Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough nutritious food to live an active, healthy life. Nutrition programs can identify and address food insecurity among older adults in their local communities.
Briefs
- How Food Insecurity Affects Older Adults— Report from the University of Michigan
Infographics
- Senior Hunger in the United States— Older adult hunger data from Feeding America
- Community Preventative Services Task Force (CPSTF) Recommendations — Key findings
and results of the review - Reducing Malnutrition Through Senior Meal Programs — Features the CPSTF recommendation for home-delivered and congregate meal services
Tools & Toolkits
- Eat Healthy on a Budget— Tip sheet from USDA
- Eat Right When Money's Tight— Tips from USDA to shop smarter with rising food costs
- Eating on a Budget — Tips for consumers to eat healthy on a budget
- Eating Well: Farmers' Market Recipes— Recipe book from the Ohio Department of Aging
- Farmers' Market Tips and Tricks — Making the most of shopping at the farmer's market
- Finding Food for Older Adults — Quick guide to food programs for older adults
- Food Banks and Food Pantries — Comparison of the two, along with tips for finding resources
- Grocery Budget Calculator— Tool from Iowa State University
- Healthier You With Community Gardens — Benefits of Community Gardens
- Seasonal Produce Guide— SNAP-Ed guide to when various produce is in season
- Shop Smart— USDA tips from MyPlate on buying budget-friendly and healthy options from each food group
Presentations
- Mobility Management Connections Mapping Universal Mobility Options to Better Food Access— National Center for Mobility Management webinar that focuses on mapping tools to improve transportation access to healthy food options
- A Food Pantry and Much More (YouTube)— Four-minute Network Spotlight where Lotus Food Pantry provides opportunity for older adults served by the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging
- Enhanced DETERMINE Checklist (YouTube)— Nine-minute Network Spotlight Dane County Area Agency on Aging expands upon the DETERMINE Checklist to further address older adults at risk for malnutrition
- Expanded Food Insecurity Screener & Food Insecurity Assessment Tools (YouTube) — Fifty-two-minute webinar on the development and use of food insecurity screening tools
- ACL Food Insecurity Webinar Series
- Combating Food Insecurity With Collaboration (YouTube)— One-hour video, with accompanying presentation Combating Food Insecurity Slides, and Combating Food Insecurity Takeaway Sheet
- SUA Promising Practices: Combating Food Insecurity (YouTube)— Fifty-five-minute video, with accompanying presentation SUA Promising Practices (Slides), and SUA Promising Practices Takeaway Sheet
- Identifying & Screening for Food Insecurity (YouTube)— One-hour video, with accompanying presentation Identifying & Screening for Food Insecurity Slides, and Identifying & Screening for Food Insecurity Takeaway Sheet
- Referrals & Interventions for Older Adults With Food Insecurity (YouTube)— One-hour video, with accompanying presentation Referrals & Interventions for Food Insecurity (Slides), and Referrals & Interventions for Food Insecurity Takeaway Sheet
- Links Between Food Insecurity, Nutrition, and Mental health: Impacts on Healthy Aging and Community-based Resources and Services That Can Help— ICAA Webinar
- Iowa Stops Hunger Video Library— Call to action to fight food insecurity in Iowa
- Food Insecurity and Malnutrition (YouTube)— One-hour video that defines malnutrition and food insecurity, identifies root causes of and innovative approaches to combating malnutrition, and discusses the importance of partnerships, with accompanying presentation Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Slides, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Takeaway Sheet, and Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Tip Sheet
- Make Your Mark on Food Insecurity — Slides that highlight two programs using innovative methods to fight food insecurity, with accompanying presentation Make Your Mark on Food Insecurity Tip Sheet
- Malnutrition and Food Insecurity (YouTube)— Two-minute video from Virginia's Commonwealth Council on Aging and No Wrong Door helps define the differences between malnutrition and food insecurity
- Congregate and Home-Delivered Meals (YouTube)— Two-minute video from Virginia's Commonwealth Council on Aging and No Wrong Door explains how Older Americans Act funded senior nutrition programs can help combat malnutrition and food insecurity
Reports
- How Food Insecurity Affects Older Adults— University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation report
- The State of Senior Hunger in America — Annual report from Feeding America that examines food insecurity rates among Americans age 60 and older
- The Health Consequences of Senior Hunger in the United States— Evidence from the 1999-2016 NHANES
- Household Food Security in the United States— Report from USDA
- Hunger in Older Adults— Report from MOWA on challenges and opportunities for the aging network