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
7 Ways “Work First” Doesn’t Work
WORK FIRST – Since the ’90s, many states have been hell bent to Harry to get people to work…no matter what. Welfare is no longer on the table.
A tip here: Many people don’t realize that the Good Ol’ U S of A hasn’t offered much in the way of welfare in a long, long time.
In polite conversation, I hear the statement: “What they need is a swift kick in the rear to get on somebody’s payroll.” I find it totally amazing that people in this country have been and continue to be comfortable denying assistance to destitute families while offering tax breaks to the wealthy on vacation homes, yachts, etc.
The question I have is this: How do people cope?
Work first is not always a good option. I regularly see pantry shoppers with family members who would be institutionalized if they weren’t being cared for by the family. The problem is that the family has nothing. So while Helen or Sue or Fred is caring for the ill person, s/he is not able to work.
Right now, in our pantry there is an older couple…he’s obviously a loving caregiver. This man might be able to work were it not for his very ill wife.
Another woman shops regularly with a very mentally ill family member. This young man cannot be left alone…not even for a few minutes.
While the sick/handicapped family member is being cared for at home, the state is paying little or nothing. So, the family is in desperate financial straits because of a very ill family member. One day, someone in this family is going to realize the situation and then our state’s bill is going to increase significantly when the ill person is institutionalized.
I’m suspecting at least some of these people are very willing to care for the ill/handicapped family member because there are no jobs out here. When a job comes along, the person will be working and the state will be paying a very hefty bill for the institution.
Wouldn’t it just be better in the long run to pay the family a stipend in lieu of the institution?
But, family members are not unemployed solely because of a sick/handicapped family member. There are several reasons why people simply cannot work…no matter how many swift kicks the extremely poor person receives. These barriers to work success can effectively kill someone’s career:
Work first is an interesting philosophy when there are no jobs.
Poor quality childcare will kill a job faster than anything. When a family exists below the poverty level, there is no $$$ for childcare. So, the children go to grandma’s, or the neighbor down the road…or stay home alone.
Transportation issues are major factors in unemployment. They include:
no public transportation,
not owning a vehicle which is 4-season functional,
not having enough gas $$$, and finally,
not having the $$$ to fix the car when it breaks down.
A lot of networking is done in pantry lines for a mechanic to keep the family wreck on the road.
Literacy issues and lack of work experience are barriers to employment. In our area, there are some illiterate people.
Until a person has a job, it’s difficult to get a job. So…it can be very challenging to find the first job. I know young people working for free in hopes of finding something that will pay. Then, one day, they get something part time, off the books! The next step up the ladder is to graduate to half on/half off. Then, finally, hurray! A job finally happens which is on the books. A job with benefits is often beyond the dream of a person in our area.
Then, of course, we have the taboo subject: domestic violence. At the poverty level, domestic violence is simply not discussed. Domestic abuse contributes to poverty. A woman cannot escape an abusive situation without $$$ and right now there’s not much of that around.
There is not much attention given to this situation. In future blog posts, I will be
addressing this tragic situation because it is prevalent in our society.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
“Are you closing?”
The call came out of the blue. A pantry management person I never, ever hear from called: “Are you closing your pantry? I heard this and I’m not the kind of person to spread gossip, so I’m asking you personally.”
“No. No, the Reservoir Food Pantry is not planning to close” I replied. Actually, I’ve been having people call me for almost a year asking if we’re closing. I always ask everyone who approaches me: ” Who did you hear this from?”
“I don’t remember, Thurman.”
“Well, I sure wish I could get someone to spill the beans because I’d love to call that person up and find out what started this whole rumor.”
If I’ve had this conversation once, I’ve had it a dozen times over the past few months. So, here for all the world to read, is the bald truth. The Reservoir Food Pantry is not closing. Actually, we’re growing like a weed.
Every Monday morning Prasida and Francine go to Latham and return with all the produce they can haul back in our long line van. They, Bob Overton, Garrett O’Dell, and Susanne Traub put it out on tables and serve it to the shoppers. By 4:00, there is usually none left. Fruits, vegetables, pies, cakes, meat, fish, yogurt, eggs, …it’s all gone.
