May 20 | Peter F. Crescenti

It’s Older Americans Month – but not all of them are celebrating

They worked hard for decades – some at home, others at jobs – before retiring. And all that time they looked forward to their Golden Years.
Some of them served in the Armed Forces, expecting to be taken care of with a generous pension when they left the service. Others raised large families and after their children left home to pursue new lives, Mom and Dad sat back, relaxed and dreamed of traveling the world.
But for too many of them – our senior citizens – it hasn’t worked out that way.

The sad fact is that millions of them live on small incomes – even when Social Security, their life savings and maybe a retirement plan come into play. Many of them are homebound or live alone. And an equally depressing fact is that too many seniors don’t have enough to eat from day to day.

It’s called food insecurity and millions of seniors across America are undeserving victims.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.”

Data from 2023 – the last time statistics were released by the USDA – indicates that three years ago 13.5% of Americans – 44 million – were food insecure. The numbers, tragically, have risen dramatically since then, forcing seniors into food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and more as they wrestle with high inflation, increased food costs and more recently, budget cuts.

Digging deeper into the USDA report, we learn that 1 in 11 seniors are battling food insecurity. That’s an alarming stat – but it’s worse when you see that the 1 in 11 translates into 6.9 million people.

Even more depressing is that food-insecure seniors deal with much more than empty stomachs: Their overall health is at risk, too. The National Council on Aging reports that they also may suffer from:

• Malnutrition, because of lower nutrient intakes such as protein, vitamins A and C, magnesium, iron and calcium.
• Poorer health outcomes, such as congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, asthma, obesity and gum disease.
• Mental health problems, caused by “the constant worry and uncertainty associated with food insecurity” that can affect a person’s psychological health. The National Council on Aging cites a study that showed “a clear connection between food insecurity and depression.” The same study demonstrated that food-insecure households in North America were at the highest risk for stress and anxiety

Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs (Long Island Cares is a member), is adamant that federal, state and local policies as solutions to food insecurity are critical to seeing that every American eats today, tomorrow – and every day.
Two policies Feeding America supports (and which Long Island Cares has been advocating for years) are:

• Increased access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Big Daddy of federal support for feeding the food insecure. SNAP is what was once called food stamps.
• Increased funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a source of nutritious food for food banks to distribute to food pantries and other emergency food outlets. Long Island Cares counts on TEFAP to help us fill the shelves at pantries and other food sources.

Feeding America concludes its report this way: “Given the scope and scale of the issue, policymakers must strengthen the existing safety net of public food programs, as well as invest in public-private partnerships to reduce food insecurity and end hunger in America.”

These are lofty and critically essential goals that must be achieved if seniors are to enjoy their Golden Years. If you agree, let your voice be heard.

• Long Island Cares has a program dedicated to feeding food-insecure seniors. Learn about our Supporting Our Seniors (S.O.S.) mobile pantry program.