Nutrition on the Go begins Friday
Burton School District organizing new program
Burton School District will introduce Friday a new program to help families make healthy choices by providing free fruits and vegetables to any interested community members.
The Nutrition on the Go program will host its first distribution event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 26 at the former Masonic Lodge, 2440 W. Henderson Ave.
“We know that fruits and vegetables can be costly. Our program is free, has no boundaries and is open to the entire community,” said Irene Ortega, Burton’s communication and community engagement officer.
Ortega added that those who attend may take multiple bags provided there is enough for all to be served first.
The only stipulations are that residents be 18 years of age and that the food is not re-sold for profit elsewhere.
Because the program receives its food supplies through a partnership with Community Food Bank (CFB) of Fresno, community members will be asked to register on their first visit by providing their name, number of people in household, and nationality — demographic information CFB needs for grant applications.
A CFB truck will arrive at about 9:30 a.m. Friday from Fresno, and a group of 17 volunteers from the community and Burton’s PTA will then get to work bagging and sorting 6,000 to 7,000 pounds of food.
Food bags will include recipe cards prepared by Burton’s nutritional services department customized to the contents of the CFB truck, which will vary with seasonal availability.
Although Nutrition on the Go is the first program of its kind to be located on the west side of town, BSD representatives have emphasized that it is available to all residents of Porterville and even outlying communities.
Ortega said she got the idea for Nutrition on the Go from a similar program at Porterville College, and sees it as an opportunity to provide several valuable
services to the community.
“Nutrition has always been and will always be for us and our students,” said Ortega. “This not only gives us an opportunity to give back to our communities, but at the same time we will educate families about healthy eating. It’s a win-win.”
Nutrition on the Go receives its supplies from CFB like other local food programs such as Foodlink, but is a unique program with an emphasis on nutritional education.
As a result, Ortega is hoping to introduce elements at future events to enhance the educational focus of the program, such as live cooking demonstrations by culinary arts students from Burton’s Horizon Academy.
The district also might expand offerings by using the facilities of their newly-acquired building to host cooking classes and establish a food pantry.
Ortega said a key component of expanding the program in the future is volunteer participation. A sign-up sheet will be available Friday for those interested in volunteering, and the district will be reaching out to local service organizations for possible partnerships as well as involving student leaders from their own schools.
“This is a great start, but there’s so many more possibilities that are going to help us connect with our parents and the community,” said Ortega.
Upcoming Nutrition on the Go events will be held on the fourth Friday of each month at the same time and location, and future food shipments from CFB will be larger if the district successfully distributes all the food from Friday’s shipment.
If not, Ortega said the district has made arrangements with local food pantries to pick up any leftovers to ensure the food is used in the community.