Why America Is Failing to Feed Its Aging

A study by the anti-hunger group Feeding America found 5.5 million U.S. seniors 60 and older lacked consistent access to sufficient food for a healthy life in 2017 — more than twice as many since 2001, reports Time . The problem is most pronounced in the South and Southwest United States, with 12 percent of Louisiana's seniors facing food insecurity. Food insecure seniors in Memphis comprise 17 percent of the metropolitan population, making that city the top urban center with this problem. Meanwhile, funding for the Older Americans Act has been trailing both senior population growth and economic inflation. AARP learned the act's nutrition services budget has declined 8 percent over the past 18 years when adjusted for inflation, and home-delivered and group meals have dropped by nearly 21 million since 2005. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that only 45 percent of qualifying adults 60 and older have enrolled in the federal food stamp program, whose eligibility would be severely curtailed by a recent White House proposal. The House approved a $93 million addition to the Older Americans Act's nutrition budget as part of the legislation's fall reauthorization, but its passage in the Senate is considered doubtful.