In the face of rising grocery prices, ongoing economic hardship, and persistent food insecurity across the Central Valley, one local team is connecting people to life-changing resources.

CalFresh Healthy Living, a program under the Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK), offers much more than food tips. While many people confuse it with CalFresh EBT benefits, this branch focuses specifically on nutrition education, resource distribution, and strategic community outreach to uplift local families in need.

“We just try to connect the people with the resources that they need,” said Natalie Rodriguez, a CalFresh Healthy Living Community Health Specialist.

The program operates under two key domains: Shop and Live.

The Shop domain works directly with food pantries and distributions across Kern County. Staff assist partners such as New Life Church and Bakersfield College by organizing pantry spaces, labeling foods, and distributing educational materials like recipe books and tip sheets in multiple languages.

They also provide a framework for pantry operations, including volunteer policy templates and resource connections through partners like the CAPK Food Bank.

Meanwhile, the Live domain brings the program’s impact into local clinics by screening patients for food insecurity using two key social determinant questions. When a patient screens positive, staff connect them to resources such as nutrition classes, produce boxes, and medically tailored meals designed for health conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.

The team also links patients to more than 19 other CAPK programs, ranging from energy and weatherization support to tax preparation and early childhood education through Head Start.

Beyond referrals, CalFresh Healthy Living offers nutrition education classes that cover everything from meal planning and food budgeting to reducing food waste. Community partners often host these classes, which sometimes include a meaningful incentive: grocery vouchers.

“If they completed a series of classes, they were able to get a $50 food voucher they could use at any grocery store,” said Rodriguez. “We gave away a lot of money in groceries last year.”

For Rodriguez, that’s one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

“I taught a class at Orangewood Elementary and another at the Greenfield Family Resource Center,” she said. “Having people engage in the class and walk away learning something is important—whether that’s understanding their relationship with food or physical activity recommendations—but the grocery voucher is an incentive that actually connects to the work. It means something.”

Some lessons even teach participants how to repurpose food scraps, make homemade stocks, and reduce household food waste, stretching tight grocery budgets further.

Rodriguez and her coworkers say that even their own views on health have changed through the work.

“I had a very basic understanding of nutrition—just, you know, eat your fruits and veggies,” Rodriguez said. “But what really stuck with me is how much your diet impacts everything: your sleep, your mood, your energy levels. It affects your whole body.”

Rather than pushing restrictions, staff promote mindfulness and balance.

“We’re not going to tell you to never have chips or soda,” she added. “But we do emphasize making those small, healthier swaps—like having infused water instead of a sugary drink—because little changes add up.”

The program doesn’t stop at classrooms or clinics. The team reaches further into the community through annual events like “Rethink Your Drink Day” and “National Farmers’ Market Week.” The latter, held in partnership with F Street Farmers Market, emphasizes access to fresh produce and boosts spending power with a Market Match program that doubles EBT dollars.

“People can come, spend $10 in EBT, and get $20 worth of produce,” said JaNell Gore, an Outreach Specialist with CalFresh Healthy Living. “It’s important to say this is available, but we take it a step further and bring the providers and resources directly to them.”

At these events, attendees connect face-to-face with healthcare providers, mobile clinics, and community organizations. That direct contact is essential, Gore emphasized—especially in a region where language barriers and transportation issues often prevent people from seeking help.

“We typically have bilingual staff on-site who can answer questions in English or Spanish,” she said. “It’s not just about giving someone a flyer—it’s about showing up, being present, and building that trust.”

Over time, those repeated efforts help foster lasting relationships.

“I go to the BC Farmers Market almost every month to table,” said Gore. “We have regulars who come by, talk to us, and share how they’ve used our recipe books. They get excited when we have something new.”

With food insecurity rates in Kern County remaining high, this work is more than important—it’s urgent.

“People don’t always know what’s available,” Rodriguez said. “That’s why we’re out here, making sure they do.”

As more families face food insecurity and economic instability, CalFresh Healthy Living shows that solutions do exist—and they’re just around the corner.