NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — When you think about Mexican dishes, you might think of tacos, burritos and even tortas.
However, for two Latina immigrants living in National City, they are advocating how to spice up these meals by adding a hint of ‘saludable’ –meaning healthy– while still connecting with their roots.
“I met Patty 8 years ago. She was teaching a class at my daughter's school because they were implementing healthy choices. So I met her when she was teaching us how to make healthy meals,” said Aureny Arranda, who is a Kitchenista.
The Kitchenistas is an eight-week program that's offered to aspiring chefs for free in National City. Patty Corona is the coordinator of Kitchenistas at the Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center in National City.
She explained she created the program because of the rise in diabetes and chronic disease happening in the area.
“We learn about what is basic nutrition, what is food and what is not food. Then we start learning about whole grains. Different kinds of proteins and how to make your own meals,” said Corona.
The class became so popular that it even caught a film producer’s attention. Producer Mary Ann Beyster has followed their journey and turned it into a documentary. A feature film, called The Kitchenistas will now be featured at the San Diego Latino Film Festival.
A shorter version of the film was released in 2015 and was aired on PBS stations across the country, at festivals and for health organizations.
“I was so impressed and I asked if we could do a short documentary film,” said Film producer Mary Ann Beyster.
Beyster announced that she was fascinated by the story of a Kitchenista and her grandmother who was struggling with diabetes. The woman’s grandmother eventually implemented better eating habits because the program helped her.
“She was getting some serious reports on her health from her doctor so she knew she needed a change and her granddaughter introduced her to the cooking for ‘salud’ program. Also what I was really taken with is how she had grown closer to her granddaughter Daisy,” said Beyster.
With the documentary, Beyster was able to highlight the Kitchenistas and their background. Showing that in Mexico, the two Kitchenistas were taught how to only cook organic, but were always deemed as low income because of the way they recycled every scrap of food.
“I realized that my grandmother was living like rich people because here, people who have money are the ones that buy everything organic and have the same access to food that my mother was having,” said Corona.
Now with their life on film, the Kitchenistas are proud to show San Diego their passion for cooking while bringing Latino representation back to their community.
“The Kitchenistas” will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17, and 11:45 a.m. Saturday, March 19, both at the AMC Mission Valley cinema.
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