Tacorama

TACORAMA, the 2012 Austin Taco Festival, took place May 5-12, 2012 to raise awareness of hunger in the Latino community while celebrating Latino heritage, culture, music, art and...tacos! Proceeds benefited the Capital Area Food Bank. Latinometro.com, the new Austin-focused website, teamed up with community partners and sponsors to present the city-wide festival, which will be an annual event.

TACORAMA kicked off on Saturday, May 5 with a Cinco de Mayo celebration and food drive at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) , where the artwork of children from Zavala and Sanchez Elementary Schools, Martin Middle School, and East Austin College Prep Academy was displayed. A food drive on the part of students as well as volunteers from State Farm, Sodexo and other companies brought in about 1300 lbs. of food, more than 1000 meals for Austin’s needy. On Tuesday, May 8, community leaders participated in a No Mas Hambre Forum to address hunger in our community (see below). On Wednesday, May 9, there was a book reading at BookPeople by Gustavo Arellano, the author of Taco U.S.A. On Thursday, May 10, there was a screening of short films by Robert Lemon and John Estrada and silent auction of works by Sam Coronado at the Mexic-Arte Museum.

All that week, Austin’s best restaurants, including Takoba, Tamale House East, El Alma, Garrido’s, Papi Tino’s, Casa Chapala, Joe’s Bakery and Juan in a Million featured a special taco on their menus. Latinometro readers voted online for their favorite, which was Tamale House East’s delicious chicken mole taco. The winner was announced onstage at the Pachanga Music Festival on Saturday, May 12.

“Everyone in Austin loves tacos, but it’s also important to help those in need,” said Alfredo Estrada, publisher of LATINO Magazine and founder of Latinometro.com. “Nearly one in three Latinos face hunger, but it’s a problem that can be solved if we all get involved.”

Council Member Mike Martinez delivered welcoming remarks at a Forum presented by NO MAS HAMBRE, LATINO Magazine’s initiative to raise awareness of hunger in the Latino community. “About 48,000 people receive food assistance every week from the Capital Area Food Bank,” said Martinez, “and Latinos are affected disproportionately. If we want to end hunger, we need to get our community actively engaged.”

The Forum covered topics such as food insecurity among Latino elderly, SNAP outreach, nutrition and wellness, childhood obesity and other issues. The audience then participated in a question and answer session with panelists and speakers, including Laura Esparza, MACC; Sandra Perry, Sodexo; Linda Crockett, MACC; Kathy Green, Sr. Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, Capital Area Food Bank; Val Gomez, Southwest Key; Victor Azios, Executive Director, El Buen Samaritano; Jeremy Everett, Director, Texas Hunger Initiative; and Karen Patyk, Program Manager, Hunger Impact Area, AARP Foundation. A series of panels depicting the history of Austin’s Latino community by local artist Fidencio Duran was on display courtesy of Mariano Diaz-Miranda, Director of El Centro.

TACORAMA was made possible with the support of partners such as the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, State Farm, Southwest Key, Champion Toyota, IBC Bank, AARP Foundation, Sodexo, Fiesta Tortillas, Fiesta Market, Las Comadres, Big Red/7Up, Capital Area Food Bank, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cine las Americas, Mexic-Arte Museum, El Centro, and the Pachanga Music Festival. Many thanks to all the volunteers!