We serve about 100 families every Monday afternoon at 2:00. On Tuesdays and Fridays we deliver food to another approximate 50 home bound households.
We have an annual mailing in which we ask the community to support us financially in our efforts.
We are at the entrances of the Kingston Walmart one weekend every month asking shoppers to help us feed the hungry.
Every other month we are at the entrance to the Boiceville IGA on a Saturday as well.
We recently opened a Capital Building account at the bank.
We are actively involved in disaster preparation activities.
The volunteers of the Reservoir Food Pantry are a group of committed individuals focused on feeding the hungry as a way of celebrating the amazing abundance which is available in our country. Only in the good old U S of A could there be this much food available…just for bringing to pantries.
We are:
your tax dollars at work.
an environmental effort as we intercept food bound for the landfill and bring it to the pantry for distribution.
working together to feed the hungry.
looking for a larger space that is located above the flood plain.
extremely grateful for the opportunity we have to feed the hungry in the Ashokan Reservoir area.
It is an honor and a pleasure for us to be in Boiceville in the little red shed behind Robert’s Auction.
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www.reflexologyforthespirit.com
www.goodmorningwoodstock.com
www.sugarsecurity.com
my.Benefits.ny.gov
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
An Open Letter to Senator George A. Amedore, Jr.
Dear Senator Amedore
It was so nice to receive your recent letter, Senator Amedore, explaining what the 2015 New York State Budget will mean to me. As a senior living in Ulster County who manages the Reservoir Food Pantry in Boiceville, New York, I am extremely aware of struggles of Ulster County seniors. As you wrote, seniors “have spent their lives and careers here in the 46th Senate District deserve to be able to afford to retire here and enjoy their golden years in the communities they’ve called home for so many years.”
Senator Amedore, I have thought exactly the same thing many times as I distribute a 3-day-supply of food to seniors who don’t have enough $$$ to buy sufficient food with their social security checks.
In your letter, you listed several programs receiving funding that seniors rely upon:
Community Services for the Elderly
Alzheimer’s Programs
LifeSpan for Elderly Abuse, Education, and Outreach
New York Foundation for Senior Home Sharing and Respite
Senior Action Council Hotline
EPIC Program
Enhanced STAR
On behalf of the seniors from your district shopping at food pantries, I thank you for including these services in your budget.
One thing missing in the lineup was any reference to food. This omission is entirely understandable. No one but the seniors understand what a struggle food is for this category of people in our population.
Grocery shopping for the elderly is difficult under the best of circumstances. Getting to the grocery store can be challenging for older people – especially for those living in a food desert. Getting around in the parking lot and going up and down the grocery store aisles is no fun anymore. And, when they can’t find what they need and afford, they have to maneuver the muddy parking lot and the scary entrance ramp of our pantry. And…we haven’t even discussed the packages yet. They’ve got to be gotten home and in the kitchen.
Finally, getting high quality, affordable food is more and more difficult as the days go by. And, it’s even more difficult for those seniors who no longer drive or own a working automobile.
In Ulster County, many seniors residents living in rural areas of the county live in a food desert and are miles from a grocery store offering fresh fruits and vegetables. Volunteers at the Reservoir Food Pantry deliver food packages weekly to approximately 40 households composed of transportation challenged people…many of whom are seniors. Some of these people have no working stoves in their homes.
Many seniors in our pantry line would certainly qualify for SNAP – even in it’s current reduced condition. However, they lack the wherewithal to get qualified. For one thing, it’s a good half hour down Route 28. For another, they are sometimes afraid. They’re afraid of the forms, the humiliation of being unable to survive on their own in the last years of their lives. They are afraid of the long wait in a building they may not even be able to find. In short, they find the whole process threatening.
Seniors struggle for food. Actually, they struggle for what I call “the Big 3”: food, housing, and medical expenses. Forget the extras like clothing. Many seniors get less, pay more, and go without. When seniors don’t get enough to eat (and many do not), they have a tendency to get sick which creates a hardship for their children and grandchildren.
