SALUD… UN INGREDIENTE PARA LA FAMILIA TOOL KIT ENCOURAGES HEALTHY LIFESTYLES
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Following a very successful festival in Queens, NY, in June 2004, ACFN developed a Community Action Tool Kit to serve as a guide and resource for organizations to host similar educational festivals. The Salud…Un Ingrediente para la Familia Community Action Tool Kit provides the tools necessary to organize and promote an event that meets the unique needs of a particular community, including comprehensive planning tools, advice for working with neighborhood partners and with the media, and tips for making your event a success.
About
the Salud…Un Ingrediente para la Familia Program
When is a grocery store more than just a grocery store? When it’s a Festival!
In June 2004, Corona Food Plaza in Corona, N.Y. was transformed into an energetic marketplace of food, fun and physical activity for residents of this Queens neighborhood. Organized by the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN) and the National Supermarkets Association, the Corona festival was designed to provide Hispanic residents with information about the importance of good health, smart eating and staying physically active. The festival is part of ACFN’s Salud…Un Ingrediente para la Familia (Health... An Ingredient for the Family) campaign. Nearly 400 families crowded the Corona Food Plaza to compete in contests and raffles against the backdrop of Latino music. Leveraging the strong traditions and cultural pride that is integral to Latin meal rituals, the event also featured nutrition information within the context of everyday life in the bustling community.
Chef Rafael Palomino, one of the first chefs to perfect Nuevo Latino cuisine, demonstrated how to prepare traditional dishes with a healthy flare. Festival-goers sampled healthy versions of chimichurri chicken skewers, mango and peach gazpacho and Ecuadorian ceviche.
Registered dietitians Cecelia Pozo-Fileti and Susan Finn were on hand to talk about portion sizes and healthy meal preparation, and to hand out Spanish-English recipe cards for Latin favorites.
"We
have traditional ways of eating and living, but we come here and become acculturated,"
said Pozo-Fileti, whose family is from Ecuador and who runs Latino Health Communications
in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Latino community has been particularly hard hit by the obesity epidemic. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion reports that rates of obesity among Hispanics doubled between 1991 and 2001 from 11.6 percent to 23.7 percent. According to the National Center for Statistics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 23 percent of Hispanic males and 27.5 percent of Hispanic females are obese. These rates are higher than those for non-Hispanic whites, which are at 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
For this reason, the ACFN is collaborating with local leaders to educate and encourage as many citizens as possible regarding the importance of healthy lifestyle choices. ACFN has already begun a series of new initiatives to address these issue as part of Salud... Un Ingrediente para la Familia. The campaign includes establishing ties to Hispanic grassroots organizations at the national and local levels and distributing informational materials to families in order to raise awareness about the obesity epidemic and its effects on the entire community.
To view a highlight video of the New York event, please select a format below.
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