Targeting the Taqueria

Steps to a Healthier Salinas

Targeting the Taqueria: Implementing Healthy Food Options at Mexican American Restaurants

http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/91S.pdf)

I love this intervention for many reasons. First, it is a perfect example of a culturally tailored message. Instead of attempting to change Mexican cuisine, this intervention encourages taqueria owners to simple make a few food preparation changes to make their menu items healthier. They also tailored all of the educational material to the proper audience, which helped diffuse the information more effectively. Second, this intervention empowers members of the community to take responsibility for the health of others. I feel that if the whole community came together to promote good health we would see much lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. It will be interesting to read the results of this intervention when the analysis is complete and to see how this intervention can be implemented in other areas.

Vision and Goals

The vision of this intervention was to develop partnerships to promote healthy communities with nontraditional partners, such as the owners of taquerias in Salinas, California. The intervention was aimed to use community health workers to help foster cultural links between underserved communities and efforts to improve health outcomes. The goal was to empower the owners of taquerias to offer healthier menu options as well as encourage their customers to choose the healthier options. In the beginning of the study only 16 taquerias were chosen to become partners; however, an end goal of the intervention was to include all taquerias in Salinas in the partnership.

Stakeholders and Leaders

The stakeholders in this intervention were the CDC because they funded the program as well as the owners of the taquerias and their staff members. Another stakeholder could be the people living in Salinas who frequent taquerias because they were affected by the intervention. The initial leaders of the intervention were members of the Stanford Prevention Research Center; however, their goal was to empower the taqueria owners to become the eventual leaders of the intervention

Actions Taken by the Program

• The first step was to become familiar with taquerias and their owners and then to stress current health issues in their community that they could help prevent.
• Partnering with local taquerias to help them become promoters of healthy foods for their community.
• To educate taqueria owners about offering healthier food options such as whole beans, whole wheat tortillas, and fresh fruit.
• To provide food preparation suggestions such as using less fat in food preparation, increase vegetables in menu items.
• Improving access to healthy food options in disadvantaged communities.
• Providing taqueria owners with a “healthy nutrition tool kit” which included information about diabetes, social marketing of healthier foods and health education visuals (such as portion size posters).
• A small grant program was developed through the ‘Steps to a Healthier Salinas’ that allowed taquerias to apply for funds to help change their photo menus to look more appealing and healthy.

Comparable Programs and Possible Partnerships

This intervention is one of the eight initiatives funded by the CDC to help foster healthy communities in the United States. I have read a few of the articles and all of them focus on community partnerships and empowerment. A similar intervention to “Targeting the Taqueria” was an intervention entitled “Rock on Café” (http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/100S). This intervention also worked with nontraditional partners to improve the nutrition of a specific group of people. Instead of taqueria owners, cafeteria workers were empowered to make healthy changes in the school lunch menu to help prevent obesity and diabetes among children. The target audiences were different, but the principles of the intervention were very similar. I feel like the taqueria intervention would partner very nicely with a community garden effort. Fruits and vegetables are often not included in one’s diet due to economic barriers or not having access to these foods. Having a community garden in the disadvantaged areas of Salinas would allow individuals to cook with and eat more vegetables and fruits when they dine at home. Taqueria owners could also use the community gardens to supply their vegetables and fruit for their menu items. This could reduce costs and enhance feelings of community ownership. A great article on a community garden intervention in an underserved community can be found here: http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/146S.

Measurement of Success

The results of this intervention have not been published yet and they have not defined how they will measure their success. In the conclusion statement they mentioned, “It is hoped that this innovative, tailored intervention, which is responsive to community needs, will have a sustained positive influence on the large and growing Mexican American population that is at high risk for obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.”

I feel that success could be measured in a variety of ways:

*The percentage of taquerias that have adopted healthier food options in Salinas

*Feedback from the taqueria customers about the healthier food, their health, etc. gathered through qualitative data (surveys or in-depth interviews)

*Increased awareness of diabetes and obesity among taqueria customers in Salinas

*The percentage of customers choosing healthier menu items