BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It’s a long overdue and welcome introduction for “The Nest,” California State University Bakersfield’s new food pantry for students and staff.
“It’s night and day; the old pantry had maybe four shelves, two fridges,” said student worker Michael Laveaga.
Laveaga, who’s spent the past two years working in the old school pantry, is ready to call the new $2.5 million building his new workplace.
“A lot of these students, they come, they’re working part-time, even full-time, even while coming to school, and they don’t make enough money to be paying for their whole tuition while also making sure, they’re buying groceries every week,” said Laveaga.
Any student can choose up to 10 free items per week from a new variety of food and drink options.
Shoppers can also pick up needed hygiene products.
“I feel like a lot of students at the dorms don’t have access to transportation. I feel like providing hygienic products I think that’s really nice of them to include, much more than they originally had,” said senior Yoselyn Delgado.
Delgado can already imagine the impact this pantry will have.
“I was just hoping that I would be able to see it before I graduate, and now seeing it, it’s really nice,” Delgado said. “As much as it benefits me, I know it’ll benefit others as well.”
Last fall, the school’s smaller pantry helped almost 1,000 students a week.
The already long line at the new pantry signals that number won’t go down, which underscores the struggle some students face with food insecurity.
“We got into that narrative of the starving college student as almost as if that which should be something that is normalized,” said Dr. Jason Watkins, the Director of Essential Needs Resource Center at CSUB. “But the reality is, when people are starving or don’t have an adequate place to sleep, it’s really hard to focus on academics.”
It’s a stigma this pantry hopes to combat.
“It shouldn’t be something people should be embarrassed about. I think, at the end of the day, we’re all students,” Delgado said. “Them providing this for us is really nice from them.”
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