Healthcare costs can be devastating, even to a senior with Medicare. Once a person comes down with cancer or other major disease, the pocketbook empties pretty fast.
In the past, food pantries focused on shoppers in a specific location. We now serve the people who can get to us during our open hours.
At Reservoir Food Pantry, fresh vegetables are important. We recently scrounged $$$ together and bought a used long line van which volunteers drive weekly to Latham for as much produce as we can bring back. We routinely run out.
Our situation is precarious, Senator Amedore. We joke that we’re teetering on homelessness ourselves because we’re housed in a shed on a flood plain. The shed is fine. We’re desperately trying to find a place to move it to so we’ll be out of the flood plain. So far, we’ve had no luck.
-But enough of our woes, Senator Amedore. Thank you for including me in your mailing list. Thank you for the work you are doing for seniors in New York State. Thank you for sharing.
When you’re in your Kingston office on a Monday afternoon, you have an open invitation to visit our pantry. We’ll be honored and pleased to show you around our 12’x16′ shed. We serve over 140 households weekly from this shed. Most of them are seniors.
We do hope you’ll come. We promise the tour won’t take long because our pantry is small. However, the photos will be many and the seniors will be grateful.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
P.S.-If you ever need any human interest stories, I have many, many, many, and I’m happy to share.
www.nysenior.org
www.myBenefits.ny.gov
www.nysenate.gov/senator/george-amedore
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Other blogs by Thurman Greco:
www.reflexologyforthespirit.com
www.goodmorningwoodstock.com
www.sugarsecurity.com
7 Ways We Use Food Pantries
Food Pantries feed the hungry…and very successfully at that, actually. After all, there are very few stories right now about starving people dying in the streets. We Food Pantry volunteers can pat ourselves on the back for that, at least.
But, so much more happens in a Food Pantry beyond feeding the hungry.
For starters, thousands of volunteers are kept gainfully occupied and off the streets as we (wo)man the pantries.
The United States Department of Agriculture disposes of thousands and thousands of pounds of surplus foods every year in Food Pantries. Unfortunately, though, the USDA seems to have a somewhat embarrassed attitude about the distribution of agricultural surpluses. Anybody who thinks about it quickly realizes that it’s impossible to grow just exactly what we need every year. It’s much better to have too much than too little. So, the USDA needs the Food Pantries to dispose of this surplus. Sure beats hauling it off to the landfill.
Thank you USDA! I just wish you felt better about the job you do.
Supermarkets use Food Pantries to dispose of food they can’t sell. By donating produce,
baked goods,
meats,
packaged shelf staples,
grocers avoid dump fees, discourage dumpster divers, accrue tax savings, and tell the world about how many thousands of dollars they donated to feed the hungry.
Churches throughout this country feed the hungry in Food Pantries located in their basements. That is, all except for the famous St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco where Sara Miles put the pantry on the altar. She subsequently wrote a book about it entitled “Take This Bread”. I hope you get a chance to read it.
Congregations label their Food Pantries as outreach but I don’t buy into that concept. What we’re all doing, really, is celebrating the enormous abundance existing in this country…in this world…on this planet.
Environmentalists use Food Pantries to divert food bound for the landfill. It’s amazing when you think about it. Several million people in our country are prevented from starving to death when they shop at a Food Pantry and take home produce, dairy products, meats, baked goods, shelf staples that would otherwise have ended up at the landfill.
Schools throughout our fair nation distribute food to children to take home on the weekend. The Backpack Programs offer food to children who have none in their households.
It’s a real ego trip for whole segments of our society. Everyone feels all warm and fuzzy about food donated to Food Banks. This includes farmers, grocers, food manufacturers, restaurants, bakers, religious and civic institutions feeding the hungry, and, of course, the people who read the stories about the generosity of these businesses.
This warm and fuzzy feeling we all get when we realize which businesses are contributing to feeding the hungry rubs off positively on Food Banks. They, thankfully, are very influential charities as a result. Food Banks rank right up there with hospitals, the United Way, and the Y.
