Why the US Must Measure Food Insecurity in Old Age

The number of older Americans who are food insecure is growing, yet a recent Trump administration decision to terminate data collection of the annual Food Security Supplement will make it impossible to fully track this growth.

In 2023, 7.4 million adults age 60 and older were food insecure and another 5.6 million were marginally food insecure. In households with incomes below 185% of the federal poverty line, 20% of older adults were food insecure. The number of older adults who are food insecure will likely continue to rise given that one in four Americans will be 65 or older by 2060. Risk of food insecurity in old age is highest among women, Black and Hispanic people, and those who have a disability, live alone or with grandchildren, and live in rural areas or southern states. Until its recent defunding, the USDA analysis of the Food Security Supplement provided us with vital information about old age food insecurity. 

Though it often plays out in the privacy of one’s own home, food insecurity is a public problem that undermines physical, emotional, cognitive, and social wellbeing. At age 68, Barbara knows a great deal about the adverse impacts of food insecurity.  We interviewed her for Food for Thought: Understanding Old Age Food Insecurity. A retired, single mother of five and grandmother of 22, Barbara earned a BA in theology.  She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at age 39 but continued to work until a car accident at age 63, and then had a serious fall that left her with a disability and unable to work. 

To stretch her meager income and food supply, she often makes soup. But sometimes even the soup runs out.  “I had made a soup…with potatoes and cabbage and I thought, so that will hold me a little while and when I looked around it didn’t do that. I was out.”

When the soup is running low, she eats just once a day, right before she goes to sleep so she does not have to think about her hunger. When the soup is gone, she relies on oatmeal until her $666 Social Security check arrives at the end of the month.  “I’ll look and [see] if I have some oatmeal. I can probably do something with that, but like what I normally would eat is gone.”

With age, poor health and disabilities become more common and are linked to food insecurity. In 2021, nearly 17% of those age 45 to 64, 23% of those 65 to 74, and 27% of those 75 and older assessed their physical health as fair or poor. Currently, more than four of five older Americans have at least one chronic health condition, and more than half have two or more. Older adults are more likely to report negative health outcomes that are sensitive to diet and nutrition, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, hepatitis, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lack of access to nutritious food exacerbates these conditions, increases health care costs, and diminishes quality of life.

Food insecurity is also associated with negative mental, cognitive, and social wellbeing, leading to higher rates of depression, anxiety, isolation, loneliness, and lack of social support. Poor mental health makes food insecurity more common by interfering with the impetus or the ability to obtain, prepare, and consume food.  Conversely, insufficient access to nutritious food exacerbates mental health problems.

Older adults with disabilities are more than twice as likely as those without disabilities to be food insecure. In 2022, 29% of those age 45 to 64, and 44% of those age 65 and older, had at least one disability. The most common disabilities for older adults are mobility limitations. Nearly one-fifth of adults reported that a physical disability limited their ability to access food in the past two weeks.

Food insecurity often occurs within a web of other economic insecurities. When low-income older adults face difficulties stretching income across a month, they dip into food money to pay for other essentials and, in the process, increase food insecurity. When asked if they made tradeoffs between paying for food and other expenses in the past month, 9% of adults age 50 and older reported making tradeoffs in housing, 11% in utilities, 10% in medical care, and 8% in prescription drugs.

Budget tradeoffs between food and medical expenses (including health, dental, vision, and hearing care), medical supplies, prescriptions, and medical debt are linked to food insecurity.

Barbara often delays refilling her prescriptions and stretches her medicines farther than recommended so that she has money left for food. “If I’m really hungry then I guess I just won’t get my medicines… Instead of taking it like it’s prescribed, I may only take it at night … and I hope I don’t get enough pain or get that pain that will cause me to have to take more…That way I don’t have to buy next month’s supply. I can use that money for something else.”

When low-income older adults make tradeoffs between food and medical care, they delay or forego needed medical treatments – or needed nutrients – both of which are harmful to their long-term health and wellbeing. Rather than address these health challenges to food security in old age, the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill” cut Medicaid by $1 trillion over the next decade. Medicaid budget cuts are likely to increase budget tradeoffs between food and medical expenses for low-income older adults.  To understand the impact of Medicaid cuts on old age food insecurity, we need to collect national data on food security.

