As a member of the LatinX and Hispanic community herself, Roncero holds a strong stance on this subject, for she found herself to be affected by it for most of her life. Roncero states that in her personal experience, which she believes can be compared to those of many other ‘ethnic’ Americans, the ethnic aisle “bears witness to the complicated colonial history of labeling discourses, the homogenization and racialization of Latinidad/es, and consumption of the ethnic Other”(Roncero P4). Or in simpler terms, the ethnic aisle in the grocery store perpetuates systemic ideas such as colonialism, racism, and cultural divides. 

To effectively grasp Roncero’s perspective, we must first understand that the way a grocery store presents food implies a set of assumptions about the food and its cultural ties; This specific form of organization is also an example of multimodality. For context, the Oxford Dictionary defines multimodality as “The use of more than one semiotic mode in meaning-making, communication, and representation generally, or in a specific situation”(Oxford). In other words, multimodality refers to a variation in language as communication within a given setting. Multimodality can be found in the grocery store when you walk through the different aisles and you read the different categories of food that can be found in each. For each aisle and category, a different genre or mode of signaling is used to notify a customer what food exists in that aisle. Within the context of the ethnic aisle, multimodality shows itself in the variation in languages and cultural food staples that exist within the aisle. You can find a Spanish rice dish on one side and an Indian flatbread on the other, both of which will likely be packaged in different languages and be catered to different cultures. Roncero argues that this melting pot of cultural references within the ethnic aisle exists as a deterrent for Americans who do not identify with those cultures, and assists in the systemic alienation of ‘ethnic’ cultures apart from white ones.

In her comments on her study, Roncero recalls a specific case where she happened upon a “Tortilla Center” at the end of a particular ethinc aisle. This section of the aisle contained a variety of wheat and corn tortilla brands, in addition to packages of Tostadas, which are staple Mexican tortillas that accompany many traditional Mexican dishes. According to Roncero, during the time of the Spanish colonization of the Aztec civilization, the Aztec people refused to eat wheat tortillas provided by the Spanish colony. More specifically, “the Indigenous community did not fully accept these impositions and refused to eat wheat in favor of their corn tortillas and tamales”(Roncero P36). Roncero believes the ‘Tortilla Center’ that she found in an ethnic grocery aisle to be extremely harmful, primarily because of the history that it fails to recognize, or quite possibly succeeds in perpetuating. The fact that customers such as herself are even given the choice between wheat and corn tortillas within the ethnic aisle goes against its entire purpose, and effectively reminds members of the Hispanic community of the history of systemic oppression that exists as a product of colonialism. Roncero says it best: “The Indigenous Other is defined in opposition to the ‘strong, pure, and wise’ colonist, and only by embracing the colonizers’ ways would the Other achieve a ‘civilized state’”(Roncero P36). 

Let me ask you this: How many grocery stores have you walked into where you noticed an ethnic aisle? Now, think about how similar they were. If right now you’re a bit confused, that’s for good reason. Roncero makes sure to highlight the fact that most ethnic aisles in grocery stores are organized quite differently, as opposed to many other aisles in the store such as the dairy section or the bread section, which are often uniform in terms of organization from store to store. Roncero argues that the contrast in organization between various ethnic aisles reflects a major issue in the systemic American view on ‘ethnic’ communities: Different people from different areas are allowed to have different definitions of what is ethnic and what is not. What’s even more is that some stores even separate their ethnic sections into multiple aisles (For instance, there might be a “Tex-Mex-Latino” aisle next to a “Polish-Kosher-Ethnic” aisle). This separation of aisles is more than just that; It is an estrangement of certain ethnic communities from others, and it devalues the complexity of each community in their own right as a unique cultural entity. 

Surprisingly, Roncero does not believe the ethnic aisle to be completely ill-intentioned. She recognizes that a holistic culinary approach can be found in many of the dishes in the ethnic aisle, which can be a positive for many members of ‘ethnic’ communities in America. The holistic culinary approach is more specifically defined as “connections that food and cooking practices have had and have with a global community” (Abarca and Salas, 2016, p. 252). In this sense, Roncero recognizes that being able to buy a familiar dish from one’s native country within the walls of an American grocery can be a source of great comfort and pleasure. However, she continues to hold true to her theory that the ethnic aisle does more harm than good within the context of cultural identity.

In conclusion, the ethnic aisle in the grocery store serves as a method of strengthening the cultural divide that exists between ‘ethnic’ communities and white communities within America. It accomplishes this perhaps unintended task through a variety of methods: A separation of ethnic foods from other foods, the existence of a language barrier that will often deter members of the white community from exploring the aisle, the chaotic and lack of uniformed organization from aisle to aisle, and finally the placement of ethnic items adjacent to blatantly offensive (given historical context such as colonialism) or ‘classically American’ items within the boundaries of the ethnic aisle. Roncero encourages that we take this information and use it to evaluate our own situations and relationships with ethnic communities on an everyday basis, suggesting that “the multimodal spaces of grocery store aisles invites us to ponder how we construct (our) identities and relationships”(Roncero P39). So next time you find yourself in the ethnic aisle at your local grocery store, take the time to evaluate how and why Roncero’s ideas might apply to your own experience, and how you can learn from her theories in order to think more critically about the systemic perpetualization of cultural alienation in modern America.

Roncero-Bellido, Ana. “WALKING (IN) THE ETHNIC AISLE: LATINIDAD/ES STOCKED IN THE MARKET.” Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics, 2018. 

http://journalofmultimodalrhetorics.com/2-2-roncero-bellido

Abarca, M. E., & Carr Salas C. (Eds). (2016).  Latin@s’ presence in the food industry: Changing how we think about food. USA: U of Arkansas Press.