By MARIE NESMITH
With a passion for educating others about “food and nutrition,” Angelica Bridges is delighted to serve as Bartow County Extension Office’s family and consumer science agent. The Adairsville 32-year-old joined the Extension’s staff in November.
“Well, I grew up in an area where the community was my family,” Bridges said. “It takes a community to make things work efficiently and effectively. I have always seen myself as someone that works for the community. I wanted to give back in a nontraditional way, so when I heard there was a position open, I applied for it.
“Knowing what I know about Extension and what I know regarding Bartow County, I knew this job was the perfect fit for me. With my knowledge and skill set, along with the wonderful team at the Bartow County Extension Office, great things are bound to happen.”
Bridges was introduced to the Cooperative Extension program while studying nutrition and dietetics at Auburn University.
“Part of my undergraduate studies involved the Cooperative Extension office,” she said. “During this, I performed research with the Extension program, which provided nutrition education to students in the local system. The research was based on the effectiveness of the nutrition education program provided by Extension.”
As the family and consumer science agent, Bridges oversees various programs about food safety, nutrition, parenting and money management.
“I am in charge of establishing a health and wellness outreach program, including chronic disease self-management, as well as targeted nutrition and health programs for seniors and families with children,” she said. “I will provide state required trainings in food safety for food service providers, and nutrition and child development trainings for child care providers. Another program I supervise is the SNAP-ED program where we provide nutrition education to qualifying participants.”
Looking ahead, Bridges is striving to create a program focused on diabetes.
“Of course, as a dietitian, I am passionate about food and nutrition,” she said. “One program I am interested in starting is a diabetes program.
“For this area, there are several individuals who have been diagnosed with diabetes and do not know how to properly cook, eat and exercise to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. I want to implement a program in Bartow County for that. So that is the goal for 2021, to start the groundwork and complete the research for that program.”
For Bartow County Extension Coordinator Paul Pugliese, Bridges’ professional background continues to be an added plus in her new role.
“We are thrilled to have Angelica on our Bartow County Extension team,” he said. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our family and consumer science (FACS) programs that focus on local issues surrounding homes, health, nutrition and food safety. Her previous experience as a nutrition specialist with the Cartersville City Schools and Bartow County Health Department will form a solid foundation for our education and outreach programs.”
As referred to by Pugliese, Bridges served as Bartow County Health Department’s WIC nutritionist/nutrition service manager from 2013 to 2017 and Cartersville City School System’s school nutrition specialist from 2018 to October 2020.
“Angelica has a firm grasp of the needs of our community and has the ability to network and collaborate with local organizations,” Pugliese said. “We can already see that Angelica has a warm personality and enthusiasm for her work that aligns perfectly with our Extension Office staff and will be well received by our clientele. We look forward to working with Angelica and her future potential in our organization.”
Like other organizations, the Bartow County Extension Office was forced to pivot some of its programming to virtual platforms in 2020.
“As we all know, the year 2020 has truly changed our outlook on how we are providing our services,” Bridges said. “I think as a whole with help from the University of Georgia, providing classes virtually has been a struggle. Some of our programs, like the SNAP-ED program and other programs that entail food and nutrition, got hit with some of the biggest restrictions. Turning those types of programs/services into virtual programs/services was a challenge.
“Looking forward to the year 2021, we have that platform now, and we have learned the skills with Zoom meeting to offer these programs again. We have worked hard to make these programs come back to life and more interesting to participants.”
For more information about Bartow County Extension Office, call 770-387-5142 or visit ugaextension.org/bartow.
