Residents of Paisley have to travel ten miles in either direction to get to a grocery store.
Access to food, especially nutritious and fresh food, is limited in the small east Lake County community that is considered a food desert.
Impact Paisley food pantry leaders, with the support of the community, are trying to change that by joining Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Nutritious Pantry Network. The feeding partner was one of five to recently earn the designation of Certified Nutritious Pantry, bringing the total to 14.
“This will have a major impact,” said Yvonne Prescott, a leader of Impact Paisley. “These people depend on us. Public transportation doesn’t exist here and many don’t have vehicles.”
Expanding access to nutritious and healthy food is a cornerstone of Second Harvest’s core mission and the catalyst for the development of the Nutritious Pantry Network. A nutritious pantry is a feeding partner that is committed to implementing practices that support neighbors’ access, choice, and use of nutritious foods.
To be part of the growing network of nutritious pantries, a feeding partner offers full or partial neighbor choice, encourages neighbors to try healthy foods, provides nutrition education resources or classes, and offers other resources related to social determinants of health, such as SNAP benefits, housing and more.
Impact Paisley offers neighbors choices of fresh produce, meat and dairy products that are not abundantly available in town. Recipes are provided to suggest preparation methods for food and nutrition education is offered.
Pantry director Anita Wilson said the pantry posts the recipes on its Facebook page for even greater community access, and pantry staff nudges neighbors to choose healthier items.
“The response has been extremely positive, from infancy to the elderly,” Yvonne said. “You can see it since the time we started participating. There are smiles on faces you didn’t see before.”
The neighbors who attended a recent distribution confirmed this.
“Produce is a wonderful blessing,” said Alecia, a Paisley resident who comes to Impact Paisley once a month.
Alecia watches her young grandchild during the day and can’t transport him safely in her pickup truck because it doesn’t have a backseat to accommodate his car seat.
“I can’t go anywhere a large portion of the time,” she said. “It’s also a big savings on gas money and wear and tear. I can put that money toward a bill instead.”
Alecia chose Greek yogurt and ground turkey in the distribution line, among other items.
Theresa, another neighbor, pointed out that people with dietary needs for health conditions really need access to nutritious food, and she knows several people who this approach could help.
“I’ve always tried to eat healthy – produce, that kind of thing, but a lot of people don’t have the education or can’t get it,” Theresa said. “There are lots of people really struggling.”
Theresa said she enjoyed a nutrition education class about sugars and has tried several of the recipe suggestions.
“The zucchini bread was my favorite so far,” she said. “I tried it and really liked it.”
Members of the food bank’s Health and Hunger team recently certified four more Nutritious Pantries: Christian Help in Casselberry, Hope Lake Weir in Summerfield, The Neighborhood Center of West Volusia, and For Seasons Ministries in Winter Park.
Access to healthy, nutritious food is a critical factor in addressing the health and well-being of neighbors across Central Florida.
