Oldways Offering Free Latino-themed Materials

To help retailers and others mark Latino Nutrition Month and National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15), Oldways has created the “Latino Nutrition in Your Community” initiative to raise awareness that making healthy food and lifestyle choices can help cut the risk of chronic disease among Hispanics.

The campaign’s centerpiece is the Oldways Latino Nutrition Collection, a free online resource providing a variety of bilingual nutrition tools the Boston-based nonprofit educational organization has developed. The collection includes practical tips, recipes and health information in both English and Spanish, available free for individuals and health professionals to download and distribute. Additionally, through Oct. 15, Oldways is offering free printed copies of its “Camino Magico” bilingual supermarket guide and its illustrated Latin American Diet Pyramid poster. The organization created the pyramid in 1996 and went on to establish Latino Nutrition Month.

“Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of American society, face serious health risks as they replace the nutritious foods of their traditional diets with a typical Western diet known for unhealthy foods and oversized portions,” explained Oldways president Sara Baer-Sinnott.”We are reaching out to Latino organizations nationwide to encourage them to share these tools honoring traditional Latino ingredients and lifestyles with their local communities.”

“A lot of Spanish-speaking people will be touched by these resources,” added Cintia Aguilar, Latino affairs facilitator for North Carolina Cooperative Extension, in Raleigh, N.C., which has the country's fastest-growing Latino population. Aguilar is working with all 100 North Carolina extension offices to use Oldways materials in their community programs.

Backing the distribution of the free materials are General Mills, Herdez/MegaMex, Mission, the National Watermelon Promotion Board, the Peanut Institute, the U.S. Potato Board, Soyfoods Association of North American, Tambobamba, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and Kwik’pak Fisheries. Companies interested in disseminating the tools can visit www.oldwayspt.org for more information or contact Erika Ross at [email protected] or (617) 896-4850.