Target is slammed for selling ‘inappropriate’ ‘Ghetto Gastro’ breakfast food range – but its founders say critics are ‘missing the point’ – and they’re using ‘food as a weapon to make an impact our on community’

Target has been maligned for selling a wakeful and “inappropriate” food brand — while the founders say critics are missing the point.

Social media users flocked to the store after it announced last month that it would begin stocking Ghetto Gastro products.

Founded in 2012 by Bronx natives Jon Gray, Lester Walker and Pierre Serrao, the New York City brand markets itself as “Food for Freedom.” Fuel for thought.’

But some took issue with the use of the word “ghetto” and the “black power” message printed on the packaging.

It’s not the first time Target has been criticized this year after being attacked for selling “pleat-friendly” women’s swimsuits in July.

“Target seems to have gone fucking crazy,” one Twitter user wrote when he saw a photo of their products at one location.

“Yes, I’m sorry, it’s a no from me. “Ghetto Gastro” is a repugnant name for a product on several levels,” wrote another.

One Twitter account compared it to Target’s earlier response to selling rainbow-themed apparel: “If the marketing department decides Pride displays are passé.”

‘I can not do it. Get your stuff together, Target!!!” added another one.

Not everyone was negative, with one Twitter user angry that the brand’s intent was lost in translation.

In this thread: white people are being insulted on behalf of black people that Target stocks products from a black company.

“One that, after looking at their site, I can’t wait to order as soon as products like the macha pancake mix are back in stock.”

Another just wanted to know the most important question about food: “But is it good?”

A user who goes by the name “Tribe” on Twitter placed the brand’s toaster pastries next to generic Pop Tarts and came away disappointed.

“Those new pop-tarts with all the race card marketing at Target aren’t just double the price for half the amount… they’re also higher in calories.”

The creators explained in a Target press release that the name was meant “to use the idea of ​​where we come from to create something special and reinvent the vernacular.”

They claim that ‘ghetto’ ‘connotes resilience, innovation and creativity – it means home and the ‘gastro’ means our intention to revolutionize your taste buds in thoughtful ways.’

The group released a Ghetto Gastro cookbook called ‘Black Power Kitchen’ which received critical acclaim and was featured in Vogue, among others, in 2022.

According to their websiteis the goal to “use ancestral ingredients” and “use food as a weapon to make an impact in our community.”

“We want to provide more nutritional benefits to communities like ours that have been neglected or systematically designed to have bad food,” co-founder Jon Gray told me. The carrot.

“We want to create content that penetrates the psyche, that shows people what’s good for them, without being preachy.”

In June, Target was caught up in the wave of protests against corporate support for political causes when they faced criticism for selling pride items.

Target has lost $14 billion in market capitalization since it became known that the chain was selling “pleat-friendly” women’s bathing suits.

It comes at a time when Stephen Miller’s America First Legal is demanding that Target turn over all of the company’s books and documents detailing its promotion of LGBTQ products and its fall in market value.

In response, more than 200 LGBTQ groups demanded that Target replenish its controversial Pride merchandise and take a stand against “extremists” within 24 hours.

The Human Rights Campaign, along with GLAAD and the controversial GLSEN, released a statement on Monday asking the retail giant and other companies, including Bud Light brewer Anheuser-Bush, to “reject the anti-LGBTQ+ extremism entering Pride Month and to speak out.