National Pork Board and Paulina Chávez Invite a New Generation to Preserve Their Family’s “Pork Memories”

Hispanic families have been making memories around pork for generations. The question is who will make the next ones.

From pozole and tamales to pernil, and dishes unique to individual families, pork has long been part of how Hispanic families gather, celebrate and stay connected to their culture. Behind those dishes are the people, stories and moments that made them meaningful – and a connection that only continues when a new generation makes it their own.

That idea is at the heart of Cooking Pork Memories, a new social-first initiative from the National Pork Board and actor, Landman star and brand ambassador Paulina Chávez that invites Hispanic Gen Z and Millennials to rediscover the pork dishes that have shaped their families, uncover the memories behind them and carry those traditions forward.

Cooking Pork Memories is the latest activation of the National Pork Board’s Explora Todo El Gusto Del Pork™, a Hispanic-focused platform designed to deepen pork’s connection with younger consumers through culture, flavor and shared experiences. More than celebrating pork’s place in the past, Cooking Pork Memories builds on that cultural connection to help ensure pork remains relevant, meaningful and part of the memories the next generation has yet to make.

“Pork has a meaningful place in Hispanic culture, but we can’t assume that connection will simply carry forward from one generation to the next. We must continue to earn it. Cooking Pork Memories gives a new generation a reason to rediscover the dishes, people and traditions that made pork meaningful to their families and make pork part of the memories they create for themselves,” said José de Jesús, VP, Market Growth, National Pork Board.

The campaign brings that idea to life through Chávez’s own Pork Memory: her abuelita’s Carne de Puerco con Nopalitos. In the first episode, Chávez prepares the dish using her grandmother’s original handwritten recipe while wearing an apron that belonged to her abuelita and was later passed down to her mother. The recipe is one of the family keepsakes Chávez and her sisters, Celeste and Jessica, have worked to preserve in a family treasure box.

From Sept. 17-24, people can share a meaningful family pork dish and the memory behind it on social media and tag @porkessabor on Instagram for a chance to have Chávez recreate their Pork Memory. Selected dishes and stories may also be featured in a limited-edition Cooking Pork Memories collection, creating a physical record of the food traditions and memories families want to carry forward.

The collection will also be submitted to the Library of Congress, with the goal of preserving these family food traditions and histories as part of the country’s cultural record.

“My abuelita’s pork recipe is more than something my family cooks — it’s a piece of her that we get to keep with us. So many of our family traditions live in handwritten recipes, in the way someone taught us to make a dish, or in stories that were never written down at all. I love that Cooking Pork Memories encourages people my age to ask those questions now, learn the recipes and stories behind them, and make sure they don’t get lost,” said Chávez.

Created by independent full-service advertising agency LERMA/, the National Pork Board’s Hispanic agency of record, Cooking Pork Memories reverses the familiar formula of social cooking content. Instead of a creator deciding what to cook while the audience watches, consumers become the source of the content—bringing forward meaningful pork dishes, family memories and traditions that Chávez can help preserve and bring to life.

“Food is one of the most powerful archives a family has. We wanted to turn the familiar format of social cooking content inside out: instead of asking young people to simply watch, we’re inviting them to look back, ask questions and bring a piece of their family history forward. Because when a recipe is preserved, so is the story—and the person—behind it.” said Paco Conde, Chief Creative Officer at LERMA/.