A Taste of Latin American Heritage is a bilingual (English-Spanish) 6-week cooking and nutrition curriculum that celebrates the healthy, vibrant, plant-based food traditions from across Latin America. Featured regions include Mexico, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Participants expand their knowledge of nutrition and learn simple cooking techniques for healthy living based on delicious Latin American food traditions.
What Are A Taste of Latin American Heritage Classes Like?
A Taste of Latin American Heritage brings the Latin American Heritage Diet Pyramid to life. This healthy eating model celebrates the traditional eating patterns (or “diet”) of our ancestors, indigenous people and immigrants whose food traditions shaped the culinary landscape of the four regions of Latin America: Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Participants explore the major food groups of the Pyramid while learning healthy eating habits with simple, delicious recipes based in the foods and flavors of Latin American heritage. Each lesson is based on a different plant-based food group in the culinary traditions of the various people and regions of Latin America.
Lesson 1: Herbs and Spices
Lesson 2: Tubers
Lesson 3: Whole Grains
Lesson 4: Fruits, Vegetables, and a Healthy Lifestyle
Lesson 5: Pulses
Lesson 6: Nuts, Seeds, and Oils
Bilingual (all pages are in both English and Spanish)
¿Cómo son las clases de “El sabor de la herencia latinoamericana”?
El sabor de la herencia latinoamericana da vida a la pirámide. Este modelo de alimentación saludable celebra los patrones de alimentación tradicionales (o “dieta”) de nuestros antepasados, pueblos indígenas e inmigrantes cuyas tradiciones alimentarias dieron forma al paisaje culinario de las cuatro regiones de América Latina: México, América Central, América del Sur y el Caribe. Los participantes exploran los principals grupos de alimentos de la pirámide mientras aprenden hábitos alimenticios saludables con recetas simples y deliciosas basadas en los alimentos y sabores de la herencia latinoamericana. Cada lección se basa en un grupo diferente de alimentos a base de plantas en las tradiciones culinarias de las diversas personas y regiones de Am.rica Latina.
Lección 1: Hierbas y especies
Lección 2: Tubérculos
Lección 3: Granos integrales
Lección 4: Frutas, vegetales y un estilo de vida saludable
Lección 5: Legumbres
Lección 6: Nueces, semillas y aceites
Bilingüe (todas las páginas están tanto en inglés como en español)
Who Are The Classes For?
A Taste of Latin American Heritage is designed for people of all ages and interests, including:
- Anyone who wants to add more flavor and nutrition to their life.
- Anyone interested in learning more about Latin American heritage and culinary history.
- Friends wanting to get healthy or to start a cooking club together.
- Teens and preteens just learning how to cook.
- Seniors craving the foods of their childhoods and a taste of the old ways.
How Can I Attend A Class?
Check out our class site directory to locate a class near you. And if you can’t find one happening now, don’t despair! New classes are added all the time, so check back with us regularly. Or, become a teacher and bring the class to your community.
Who Can Teach the Classes?
A Taste of Latin American Heritage is an excellent programs to teach for anyone working in nutrition, education, food service, faith-based initiatives, community outreach work, or public health and wellness. You don’t have to be a chef or nutrition professional. Our on-demand (1-hour) teaching training webinar (available in both English and Spanish) will give you the background information you need to know to confidently teach this course. Lesson plans have easily-followed, step-by-step guides for preparing and teaching.
How Do I Start Teaching?
After you’ve viewed the (1-hour) teacher training webinar, fill out our “Become a Teacher Form” or contact classes@oldwayspt.org to get started. To access the curriculum, you can either: buy a license for 1 year of digital access, or buy hard copies of the curriculum books. More details on these two options below:
Licensing
Organizations interested in teaching A Taste of Latin American Heritage can license the curriculum on an annual basis, which will allow the licensee to download a PDF version of the curriculum and related resources.
- Standard Single-Site License: For community health centers, SNAP-Ed providers, and other local organizations/small businesses. $300 per year per program
- Multi-Site License: For larger national organizations, or organizations with multiple sites.
Contact classes@oldwayspt.org to learn more.
Purchasing the Curriculum
Alternatively, organizations can purchase the printed teacher’s manual ($34.99) and student handbooks ($249.99 for a bundle of 15) in our webstore with or without a license. Please note that photocopying the printed curriculum is a violation of the copyright. The minimum order of student handbooks is 15. Classes are also encouraged to purchase the Latin American Heritage Pyramid Poster ($19.99) to display in the class, and purchase the trifold brochures ($39.99 for 100).
How was A Taste of Latin American Heritage Developed?
Before we created our cooking and nutrition curricula, we first assembled an advisory committee of nutrition scientists, culinary historians, and experts in Latin American nutrition and culinary history to develop the first Latin American Heritage Diet Pyramid in 1996. In the decades that followed, the Pyramid was updated with recommendations from our advisory committee as new research became available.
A Taste of Latin American Heritage was developed after numerous requests from partners who knew and loved A Taste of African Heritage, and were looking for something to speak to the Latin American community. A Taste of Latin American Heritage was reviewed by Mexican-American nutrition professionals, and was professionally translated by a Costa Rican Harvard nutrition professor with feedback from Mexican-American dietitians as well. The program was piloted at 15 sites across the country before being relaunched in 2022.
In line with best practices, the curriculum is a dual English-Spanish format, whereby participants who are more comfortable learning in Spanish can see the Spanish words, and also see the English words right next to them to make grocery shopping easier. We continually collect feedback to optimize the program.
Is A Taste of Latin American Heritage Evidence-Based?
SNAP-Ed recognizes three levels of evidence-based approaches: research-tested, practice-tested, and emerging. As one of our newer programs, A Taste of Latin American Heritage is considered an “emerging” approach.
A Taste of Latin American Heritage is modeled off of A Taste of African Heritage, a research-tested approach with results published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. You can find more research related to Latin American Heritage diets here.
Can I Teach a Class Online?
Yes! Please visit our Virtual Teaching Tips page for more information.