Local Pizza Restaurant Under Fire for Claiming Food is Political
"Eating is a political act." - Michael Pollan
I have known Mark Doxtader for decades, since he first towed his mobile pizza oven to the Portland Farmers Market and started slinging slices to the crowds queued up for some of his woodfired pies heaped with the vegetables he grew on his farm. A big guy with an impish grin, he's been at the forefront of our regional food scene for over a quarter century, not only featuring local products in his own work, but advocating for local grains at the Food Lab and Grain Gatherings, speaking at farm conferences, and running two innovative pizza restaurants before pizza became synonymous with Portland food.
Recently his Multnomah Village restaurant, Tastebud, posted on its website the following manifesto:
"ICE OUT EVERYWHERE. Food is political. No one is illegal on stolen land. Fuck ICE. Abolish ICE. Release the Trump/Epstein files. Free Palestine. Black lives matter. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Love your LGBTQ neighbors. The holocaust was real. Healthcare is a human right. Masks save lives. Get your damn vaccines. Wash your hands. Germ theory is science. Cook chicken to 165. Stay hydrated."
While each of these phrases can be seen on innumerable lawn signs on a casual walk through almost any Portland neighborhood, apparently right-wing trolls and their army of AI bots saw an opportunity to gin up some outrage. The restaurant became subject to "review bombing," a practice which "arises from highly negative reviews to draw attention to perceived cultural or political issues" according to Wikipedia, which in turn caused Yelp to post an "Unusual Activity Alert," i.e. a notice posted when a business receives "increased public attention," and has disabled comments.
"It's important to vote with your dollars," said Doxtader.
Aside from the review bombing, Tastebud has been featured, I kid you not, in articles from Fox News to the New York Post and the Daily Mail (in the UK). Totally insane.
"It's another distraction," said Doxtader in a brief conversation. "It's all just so dumb." He reiterated that while the trolls rail against the statement that food is political, they're actually proving his point. "We need to stand up now before it's too late," he said. "It's important to vote with your dollars."