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A recent Meals on Wheels study found that more than five million American seniors face the threat of hunger. —photo©istockphotos.com/BonnieJacobs

Report Fuels Concern About Feeding Hungry Seniors

By Michael A. Piekarz
Staff Writer

Over five million American seniors face the threat of hunger, and that number will grow unless government and the private sector take steps to alleviate the problem, according to a March 2008 study from the Meal on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) Foundation.

The study, entitled “The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America” found that more than five million Americans — over 10 percent of all seniors — face the threat of hunger.

According to MOWAA, the study is the most comprehensive national research study to date on the problems and causes of hunger that seniors face and how these trends will continue into the future as our society ages.

“Hunger is a disease that is affecting our country, but unlike other diseases we have a cure for hunger today,” said Enid Borden, president and CEO of MOWAA.

The study found that impoverished seniors are more likely to be at risk and that half of all seniors have incomes above federal poverty guidelines. Married seniors were found to be less at risk, but those living with one or more grandchildren saw a sharp increase in their vulnerability to hunger. Those aged 60-64 faced the highest risk. Most hungry seniors — nearly two thirds — were white.

The research was conducted by James Ziliak, Ph.D., director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and Craig Gundersen, Ph.D., of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University. They were assisted by Margaret Haist, Ph.D., senior researcher at the University of Kentucky.

Funding for the study was provided by Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., the largest corporate sponsor of MOWAA since 2002. Harrah’s underwrote the hunger study through the Harrah’s Foundation as part of the company’s Code of Commitment, which establishes the principals used by Harrah’s in its relationships with employees, customers and communities.

“Seniors are a focus of our philanthropic giving because, frankly, the needs of our growing senior population have too often been ignored by corporate America,” said Jan Jones, Harrah’s senior vice president of communications and government affairs at a Senate hearing to discuss the study.

“The Harrah’s Foundation has focused on the needs of our seniors since its inception,” she said.

“We are pleased that the MOWAA-commissioned research provides a better understanding of the extent of senior hunger,” Jones said. “What excites us most is that it will help in the development and implementation of targeted, fact-based interventions that can increase the effectiveness of both private sector and public sector efforts to reduce senior hunger.”

Concern is growing about the viability of senior nutrition programs. According to MOWAA, four out of 10 Meals On Wheels programs have waiting lists, and some are facing bankruptcy. With the boomer generation nearing retirement, and gas prices on the rise, meal services are both more important and more endangered than ever before.

“I challenge my colleagues in corporate America to join Harrah’s by taking a leadership role in the Corporate Response to Senior Hunger program developed by Meals on Wheels,” said Jones.

“Together, we can help by making food products more readily available to meal providers, encouraging improvements to the meal delivery system, offering skills and experience to meal providers and advocating for them before policymakers,” she said.

Programs to feed seniors have faced increased scrutiny as America continues to prepare for the boomer retirement wave. The Senate Special Committee on Aging, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and the Senate Hunger Caucus are taking steps to address the issue.

“Federal programs like the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Elderly Nutrition Program, as well as nonprofit organizations such as Meals on Wheels, make a huge impact by delivering food directly to seniors in their own homes,” said Senator Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Committee on Aging.

Kohl, who also chairs the Senate Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee, stated he is working to increase federal funding for older Americans through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. There are several other programs working to alleviate senior hunger, according to Kohl.

“The food stamp program is another valuable federal program, although estimates show that it is underutilized. Only one in three eligible seniors actually enrolls in the food stamp program. In spite of the fact that these programs and services cover only a fraction of the low-income seniors who need them, we continue to face a yearly battle with the administration to provide these programs with adequate funding,” Kohl stated.

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