And, it’s all good. Food Banks need the $$$ to keep the whole industry going. The demand for the food keeps growing and growing because the minimum wage jobs don’t pay enough $$$ to allow workers to buy groceries. SNAP benefits get whittled away each year. There’s not much left except the Food Pantry.
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http://teamnutrition.usda.gov
www.feedingamerica.org/officialsite
www.reservoirfoodpantry.org
Thurman Greco
I Have a Question
“When I drive down Route 28 on Monday, I see a lot of cars at your pantry. I see many people. I have some food pantry questions. Are they from our area?”
My answer: “Yes, they are from our area.”
But, that’s not the right question and it’s certainly not the right answer. The correct answer is that we serve everyone who manages to make it to our pantry…no matter where they’re from.
In our country now, in the U. S. of A., we have people who are hungry. Many of these people work. Many hold down 2-3 minimum wage jobs. Even with these jobs, their minimum wage pay checks don’t have any $$$ for food. So, they come to a pantry for food.
They come to the pantry they can get to…not the one in their neighborhood. And, the reason for that makes a lot of sense. If they live off Route 28 but work in Cairo on Monday, they’ll never make it to the Boiceville pantry on Monday before it closes.
When I worked in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry in Woodstock, there was a volunteer who didn’t agree with this philosophy. A hungry man from Shandaken got a ride into Woodstock and stood in line for food.
The volunteer denied him food. He went away hungry. He came to Woodstock for food because he didn’t have a car and his ride brought him to Woodstock.
Pantries serve the people who can make it to their pantry. At Reservoir Food Pantry we also serve food to home bound households where the residents are transportation challenged.
It’s not where the hungry live that determines what pantry they use. It’s what pantry they can get to.
Food pantries and soup kitchens are our tax dollars at work. The government has decided the hungry should not starve to death. The government has chosen food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and halfway houses as places for the hungry to get food.
We don’t ask the address of any of the hungry in our line. Nor do we care.
Our job is plain and simple: to feed the hungry.
For the most part, the food that we serve is food that was destined for the landfill. Most pantry volunteers are just that…unpaid workers concerned about our neighbors, relatives, friends who are not getting enough to eat.
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Are you working but having a hard time making ends meet? Check your eligibility for a range of benefits and apply for food assistance at:
myBenefits.ny.gov
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
An Open Letter to Susan Zimet
Dear Ms. Zimet:
Thank you for speaking at the Hunger Conference in Latham on April 11th. You, as well as the other speakers, know the subject well and obviously care about the hunger struggle that many of your constituents face every day.
Thank you for accepting the position of Executive Director of Hunger Action Network New York State. Your energy, intelligence, and savvy attitude will boost the ripple effect of this organization to a new level…something New York State needs.
Finally, thank you for your openness at the conference. When you spoke about young graduates moving in with their parents because they can’t get jobs to pay off their student loans, you were speaking openly about a situation which many are trying to keep quiet.
New found poverty is sometimes a subject which people don’t shout about because they’re embarrassed. The symptoms of this newly found situation are often covered up because the people experiencing it are asking themselves “Where did I go wrong? What did I not do that I should have done?”
I have a name for those in this situation, Ms. Zimet. I call them the Struggling Poor.
We’re experiencing the same phenomena in our part of Ulster County also. Over here in Boiceville, it’s manifesting itself in different ways:
Seniors who never, ever thought about food pantries are now finding themselves in the food pantry line on Monday afternoons at 2:00.
Working people are struggling to buy groceries. They, too, are meeting at the pantry on Mondays at 2:00 if a family members is off work at that time.
Food pantries in the past focused on shoppers in a specific geographic location. We now serve the people who can get to us. Some pantries in cities are open until midnight to serve those who get off work at 11:00 p.m.
And, pantries have our own struggle for food. At Reservoir Food Pantry, fresh vegetables are important. We scrounged $$$ and bought a long line van which volunteers drive weekly to Latham for as much produce as we can bring back. We routinely run out of this fresh food at the end of every pantry shift.
