Nutrition

Good nutrition is essential to healthy aging. But many older adults struggle to get enough healthy food. High prices and limited access can make it challenging to eat well. When this problem becomes serious, it’s called “food insecurity.”

In this section, you’ll find programs that offer support… from SNAP benefits to local farmers’ markets, there are resources that connect seniors with fresh, nourishing food.

A good meal can do more than nourish—it can sustain health and hope.

Vegetable stand.Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program

Provides low-income seniors with access to locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey and herbs.

Research: Geography Doesn’t Determine Senior Hunger; Economics and Race Do

In 2019, 5.2 million Americans age 60 and over were food insecure, and 1.9 million seniors had very low food security.

As We Near a Half Century of Senior Nutrition Programs, a Healthy Helping of Gratitude

Forty-nine years ago today, Congress added senior nutrition programs to the Older Americans Act, ushering in a new era of federal commitment to food security for our nation’s seniors. This is not to say that no older Americans go undernourished now.

SNAP Helps Millions of Low-Income Seniors

SNAP provides 4.8 million seniors with resources to afford an adequate diet. This represents 11 percent of all SNAP recipients in 2015.

The arms of two people helping each other bag grapes at a grocery store.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s first defense against hunger. Nationally, about 4.8 million older adults (aged 60+) are enrolled in SNAP. Yet, approximately 3 out of 5 seniors who quality to receive SNAP are missing out on benefits which average $104 a month.