Honoring Hispanic Heritage
Actor-producer-director and community activist Edward James Olmos discussed his upbringing, community outreach, and prolific career that earned him a variety of accolades including an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the dedicated real-life math teacher Jaime Escalante in the feature film “Stand and Deliver,” which he also produced. Awarded the Presidential Medal for Excellence and inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in 1999, educator Jaime Escalante transformed a class of East Los Angeles high school students deemed “un-teachable” into successful students who all passed an advanced placement test in calculus. Legendary activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta cofounded the United Farm Workers union with César Chávez. Her tireless efforts forced an industry to change. Along with commentary from Gloria Steinem and Richard Chávez, Ms. Huerta discussed her life and proved that at age 76 she is still a powerful voice for women, immigrants and farm workers. The second Hispanic American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Roberto Clemente is known not only as an international baseball star, but also as a humanitarian who often delivered food and supplies to his native land of Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries. Mr. Clemente died in a plane crash in 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. His son Roberto Clemente Jr. and Yankee greats Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams weighed in on Clementes contributions to baseball and to his community.
Biography.com also commemorated Hispanic Heritage Month with a mini-site featuring more than 80 profiles of famous Hispanic personalities, a trivia game, and streaming broadband features including “Aztec History,” “Evita Perón,” and “Early Images of the Cuban Revolution.”
The Hispanic “got milk?” Campaign Launched Sabor Latino Recipes in Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month
As Hispanics around the country celebrated their roots during Hispanic Heritage Month, the Hispanic “got milk?” campaign introduced Sabor Latino, a first-of-its-kind virtual recipe booklet full of delicious Hispanic recipes that can be downloaded to your computer. The Sabor Latino recipes were inspired by traditional Latin meals and are a compilation developed by nutritionists and diet experts Claudia Gonzalez, M.S., R.D. and Lourdes Alcañiz, M.A., who used some of the most representative dishes from key Latin countries to help bring back healthy Latino home cooking for today’s busy people.
The recipes were designed to not only bring Hispanic families together but to also help them keep in shape. The recipes were especially developed as healthy alternatives to the typical Latin recipes from the different countries. The booklet includes nutritional tips promoting healthy eating habits to help combat obesity, a problem facing Hispanics today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of Hispanics are considered to be obese.
Claudia Gonzalez, a renowned Hispanic registered nutritionist and previous spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA), emphasized, “Given the high index readings for obese Hispanics and the fact that they are predisposed to certain diseases, educating them about good nutrition becomes even more essential.” In fact, there is a study by Patricia Lockyear that indicates that as Hispanics spend more time in the United States, the nutritional quality of their diet is reduced.
The recipes that have been included in the booklet emphasize the importance of healthy eating habits. At the same time, they help revive home cooking, the cuisine Hispanics hold dear to their hearts and to their families’ palates. “If you make small changes, such as adding low-fat and fat-free milk to recipes instead of whole milk, it becomes easier to eat healthier,” states Ms. Gonzalez. “The Sabor Latino recipe booklet will enable you to eat your fav-orite Latin recipes while minding your health,” she concludes.
Studies suggest the calcium and nutrients in milk can play an important role in promoting healthy weight loss. So if you are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, try drinking three servings of low fat or fat free milk every day as part of a reduced calorie diet.
Recipes include Aji de Gallina, a Peruvian dish that is very popular in this Andean country for its spicy flavor. It is the perfect fusion of Peruvian native ingredients with Spanish food. The booklet also features the famous Pez a la Veracruzana, Flan de Queso straight from Puerto Rico, and a Dulce de Leche originating from Mexico. These sweet desserts are full of flavor and are also packed with healthy nutrients contained in milk. The booklet stresses that by using low-fat and fat-free milk in recipes, you are providing the same nine essential nutrients and vitamins that whole milk carries, such as potassium, vitamins A, D, B12, and calcium.
To download a copy of the Sabor Latino recipe booklet and to learn more about the benefits of drinking milk, visit .
