Breast cancer survivors can now join a new study to learn how certain foods may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The study, Rx for Better Breast Health, is funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. Breast cancer survivors who participate will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Each group will get different cancer nutrition tools, possibly six cooking demonstrations by Chef Iverson Brownell, who creates innovative culinary recipes that taste great and promote health (see his video). “We want to teach survivors the importance of a dietary plan full of foods with disease-fighting properties,” said Ramirez, who also is associate ...
Northgate González Market has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The family-owned and operated California-based grocery store chain, originally founded by people Jalisco in 1980, went from one 2,500-square-foot store to now 42 stores located throughout Southern California. Despite Northgate’s success, its owners have not forgotten their origins. They seek to offer high-quality products and improve the quality of life for the local community through their Viva la Salud! Program, which includes bilingual healthy food labels and an entire marketing program aimed at helping customers make wise food-purchasing decisions as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Issue of Unhealthy Local Food
Awareness: Victor González, Senior VP of Marketing at González Northgate Markets, a ...
Growing up in Spain, Dr. Marta Katalenas ate home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients. When she moved to the United States in 1984 to learn English and become a pediatrician, she saw a different way of life that included way more treats, especially sugary juices and drinks. As she began her practice, she said she saw a growing association between kids drinking too much sugar and being overweight. Dr. Katalenas decided that if she was going to help parents set their kids on a path of health, she needed to get the whole community involved in reducing sugary drink consumption—so she made reducing sugary drinks part of her new monthly health challenge for families.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity Awareness: Spain native Dr. Marta Katalenas, who moved to the U.S. ...
About five years ago, Clara Santos opened Olivares Food Market to serve the Philadelphia neighborhood in which she lived. Offering quick meals and grab-and-go snacks, her store was popular but had few healthy snacks. With some help from a food access organization, Santos learned that offering and promoting healthy food options is not only good for the health of her customers, but for business, too.
Junk Food in the Community
Awareness: Olivares Food Market, a corner store in South Philadelphia, owned by Clara Santos, is a lot like other similar markets in Philadelphia and across the country. That is, it lacks healthy food options and has no marketing for the few it does have. Olivares sells prepared foods—like high-calorie cheesesteaks for lunch and pancakes for ...
In the small city of Lynn, Mass., many groups are stepping up to make healthy changes where they live, work, and play. Local corners stores, where many kids hang out before and after school, are well-positioned to make a positive impact on kids’ food choices—if they are marketing the right foods. A group of high-school students chose one popular corner store to help promote healthy snacks and make it easier for teens to pick apples over chips—contributing to a wave of new healthy markets sweeping over Massachusetts.
Junk Food in the Community
Awareness: The small city of Lynn, Mass., has a Latino population that grew from 18% to 32% from 2000 to 2010, according to Census data. “It’s kind of a gateway,” explained Kristina Pechulis, the Lynn coordinator for Mass in ...
If you could wave a magic wand, what would you do to fix school lunches? If money was no option, what would you do to bring healthier foods into schools? These are the kinds of questions students at Sunset High School in Del Norte County, California asked while dreaming-up big solutions to their less-than-great school food. Fed up with the pre-packaged lunches and unhealthy options, the youth organized and pushed for change, building partnerships and leadership skills—using the PICO community organizing model—that will last a lifetime. Del Norte County (DNATL) is one of the 14 communities selected to participate in the Building Healthy Communities (BHC) program. Funded by The California Endowment, BHC is a ten-year, comprehensive community initiative in 14 places across ...
Commentary by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez San Antonio is what the entire United States will look like in 40 years, some say. That’s good news, but not all good. San Antonio’s large Latino population contributes immeasurably to the uniqueness and vitality of our city, just as the continued growth of the Latino population reflects our nation as a whole. At the same time, some families in our neighborhoods increasingly lack access to the kinds of neighborhood amenities that Americans rely upon to stay healthy, and face some obstacles to good health. These are challenges to health in all cities across the country. Research has found that, some people live in areas with more fast-food restaurants and unhealthy food advertising, and higher consumption of sugary beverages, per capita. ...
Eating the right food can help fight cancer. But what foods are right? Are there such things as healthy—and tasty—traditional dishes? Check out a new bilingual cookbook, Nuestra Cocina Saludable: Recipes from Our Community Kitchen, to guide you and your family to eat healthy and help protect against cancer and other chronic diseases. The cookbook is from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) and the Mays Cancer Center (formerly the Cancer Therapy and Research Center) at UT Health San Antonio. Download the free cookbook in English or Spanish. Inside are 46 recipes for healthy, delicious foods straight from real kitchens in South Texas. The cookbook originated when people from across South Texas shared their mouth-watering recipes—like Aurora Rodriguez of ...
Many neighborhoods tend to have less access to fresh fruits and veggies. In Santa Ana, Calif., a high school that serves youth from low-income families, offers a first-period gardening class. It started as a campus beautification project but ended in students growing healthy, nutritious food for their community in a unique, sustainable way using fish, called “aquaponics.”
The problem of 'spicy hot Cheetos'
The Academy, created by California philanthropists Susan Samueli and Sandi Jackson, is a unique high school for teens in Santa Ana, Calif. The school opened in 2013 to maximize individual student attention and offers work-based and project-based learning, college readiness, and new technology. More than 80% of its students are Latino. When it comes to students ...
