Starving Seniors?
Starving seniors? Is that too harsh a word?
Let’s ratchet it down: hungry.
Or, maybe: food insecure. Yeah, that’s better. It sounds better anyway.
Call it what you want, the event is the same. It’s your grandmother or grandfather (or me…I’m certainly a grandmother) caught in a situation where there’s simply not enough food in the house.
Seniors living on Social Security are finding themselves routinely choose between food and medicine, food and transportation. When they need new clothes, seniors regularly shop at the boutique of the closet.
The issues with seniors and food insecurity are serious because when seniors no longer have the money to buy the food they need for proper nutrition or why they can no longer buy the medicines they need, they become ill and finally end up being cared for by their children or they end up in a nursing home.
I know many stories about:
The older woman in Woodstock living on mashed potatoes.
The older woman in Bearsville who ended up in a nursing home when she was cut off from her pantry take out food and didn’t have the resources or physical ability to get to a grocery store.
The older man who doesn’t have enough money for food and is slowly starving to death.
There is food available for all these people
if they can get to a pantry
if they can connect with a pantry offering take out food
if they can sign up for SNAP (food stamps).
I recently spoke with a retired friend. “Richard, do you get SNAP?”
“No.”
“Why Richard? SNAP is usually easy to get. All you have to do is apply.”
“Well, I’m getting by without it. Let someone else, needier than me, get the money.”
“Richard, think about getting SNAP. This is something you paid for with your taxes. Why leave money on the table?”
I haven’t convinced him yet. However, we’re not through negotiating. As seniors, we’re in a situation where every little bit helps.
The barriers to SNAP for seniors are great. Seniors resist going to a pantry, soup kitchen, getting SNAP until they simply can’t resist any longer. I know the feeling. We grew up as children and went into adulthood feeling that if we worked hard and paid our taxes, we would end up okay. We worked all our lives believing this. And now, there simply isn’t enough.
With this event comes feelings of inadequacy and self blame. “I must have done something wrong. Here I am living hand-to-mouth. I don’t even have enough money for food. What did I do wrong?”
I don’t like a whole generation of people blaming themselves. I feel we’re not totally to blame. The rules have changed. Because we’re retired, we’re not in the rules making game anymore. Retirees are somewhat disempowered. Whatever happened to the Grey Panthers?
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Thurman Greco
Top 3 Myths about Food Pantries
Much that is written, said, and believed about food pantries is simply not true. Maybe the problems themselves are somehow created by those of us who work at the food pantries. I admit it. I encounter people all the time who believe things about pantries that are simply untrue. I’ve been listening to these people for 10 years.
And, somehow, I’ve been unable to dispel these fallacies. I listen. I talk to the people. I certainly have the facts. I have the statistics. I have the stories. Somehow, they just don’t seem to hear the real story.
So, now, with this post, I’m hoping to debunk 3 myths anyway.
FOOD PANTRIES FEED A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO DON’T NEED THE FOOD.
I don’t know how this rumor got started. In the last few years many, many more people have been using food pantries than in times past. Many pantries have long waiting lines for the hungry. No one goes to a food pantry unnecessarily. The waits are too long, the selection is often minimal.
THANKSGIVING IS THE BEST TIME TO DONATE FOOD TO A FOOD PANTRY BECAUSE PEOPLE GO TO FOOD PANTRIES DURING THE HOLIDAYS MORE THAN ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR.
Food pantries need your donations of food/expertise/time/money all year long. People don’t just get hungry in November.
Frankly, the neediest time of the year for pantries/soup kitchens/shelters is August. Summers are pretty lean but August is severe. Pantries need your canned/baked goods, shelf staples all year long. If you have a garden which is producing too many tomatoes please share this fresh produce with your area pantry. If you suddenly find yourself cleaning out your kitchen, please bring those cans and boxes you’ll never use to the pantry.
September is a good time to donate peanut butter, jelly, and other school lunch snacks to your neighborhood pantry.
ONLY PEOPLE WHO QUALIFY FOR SNAP CAN GO TO A FOOD PANTRY.
I don’t know how this rumor got started either. Often a food pantry is a supplement to a household’s SNAP budget. But there are many, many people shopping at food pantries who never make it to the SNAP office. Some food pantries get visits from people wanting to sign them up for SNAP.
Actually, it would be wonderful if more people would get both SNAP benefits and food pantry food. This is true for the elderly especially. Often, people are afraid of going to the SNAP office. They’re afraid they won’t be able to find it. They are afraid they may not be able to answer the questions. In rural areas, the fear is that it will take too much gas.
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“I Don’t Hang Out in Churches Anymore” is coming soon! Hopefully, when this book is published, I’ll have more time to post articles on this blog.
Cover art for this book was contributed by Michele Garner.
The Big 3: We get less, pay more, and do without.
WHAT GROCERIES CAN YOU BUY FOR $16?
(The Minium SNAP Allotment)
Prices from Kingston Walmart
– 1 dozen eggs – $1.98
– 1/2 gallon milk – $1.94
– 1 lb. pinto beans – $1.28
– 1 lb. rice – $ .84
– 1 lb. onions – $ .99
– 1 can diced tomatoes – $ .79
– 1 lb ground turkey – $2.98
– 1 can corn – $ .77
– 1 lb. potatoes – $2.97
– 1 can tuna – $ .78
Total = $15.32
I first met Pat last fall when she came to the Reservoir Food Pantry the first time. She’s an older woman, a widow. Her husband died just over a year ago She’s still making her way toward her new life.