Our situation is precarious, Ms. Zimet. We joke that we’re teetering on homelessness ourselves because we’re in a shed on a food plain. The shed part is fine. We’re desperately trying to find a place to move it where we’re out of a flood plain. So far, we’ve had no luck. The Olive Flood Advisory Committee, Woight Engineering, and the Town Board are doing the best they can with what we all have. But, the writing is on the wall. So far, we’ve had no luck.
But, enough of our woes Ms. Zimet. Thank you for attending the conference. Thank you for speaking. Thank you, very much, for sharing your energy which seems to know no bounds.
If ever you’re in the Ashokan Reservoir area on a Monday afternoon, please visit our pantry. We’ll be honored and pleased give you a tour of our 12’x16’shed. If ever you need a human interest story, I have many to share. I’ve been working in a food pantry for almost 10 years.
Peace and food for all.
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www.hungeractionnys.org
9 Ways You Can Support the Reservoir Food Pantry
We’re committed to feeding the hungry with dignity. We are committed to offering the hungry a safe haven while they shop for pantry food. At the Reservoir Food Pantry we feel a connection to all who pass through our doors. This is our way of offering peace and harmony to our community. And, your support is critical to our mission.
The need in our area is great. The pantry has been steadily growing since the day it opened in September, 2013. We are now the 9th largest pantry in Ulster County and our pantry is continuing to grow.
We cannot do this job alone. We need your help so we can help others.
SEND THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY A FINANCIAL GIFT. Prasida and Francine drive to Latham every Monday morning and return to the pantry by 1:00 p.m. with a van filled with fresh produce. We need your financial support in order to keep the pantry running. Your contributions are tax deductible.
CONSIDER A MONTHLY SUSTAINING DONATION. A monthly check, or paypal payment in any amount will insure that we have a regular cash flow to meet our expenses.
PAY A PARTICULAR EXPENSE. Choose an amount, and send it to the food pantry to help pay for a specific expense. For example, $20 donated monthly to help pay the dumpster fees would be a wonderful gift for us.
SEND A GIFT CARD TO THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY. If writing a check is more effort than you are comfortable with, send us a gift card. If you send us a gas gift card, or a Visa gift card, we can use the card to help meet our expenses. A CVS, Target, or Walmart gift card can be used for toilet paper.
HELP PAY FOR TOILET PAPER. Toilet paper is an item that many people have trouble buying because they lack the money. When you send us money monthly to apply to our toilet paper account, we’ll be able to purchase more toilet paper each month. We estimate that we need 200 rolls of toilet paper every week.
GIVE A DONATION IN HONOR OF A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER.
When you make a contribution as a gift to a friend or family member, we’ll send the honoree a personalized card acknowledging your donation. Send us the name and address of the honoree, along with your tax-deductible donation.
GIVE A GIFT TO THE RESERVOIR FOOD PANTRY: Gifts of peanut butter and jelly are important to the pantry. When you donate food to the pantry, it’s passed on to needy shoppers. We continually experience severe shortages of peanut butter. We need office supplies: pens, paper, envelopes, tablets, notebooks. Extra produce from your garden is needed. We always need fresh produce to distribute to the hungry.
FORWARD THIS APPEAL TO A FRIEND. Please share our story with your friends and neighbors.
KIND WISHES, PRAYERS, AND LOVING SUPPORT ARE ALWAYS WELCOME. Your positive attitude toward us is extremely important and cannot be overestimated.
Thank you for your support of Reservoir Food Pantry. You are important to us. We send blessings to you as we feed the many hungry in the area.
Reservoir Food Pantry is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Your gift is tax deductible.
Please send it to Reservoir Food Pantry – P.O.Box 245 – Boiceville, NY 12412
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
8 Ways the Hungry Get Food.
Betty and her daughter are Woodstock born. They’ve shopped there regularly since the Good Neighbor Food Pantry opened and began feeding the hungry.
