Aging & Social Change: Fifteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

In 2022, 9% of US households with adults ages 65 and older were food insecure (Rabbit et al. 2023). Moreover, 22% of older adults experience food insecurity at some point in their 60s and 70s (Levy 2022). Roughly 7% of all US households augment their food supplies by going to food pantries (Coleman-Jensen and Rabbitt 2021). Among all households with low food security, 36% go to food pantries and among all households with very low food security 45% go to food pantries (Coleman-Jensen and Rabbitt 2021). Food pantry users have continued to age since the Great Recession of 2008-9; by 2020, 15% of all older adults received food from food pantries (Heflin and Harrington Meyer forthcoming). Based on in-depth interviews with a national but non-random sample of 63 adults ages 60 and older with incomes below 130% of the federal poverty line, I found that food pantries vary markedly. Many of my respondents reported great satisfaction with their food pantries. Satisfactions included an abundance of healthy fresh food, free household and personal supplies, connections to other social services, and volunteering at food pantries in exchange for food. However, many reported great challenges as well, including lack of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats, food that is about to expire, food that adversely affects health, poor transportation and mobility, administrative burden, and long waits to get food. Policy solutions draw on the upcoming book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity, by Colleen M. Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer.