Talk about food gentrification has been on the Internet lately surrounding Whole Foods' new campaign to elevate a staple in the traditional cuisine of the U.S. south–collard greens–to the rank of the trendy health food kale. Early on, quinua (translated in English as ‘quinoa’) was on the table for debate. The discussion focused on whether demand in the U.S. and Europe, and the consequential rising international prices, were harming local farmers and consumers in South American countries where quinua is native. Indeed, the local and global forces of culture, economics, and politics play a role in the not-so-new phenomenon of food gentrification. Here, I tell a story about coconut and food gentrification with a view from the Global South, that is, as a native Ecuadorian.