Description/Abstract

Older adults who are grappling with food insecurity may enhance their food supply through community-based programs that provide free and subsidized food. This complicated system, categorized by group meal programs, home-delivered meals, and food provided to be eaten off-site, is complex, expensive, and may be difficult for older adults to use. Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief describes three key limits of community-based food programs for older adults. First, the quantity and quality of community-based food programs vary markedly by where one lives. Second, the food may be of poor nutritional quality. Third, physical, cognitive, and transportation limitations may impede participation.

Document Type

Research Brief

Keywords

Older adults, food insecurity, community-based food programs

Disciplines

Food Studies | Gerontology | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Social Welfare

Date

10-7-2025

Language

English

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Grant #1908-17412 to Madonna Harrington Meyer and Grant #1905-15081 to Colleen Heflin from the Russell Sage Foundation. Any opinions expressed are those of the principal investigator(s) alone and should not be construed as representing the opinions of the Foundation. Our thanks to Camille Bagin, Claire Pendergrast, Sarah Reilly, Winston Scott, Rebecca Wang, Shanel Khaliq, Anna Delapaz, Frank Sarfo, Gabriella Alphonso, Clay Fannin, Siobhan O’Keefe, Hyojeong Kim, Julia Stafford, Xiaohan Sun, Lauryn Quick, Yuwei Zhang, and Dongmei Zuo with data and research assistance. Our thanks to Suzanne Nichols, our editors at the Russell Sage Foundation, Shannon Monnat, and Alyssa Kirk for editorial assistance.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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