SNAP is good for older people and good for the economy. SNAP participation increases food consumption and reduces health-care utilization and costs. In 2016, $1 billion in SNAP benefits generated $1.5 billion in gross domestic product. The number of older adults participating in SNAP has risen from fewer than 2 million in 1994 to over 7 million in 2022. However, rates could be even higher given that only 55% of eligible older adults participate in SNAP, compared to 88% of the eligible general population. In fiscal year 2023, an average of 9.7% of those aged 60 and older received SNAP benefits each month.  

SNAP is currently not well-designed for older adults in three respects. First, SNAP application and recertification processes may be difficult to navigate for older adults with cognitive, physical, and mobility limitations. Second, SNAP benefit levels are relatively low. In 2023, the minimum benefit was $23 and the average monthly benefit for older households was $188. Recipients often exhaust SNAP benefits early in the calendar month, resulting in a reduced caloric intake at the end of the month. Third, SNAP policies and procedures vary markedly by state. Some states and counties put out the welcome mat for older adults, encouraging applications, recertifications, and expenditures by linking SNAP to other income-based benefits, while others gatekeep by placing administrative hurdles that discourage participation in SNAP.

Barbara was receiving the minimum SNAP benefit when we interviewed her.  She explained that she tries to let the benefits build up until she has enough for a trip to the grocery store. “I have to hold onto it because I have to build it up. It doesn’t make sense to go to the grocery store to try and get $16 worth of what? One item, two items, maybe three and I go with $16.”

Rather than addressing these shortcomings with SNAP, the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill” cut $187 billion from SNAP over the next decade and implemented a work requirement up to age 64 for all who are not caring for a dependent or able to qualify for disability benefits. To assess the impact of SNAP budget and policy changes, we need to restore funding for the Food Security Scale.

Participation in community-based food programs is relatively low.  Food insecure older adults may replenish food supplies thorough congregate meals, soup kitchens, home-delivered meals, and food pantries. In 2023, just 7.7% of older adults in households with income below 185% of the federal poverty line received a free meal and 18% received free groceries in the previous twelve months. Notably, however, reliance on food pantries among older adults is growing. The percentage of older adults below 185% of the federal poverty line receiving food from food pantries increased from 4% in 2001 to 15% by 2022.

But community-based food programs are not well-designed for older adults for several reasons. First, the existence of community-based food programs varies markedly by where one lives. Second, the quality of the food available varies considerably.  Programs typically limit recipients’ ability to choose what they eat. Some participants report an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.  Others report that much of the food is processed, canned, or boxed; the produce is about to spoil; and meat is in short supply.

Barbara augments her food supply by eating at congregate dining sites. She discontinued home delivered meals due to the poor quality of the food. She obtains food at the pantry but is unable to eat canned food and so she no longer accepts cans, though there is not enough fresh produce or meat to offset the loss. “Where I am at they have food boxes…The bad part about that is, the majority of the stuff you get in there is canned goods…It doesn’t make sense to waste food so I don’t do the canned goods.”

Third, cognitive, physical, and transportation limitations impede participation. Community-based food programs often limit participation to specific times, dates, and locations. They require certification and periodic recertification, transportation, and fairly high levels of mobility and stamina. Participation is difficult for Barbara because she has limited use of her left leg. “I do have a walker but it’s difficult for me so I prefer the scooter but I have to either take the train or the bus… but that’s only if they can accommodate my scooter.”

Rather than address current shortcomings in community-based food programs, recent policy budget cuts have exacerbated existing problems. In 2025, the USDA cut $1 billion in funding related to pantries. Partial funding has been restored, but pantries are still feeling the pinch of higher demand and lower supplies. To know the impact of budget cuts on food pantries and other community-based food programs, we need to resume fielding the Food Security Scale.

To document changes in the population in need, the shortcomings of our existing food security programs, and the impacts of recent Medicaid, SNAP, and food pantry policy changes, we need to measure food insecurity. Like 9.2 percent of older Americans, Barbara will be food insecure whether we track it or not.