Complex Food Provisioning Strategies and Food Insecurity Among Low-Income Older Americans

This project will develop a food strategy for low-income, older Americans that face food scarcity. The project provided an analysis of the predictors, the prevalence, and the experiences of food insecurity among seniors in rural Indiana. This contributed directly to the literature on food insecurity, which focuses on younger and more urban populations. Second, this project provided a critical analysis of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and particularly the TFP (Thrifty Food Plane) with respect to the dietary needs, behaviors and perspectives of low-income, food-insecure seniors. This enabled the project to better understand SNAP participation and evaluate the program’s efficacy. Third, this project produced a novel study of the constellation of provisioning strategies of older, low-income Americans, including informal strategies that may range from food sharing to foregoing other needs in favor of food purchases. Counties involved were Lawrence, Orange, Greene, and Crawford.