While grocery prices are still inducing sticker-shock, students at Bakersfield College can take advantage of another way to get fresh produce and other essentials. The Edible Garden at Bakersfield College, breaching its first year of existence, continues to grow and benefit the community, especially the Renegade Pantry. 23ABC's Sam Hoyle visited the campus to find out more.
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00:00 With sticker shock prices at the grocery store, students at Bakersfield College can take advantage of another way to get fresh produce and other goods.
00:08 23 ABC's Sam Hoyle took a tour of the college's edible education garden to see how it's directly benefiting students.
00:16 If you're walking or driving along Mount Vernon Avenue and you're passing Bakersfield College's campus and you peer through this fence to my left, you might be left to wonder, what's going on on campus?
00:26 And so this is one of the peppers that they donated to us. This is a brand new pepper that they started growing. It's an F1, which is called their first breed.
00:34 The edible education garden at Bakersfield College is breaching its first year of existence in November, and as the garden continues to grow, it benefits the community.
00:42 In the month of July, we harvested 100 pounds out of this garden, all of which actually went to our renegade pantry, which was open during the summer months.
00:49 So students could come on campus and still be able to get accessories, food products through the pantry.
00:56 Right now I only have all-female flowers, but eventually we're going to actually lift this up next week and get it off the ground.
01:03 The Bakersfield College food pantry provides several necessities to students, like milk and bread, to shampoo and lotion.
01:09 Ruth Salazar is a student at Bakersfield College and said she started taking advantage of the pantry last year and noted it is a great way to ensure food security on campus.
01:18 It provides us a way to access more food, especially now when the prices of things are going up. So maybe we might have to cut corners and purchase only the basics.
01:28 Salazar says the addition of fresh produce from right there on campus, as well as other various goods like proteins, are luxuries some may not be able to get otherwise.
01:37 Easy. Roast beef and beef hot dogs, because those things are pretty expensive. So if it wasn't for the pantry, I'd probably never get them.
01:44 And for those working in the garden, it is an enriching feeling to see their hard work go to a good place.
01:50 It is a very rewarding feeling when you get to see students standing in line to go into the Renegade Pantry.
01:55 They come out with bags filled with produce and knowing that they get to eat healthily and it's free and it came from our own backyard.
02:02 The Edible Education Garden is part of a class for Bakersfield College students.
02:05 However, there are opportunities for community members to get involved as part of a non-credit course.
02:11 At Bakersfield College, Sam Hoyle, 23 ABC News, connecting you.