Food Culture

Gina and I took a walk around the neighborhood around ARISE High School to check out what kinds of good eats we could find. We weren’t surprised to find many taquerias as well as food carts that line the streets.  We were, however, surprised that there wasn’t a more diverse food culture on International Boulevard. With a Quickly here and a Wendy’s there, the Latino community was far more present in the food culture near ARISE. Among the local food joints, we found Taqueria San Jose, Four Star Pizza, Powderface, La Torta Loca, Taqueria La Gran Chiquita, Taqueria Sinaloa, as well as Chef Ming.

As well as those restaurants, we also found a number of grocery stores in the area, mostly owned by Latinos: Mi Pueblo, New Ocean Food Mart, International Produce Market and Los Mexicanos Market. The prices are very low and reasonable on all of the produce, much lower than that of Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or Safeway. We were fortunate enough to speak with a young woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, that works at Mi Pueblo. She described to us the working conditions that violated a variety of health codes and practices. This gave us a unique perspective on the health of the surrounding community in the context of the food industry.

Knowing this, it did not surprise me when I asked a young man and woman working in a furniture store where they like to, eat I received no response. They did not have one recommendation for a good restaurant to eat at in the vicinity. They showed no interest in what was even going on in the culinary culture of International Boulevard, even though they both worked there daily. The extreme disconnect from food was apparent just from walking down the boulevard, but the strange thing was that Fruitvale use to be a mecca for business owners to come and sell their produce. The times have certainly changed in Fruitvale, and with it the culture of food appreciation. To learn more about how Fruitvale got it's name, please visit our "History" page via the links at the top of the page.