. So now I want 541 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 13: to do that for my kid, and I want him 542 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,800 Speaker 13: to be connected to my mom through this would as well. 543 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 7: And Marisol kept adhering to this boycott even through the 544 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 7: devastating economic downturn the pandemic had caused. 545 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 2: So business was doing well. 546 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 13: People responded really well to the food. So yeah, Bologna 547 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 13: was becoming the place that we wanted it to be. 548 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,839 Speaker 13: And then COVID hit and the city shut us down. 549 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,439 Speaker 13: We yeah, I mean from one day to the other, 550 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 13: we essentially had to close down the place. And it 551 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:28,320 Speaker 13: was a little heartbreaking. 552 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 7: I mean, this was her reality. An unprecedented pandemic was 553 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 7: threatening her livelihood and the restaurant she had always dreamed 554 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 7: of opening. She boycotted Goya, and then what with the 555 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 7: bar facing closure Mariusol didn't have the time or energy 556 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 7: to ask this question then what She even admitted that 557 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 7: she didn't know how tenable the boycott was. With bodegas 558 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,280 Speaker 7: and restaurants struggling to stay open, so many had already 559 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 7: closed in the city, and it made me wonder whether 560 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 7: this boycott was serving any larger purpose. What was the 561 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 7: point of all this. I kept thinking back to this 562 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 7: idea that the food historian Professor Ortie's Quadra brought up. 563 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,359 Speaker 6: Food is so important it can't trace you back to 564 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:25,759 Speaker 6: your homeland. 565 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:30,799 Speaker 7: The idea that food memories are the foundation of our 566 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 7: intimate connections with our culture and identity. 567 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 6: Remembering food it solid defies your identity in processes. 568 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 2: Of layas for us. 569 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 7: I ask Professor Ortiz's Quadra if this identity through food 570 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,760 Speaker 7: can ever be reclaimed, and he did tell me about 571 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 7: one movement in Puerto Rico that is trying to do 572 00:36:59,040 --> 00:36:59,359 Speaker 7: just that. 573 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 8: There is a flourishing, if I can say that, of 574 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 8: young people professionals that are returning back to agriculture, specifically 575 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 8: small agriculture, and it's a way to step away on 576 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 8: the margins of this food capitalism, particularly because Puerto Rico 577 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 8: has a big problem of imports. 578 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,839 Speaker 6: Eighty five eighty eight percent of our food is important. 579 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:34,000 Speaker 6: So this movement is trying to may or plant or 580 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 6: produce foodstuffs that are very essential in our cooking and 581 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:41,480 Speaker 6: are palad And. 582 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 7: This movement isn't only happening in Puerto Rico. It's happening everywhere, 583 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 7: from urban farming movements in California to food sovereignty movements 584 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 7: in Cuba. The takeaway is this commitment to reforming relationship 585 00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 7: with food. It's hard and it takes sacrifice in this process. 586 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:10,399 Speaker 7: It doesn't happen overnight. Everyone involved in these boycotts they 587 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 7: realized that Goya had capitalized on their emotional connection to 588 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,359 Speaker 7: food for its own corporate profit, and they tried to 589 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,799 Speaker 7: do something about it. For Rodolfo, Goya's promise of being 590 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:26,240 Speaker 7: part of La Grand Familia, of achieving the American dream 591 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 7: through the food company was a lie, and he fought back. 592 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:35,000 Speaker 7: The Puerto Rican artist Isabelle divorced her Puerto Rican identity 593 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,960 Speaker 7: from Goya after recognizing the ways in which the food 594 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,840 Speaker 7: company had embedded itself in her relationship with her culture. 595 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 7: Marisol took goya support for Donald Trump as a betrayal 596 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 7: against the community it claims to serve and honored that 597 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 7: boycott even while facing imminent closure of her restaurant. If 598 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,239 Speaker 7: Goya's meteor expansion in the US is due to the 599 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:07,000 Speaker 7: brand's uncanny ability to represent the entire Latino community in 600 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 7: the US, that also seems to be one of the 601 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:16,480 Speaker 7: company's biggest flaws, and reinventing these food memories, as Professor 602 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:20,759 Speaker 7: Ortiz Quadra calls them, it can start small, like in 603 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:29,160 Speaker 7: your kitchen. That's how Isabella's getting started, by making her 604 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 7: own sofrito from scratch and memorizing her mom's recipe by heart. 605 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 12: My mom puts three to four clothes of garlic, one 606 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:42,719 Speaker 12: onion normally smaller medium, depending one green pepper or you 607 00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:44,799 Speaker 12: can use one red pepper, because you can either make 608 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:49,479 Speaker 12: red sofrito or green sofrito, but occasionally my mom will 609 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 12: do half of a green pepper, half of a red 610 00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,560 Speaker 12: then half a cup of olive oil, and then of filento. 611 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Gabrielle Burbe and Alejandra Salasadin, 612 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,680 Speaker 1: edited by Marta Martinez. The Latino USA team includes Niel Macias, 613 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:19,280 Speaker 1: Andrea Lopez Gruzsado, Julieta Martinelli, Alissa Scarce, Gini Montalbo, Reinaldo, 614 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: Leanos Junior and Julia Rocha with help from Raul Prees. 615 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: Our engineers are Stephanie Lebou, Julia Caruso and Lia Shaw, 616 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 1: with help from Elisiuba YouTube. Our digital editor is Los Luna. 617 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:34,520 Speaker 1: Our interns are Samantha Friedman and Carl Rubin. Our theme 618 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:37,279 Speaker 1: music was composed by Zane ro Renos. If you like 619 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,919 Speaker 1: the music you heard on this episode, stop by Latinousa 620 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,200 Speaker 1: dot org and check out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm 621 00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:46,479 Speaker 1: your host and executive producer MARIEO Josa. Join us again 622 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,359 Speaker 1: next time, and in the meantime, look for us on 623 00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,440 Speaker 1: all of your social media. I'll see you there, Ciao. 624 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 14: Latino USA is made passible in part by the John D. 625 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,799 Speaker 14: And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, working with 626 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:10,879 Speaker 14: visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, and 627 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 14: the wind Coat Foundation. 628 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:22,080 Speaker 1: I'm Maria Josa next time on Latino USA. In La 629 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: Boca the Lobo. What Mexican researchers learned about how asylum 630 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:30,879 Speaker 1: seekers forced by the US to wait in Mexico are 631 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:34,919 Speaker 1: surviving while in the mouth of the wolf. That's next time. 632 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:36,000 Speaker 1: On Latino USA