The Goya Foods silliness

Speak well of the VSG in any context, however passingly, and watch the jackboots come for your head:

Goya, a popular food brand known as the premier source for authentic Latinx food, has been trending on Twitter since yesterday — but not in a good way. After Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue spoke at the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon and praised President Donald Trump, loyal customers of the brand created the hashtag #Goyaway.

During a gathering for the launch of the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative on Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to expand “efforts across all the federal government to deliver educational and economic opportunity for Hispanic Americans.” Trump honored Unanue, whose grandfather founded Goya, by appointing him one of the leaders of the initiative. 

“We are all truly blessed to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder. And that’s what my grandfather did, he came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper, and so we have an incredible builder, and we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president,” Unanue said during his speech. Trump, who was standing several feet away from him, seemed pleased with the praise and thanked him afterwards. 

Permit me a moment of digression. What kind of style guidelines is Yahoo News following that results in the use of this "Latinx" nonsense? Are they not aware that only 2 percent of Hispanics prefer this term?

Anyway, Unanue is learning real quick that you don't speak favorably of Trump, even if you are materially supporting your own demographic:

Despite the fact that Unanue announced that the corporation would be donating 1 million cans of Goya chickpeas and a million pounds of food to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic during that same speech, customers have responded to the CEO’s pro-Trump remarks by promising to stop buying the company’s products altogether. 

Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, tweeted his disappointment and called for people to boycott, saying, “Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway.” 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also quote-tweeted Unanue’s comments, saying, “Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo.’” 

Major constituents in the community have rebuked Unanue’s speech, too. United We Dream (UWD), an organization that serves young immigrants, also tweeted that it supports boycotting Goya for working with the White House, and started a petition for people to sign. “We don’t support companies who endorse and comply with a White Supremacist regime. Under capitalism, know the power of the dollar in their eyes. We’re using it to make a statement,” UWD said.

Maybe Goya is just willing to work with any administration whose initiatives align with the company's public-giveback aims, as it did in 2012, when it joined forces with Michelle Obama:

Goya Foods, America’s largest Hispanic-owned food company, continues to support the national efforts of First Lady Michelle Obama’s MyPlate campaign as part of the LetsMove health initiative to encourage consumers to eat healthy and exercise.

Goya will participate in the third annual PIX11 Health & Wellness Expo on Saturday, October 19, 2013 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan to help educate consumers on proper nutrition and how to eat healthy.  Nutritionist/Food Scientist MeriTerese Racanelli, M.S. will be on hand to offer expert advice on the nutritional value of Goya products and will conduct three different food demos including one of Goya’s staple dishes GOYA® Rice and Beans using GOYA® low sodium black beans and GOYA® Organic Long Grain Rice which was recently featured in Real Simple magazine for one of the best basic rice varieties on the market. 

“Beans are a super health and wellness food that help lower the risk of heart disease and cancer and provide naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and anti-inflammatories,” says Racanelli. “It’s also a perfect fitness food with natural muscle-building protein and digestive-supportive dietary fiber that helps prevent blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal and to fill you up, not out.  Choosing low sodium canned beans is a great way for people to combine convenience with nutrition, particularly for people who have high blood pressure, kidney health issues, diabetes and Celiac.”

The Goya booth will also offer additional health and wellness information as well as complimentary samples of GOYA® Coconut Water, GOYA® Rice and Beans, and GOYA® Quinoa Salad. Attendees will learn more about healthy recipes featured on Goya.com and in Goya’s MyPlate cookbook Healthy, Tasty, & Affordable Latin Cooking, as well as participate in t-shirt and product giveaways.  

In January of 2011, Goya became part of the LetsMove campaign to launch MiPlato, the Spanish version of MyPlate, in order to help promote healthy eating among the Hispanic community. Along with the MyPlate cookbook, Goya created thousands of brochures, posters and educational lesson plans highlighting MyPlate, including recipes and the USDA’s “10 tips to a great plate.”  The MyPlate icon was printed on many Goya product labels, including GOYA® Black, Pinto, White and Red Kidney Beans, GOYA® Chick Peas, and Sazón GOYA® Natural and Complete. Goya also expanded their low-sodium, fat-free, gluten-free and sugar-free product lines.  Throughout the year, Goya has integrated healthy eating into the company’s marketing, events, and public relations campaigns and will continue to support new programs and events to promote health and wellness across the nation.

Look, longtime LITD readers know I'm no Trump fan by any stretch (see post below). I'm also none too big on corporate do-gooder-ism in general. I'm more inclined to the Milton Friedman view: show your shareholders a return on their investment, and you've fulfilled your responsibility. And I thought Michelle Obama's nutritional-eating push was a classic case of gummint sticking its nose into the choices of sovereign individuals regarding what they want to eat. (Granted, she didn't hold an official gummint position, but she had a bully pulpit because her husband had the ultimate gummint [position].

But this kind of demonizing is the Left's way of serving notice that there's another player in the marketplace besides consumers and producers, and it intends to have a very big say in the range of choices that consumers have.

Folks, that's why we call 'em Freedom-Haters.