For years, they shopped at the pantry, CVS, Rite Aid, and Woodstock Meats between periodic trips to Walmart in Kingston. Then, several years ago, Betty’s husband died and trips to Walmart ceased to be part of the routine. It became a luxury for them when a relative invited them to ride along to Kingston to shop.
Finally, he died too, and now Betty and her daughter have no transportation to Kingston. They’re eating out of the pantry and CVS.
The combination of limited income, no access to affordable grocery stores, and no automobile makes life difficult for the 2 women. Although she probably qualifies, Betty has never gotten SNAP.
There are many people in a situation similar to Betty and her daughter. People in Betty’s situation learn to cope with lack of access to food and the complications created by a limited budget and no automobile. They
get SNAP if they can.
dumpster dive.
shoplift.
ask friends and relatives for food.
borrow $$$ for food from friends and relatives.
visit a friend or relative at mealtime.
go to the soup kitchen.
shop at a pantry.
Betty is a single senior living with an adult daughter. Life is a bit more complicated with young children in the household when there’s not enough food and no $$$. Households develop coping mechanisms to deal with the situation.
One such technique consists of simply serving less food.
Another consists of just skipping meals.
A third is to feed children what is available and adults go without.
But, whether the household has adult children, younger children, or no children at all, hunger is a reality for people in this situation. They are classified as either being at risk of hunger, or experiencing hunger depending on the severity of the situation.
Whatever the classification, one thing is certain:
People in this situation are intimately connected to hunger on a daily basis.
They are also a good example of the reality that in this country we have 2 food systems:
one for the poor and
one for everyone else.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Can we break down the barriers?
Starving seniors? Is that too harsh a term?
Let’s ratchet it down: hungry
Or maybe: food insecure. Yeah, that’s better. It sounds better anyway.
Call it what you want, the event is the same. It’s your grandmother or grandfather (for me…I’m certainly a grandmother) caught in a situation where there’s simply not enough food in the house.
MANY OF OUR OLDER RELATIVES QUIETLY CHOOSE BETWEEN BUYING MEDICATIONS OR PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE.
The issues with seniors and food insecurity are serious because when seniors no longer have the $$$ to buy the food they need for proper nutrition or when they can no longer pay for the medications they need, they become ill and finally end up being taken care of by their children or they end up in a nursing home.
I know stories about:
The older Woodstock woman living on mashed potatoes.
The woman who ended up in a nursing home when she was cut off from her take out food and didn’t have the resources or physical ability to get to a grocery store.
The older man who lacks funds for enough food and is slowly starving to death.
THERE IS FOOD AVAILABLE FOR SENIORS:
IF they can get to a pantry or connect with a pantry offering take out
IF they will sign up for SNAP (food stamps).
I was recently speaking with a retired man I know:
“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 alright without it. Let someone else, needier than me, get the $$$.”
“Richard, think about getting SNAP. This is a benefit you paid for. This $$$ is waiting on the table for you. You’re not the kind of guy who leaves $$$ on the table.”
I HAVEN’T CONVINCED HIM YET. However, we’re not through negotiating. As seniors, we’re in a situation where every little bit helps.
THE BARRIERS SENIORS PUT UP TO SNAP ARE GREAT. Seniors resist going to a pantry, soup kitchen, getting SNAP until they simply cannot resist any longer. I know the feeling. We grew up as children and went into adulthood feeling that if we worked hard and paid our taxes, we would end up okay. We worked all our lives with this event in sight and now that we’re here…there simply isn’t enough.
With this event comes the feeling of inadequacy and the self blame. “I must have done something wrong. Here I am living hand-to-mouth. I don’t even have enough $$$ for food. What did I do wrong?”
THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WHEN A WHOLE GENERATION OF PEOPLE BEGIN BLAMING THEMSELVES. We’re really not totally to blame. The rules have changed. Because we’re retired, we’re not in the rules making game anymore. Retirees by their very nature are disempowered. Whatever happened to the Gray Panthers?
FOOD INSECURITY AMONG SENIORS IS AN EPIDEMIC. People work on both a state and national level to make SNAP more available to seniors. The least we can do is get a card and use it.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