“I never dreamed it would be so hard…being alone like this. I didn’t tell my children that I came here. I don’t want them to know the situation.”
While she spoke, she wiped an occasional tear. She moved through the pantry line composed of a group of women, all about her own age. They chose corn, apples, squash, late season greens, onions, potatoes. As the line snaked forward, she turned her attention to the canned goods: beans, soup, fruits, veggies.
Pat hasn’t visited the SNAP (food stamp) office in Kingston yet. For one thing, it’s a good half hour down Route 28. For another, she’s afraid:
the forms,
the humiliation of being unable to survive on her own,
the long wait in a building that she may not even be able to find. And, finally, she’s afraid of the whole process which she finds threatening.
Her financial situation isn’t so far from all the other women in the pantry line. Grocery shopping for the elderly is difficult under the best circumstances. Getting to the grocery store can be challenging for order people – getting around in the parking lot and going up and down the grocery store aisles is no fun anymore. Then, when they can’t find what they need at a price they can afford, they have to maneuver the muddy parking lot and the scary entrance ramp at our pantry.
We haven’t even discussed the packages yet. They’ve got to be gotten home and in the house wherever and whatever that is.
Finally, finding affordable high quality food becomes more difficult as the days go by. As difficult as it is for Pat, she’s one of the lucky ones. Her automobile works.
The combination of a nonworking automobile, bad weather, insufficient $$$ is the makings of a disaster for a senior.
I keep telling everyone who will listen that seniors should get their SNAP card, a list of nearby pantries, and their Medicare card at the same time. So far, nobody has heard.
“Of course not.” I tell myself. “Why should they? We’ve all got gray hair.”
Seniors struggle with the Big 3:
food
housing
medical expenses.
Forget the frills like Kleenex and clothes. As seniors, we get less, pay more, and go without. We decide whether to heat or eat.
Healthcare costs can be devastating, even to a senior on medicare. Once a person comes down with cancer or other major disease, the pocketbook empties pretty fast.
There is a real pressure to feed the rising tide of hungry at every pantry. We receive questionnaires periodically from different agencies wanting to know how often we run out of food. How does “weekly” sound?
The Big 3 for pantries include:
high unemployment,
widespread hunger
deep cuts in social spending programs.
Every pantry is different. Some feed anyone who needs food.
Others are arbitrary and biased when it comes to deciding who can or cannot receive food.
Yet others require paper work which cuts eliminates the homeless entirely.
There are too many agencies with too many people standing in line for too little food. No Food Bank office can oversee or supervise the selection process.
At Reservoir Food Pantry, we serve a 3-day-supply of food with a large dash of dignity to all who come.
The lines and crowds outside pantries can easily convince any onlookers that our nation has a food problem.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Why are they hungry?
RECENTLY UNEMPLOYED
They showed up in the pantry one Wednesday evening. A man, his wife, her mother, two children. A closely knit group, it was this family against the world. It was obvious to anyone in the room who looked that he loved his daughter.
“Welcome. Come on in. Go around the room…..” I gave them the usual spiel. The whole family helped choose food.
As they were leaving, I handed them a flyer about the soup kitchen. Off they went, flyer in hand, to have supper.
Wednesdays became a ritual for them. First, they came to the pantry and then they went to the soup kitchen for supper.
UNDEREMPLOYED/UNDERPAID
For me, she wins the medal for being the most underemployed/underpaid person in Woodstock.
Capable.
Well educated.
Creative.
Industrious.
Beautiful.
Goal oriented.
Excellent people skills.
Talented.
Stuck in Woodstock and almost starving to death, she was evicted at one point and moved in with a friend. She barely makes it from day to day.
DEATH OF A SPOUSE
“I’m so grateful to be here today. I have someplace to go – the pantry. Fred died one year ago today ” she said.
“Thanks for coming by.”
“I just never knew how hard it would be to live alone. I don’t want to go to my children. The food I get here really helps my budget.”
FOOD STAMP CUTS
“Thurman, my stamps have been cut again. I don’t know how I’m going to make it.
I have absolutely no money this month. My car died and I don’t know where I’m going to get the $$$ to fix it. If I can’t get the $$$ to fix it, I can’t buy a a new one.”
ILLNESS
“How are you doing today?”
“Well, I’m here.” The man speaking was dying of a brain tumor. The pain clearly marked his face. “The tumor seemed to be getting larger this week. I go down to the hospital every week for the chemo and they check it out.”
“If you’re ever too tired to come to the pantry, call and we’ll deliver the food to you.”
“No” he said. “I’m going to come to the pantry as long as I can – for the social interaction if nothing else.”
TO SUM THINGS UP, THEY (WE) ARE HUNGRY BECAUSE THEIR (OUR) INCOME, FROM WHATEVER SOURCE, IS NOT ENOUGH TO MEET THE HIGH COST OF LIVING AS A POOR OR DESTITUTE PERSON.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
