Senior Hunger

Abstract

Food insecurity is not a new phenomenon experienced by seniors living in the United States. In a recent report by Feeding America, approximately 4.8 million Americans over the age of 60 are food insecure. The findings from this study call for major policy and funding implications. Through semistructured, face-to-face interviews, this study found how the assessment tools determining the relative need for these seniors underestimate the scope of their experiences relating to food insecurity. The assessment tool used by this particular program is based on federally recommended questions. These same questions are used by agencies across the nation that receive federal funding. This is problematic as this study shows that the current assessment tool does not properly capture some of the barriers many older Americans are facing in trying to obtain food.

Keywords

gerontology food health nonprofits qualitative

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