experiencing food insecurity

Senior Hunger: The Importance
of Quality Assessment Tools in
Determining Need
Marie C. Gualtieri1 and Amy M. Donley2
Abstract
Food insecurity is not a new phenomenon experienced by seniors living in the United States.
In a recent report by Feeding America, approximately 4.8 million Americans over the age of 60
are food insecure. The findings from this study call for major policy and funding implications.
Through semistructured, face-to-face interviews, this study found how the assessment tools
determining the relative need for these seniors underestimate the scope of their experiences
relating to food insecurity. The assessment tool used by this particular program is based on
federally recommended questions. These same questions are used by agencies across the nation
that receive federal funding. This is problematic as this study shows that the current assessment
tool does not properly capture some of the barriers many older Americans are facing in trying
to obtain food.
Keywords
gerontology, food, health, nonprofits, qualitative
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food insecurity is defined as
“the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” (United States Department
of Agriculture 2012). While people across different demographic groups face food insecurity,
this article focuses specifically on food insecurity among people aged 60 and older. According to
a report commissioned by Feeding America, in 2008, 11.4 percent of seniors experienced some
form of food insecurity (Ziliak, Gundersen, and Haist 2008). In 2011, that percentage increased
to 15.2 percent (Ziliak and Gundersen 2013).
Compared with some other groups, such as households headed by a single parent, the rate of
food insecurity among seniors as a group is lower. However, the number of food-insecure seniors
is expected to continue to rise as the youngest persons of the Baby Boom Generation age into
their retirement years. Moreover, seniors have the lowest participation rate in the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) compared with all other demographic groups (Barber
2012). SNAP participation is one of the most successful ways to reduce food insecurity (Mabli
1North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA
2University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA
Corresponding Author:
Marie C. Gualtieri, Graduate Student, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University,
Campus Box: 8107, 1911 Building, Raleigh, NC 27695-8107, USA.
Email: mcgualt2@ncsu.edu
561258JAXXXX10.1177/1936724414561258Journal of Applied Social ScienceGualtieri and Donley
research-article2015Gualtieri and Donley 9
et al. 2013). Therefore, while seniors as a whole may be better off as compared with some other
groups, the problem is worsening as more seniors are experiencing food insecurity.
To help alleviate food insecurity, many seniors turn to home-delivered meal programs in their
community. These organizations provide meals that are federally approved and follow the guidelines of the Food Pyramid of Older Adults (see Figure 1). Because these programs receive federal
funding, these programs are required to use a federal assessment tool to determine the need of
seniors applying for these services. The current assessment tool is a list of 10 questions that ask
about an individual’s experience with food insecurity within the past 12 months. These questions
are limited in that they ask about barriers to obtaining food as they relate to each individual’s
finances. Because there are typically waiting lists for these types of programs, the score each
individual receives on these assessments is crucial, as it determines their placement on the waiting list. However, we have found that the assessment tool used to measure the experiences of
food insecurity is not adequate because seniors experience food insecurity for many reasons
beyond a lack of financial resources