“IF IT’S GOYA IT HAS TO BE MIERDA”

Goya Foods has maintained a significant role in the Latino community here in the U.S., where being able to recognize ingredients in big chain grocery stores under the Goya label reinforced a great sense of inclusion & identity in the states. Goya Foods has played a significant role in Latino families overall when it comes to preserving and integrating our cultural traditions through food. However, Goya Foods as a corporation does not show up for the very community it has profited from. Boycotts against Goya Foods date back to 1997 in Miami, where workers protested with demands for better working conditions, to very recently in 2020, when CEO of Goya Foods, Robert Unanue, announced that former president Trump is the “real, legitimate president”, showing solidarity with Trump’s presidency and Goya Foods. Leading with racism and xenophobia, Trump and his government have violently harmed Latino communities with effects still persisting today. Soon after Unanue’s declaration, Ivanka Trump had posted a photo on Twitter, advertising Goya Foods and their mission statement, “If it’s Goya, it has to be good.” While Goya, as a food product, still maintains a certain significance in Latino foods throughout the U.S., I can not turn my head away from the blatant disrespect that Goya, as a corporation, has inflicted upon the Latino community. This photographic series lives as a testament to degrading Goya Foods the same way it has degraded my community. 

Fedella Lizeth, 2021