![\"Adults](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790526162_635_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nSince completing treatment for breast cancer, Toni Keller tries to stick to a healthy diet \u2014 she consumes lots of fruits and vegetables and no red meat.<\/p>\n
Keller, 65, moved into Storm Lake Senior Housing in May, a low-income community in the northwest Iowa city of Storm Lake. She spent some of her adult life out of the workforce, which substantially reduced the retirement benefits she now receives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get a whopping $304 a month, because I had a sick child, so most of my time was spent with her,\u201d Keller said.<\/p>\n
That Social Security payment isn\u2019t nearly enough to cover Keller\u2019s living expenses, including food.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter having cancer, you\u2019re eating a little differently, which costs more money to do,\u201d Keller said.<\/p>\n
High food prices are pushing some older adults to make difficult budget decisions. That can mean scaling back on produce in favor of cheaper, processed foods, stretching food items longer, or even forgoing medication. In addition, according to AARP, nearly half of older adults who carry credit card debt are using credit cards to buy food.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, food prices increased 3% from June 2025 to June 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That follows larger spikes during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a nearly 10% jump in 2022 \u2015 the largest annual increase in over 40 years, according to the USDA.<\/p>\n
Recent changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have pushed food accessibility issues into the spotlight. But the hunger crisis among older Americans often receives less attention than other groups, said Jessica Johnston, a senior strategist for economic well-being at the National Council on Aging.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of the conversation around SNAP and food insecurity really has been around children and families, and older adults really are often a forgotten population on this topic,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n
Food insecurity and older adults<\/p>\n
While younger Americans might see their wages rise as costs for necessities such as food increase, older adults\u2019 incomes are more likely to be fixed.<\/p>\n
Food prices aren\u2019t increasing as quickly as they did in 2022 and 2023. Still, Social Security benefits aren’t always enough to stave off food insecurity, said Gina Plata-Nino, director of policy and advocacy at the Food Research & Action Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour rent didn\u2019t decrease because you turned 60. Your utilities didn\u2019t decrease because you turned 60. Neither did fuel, and neither did food,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Advocates for older adults fear the situation will worsen, as more Americans lose access to SNAP, the largest food assistance program in the U.S. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in 2025, tightened eligibility rules for SNAP, including by raising the age at which recipients are fully excluded from work requirements.<\/p>\n
As a group, older adults are one of the biggest utilizers of SNAP, Plata-Nino said.<\/p>\n
More than 7.4 million Americans ages 60 and up experienced food insecurity in 2023, according to the National Council on Aging. That\u2019s approximately one in 11 older Americans.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Food Bank of Lincoln<\/p>\n
An older adult reaches for carrots during Lincoln Fresh, a Food Bank of Lincoln program that distributes free fruits and vegetables at 20 sites in Lincoln, Nebraska.<\/p>\n
Employees of food banks said they\u2019re seeing more older Americans seeking food help.<\/p>\n
John Mabry, the chief relationship officer with the Food Bank of Lincoln in east-central Nebraska, said that almost 200 people came to pick up food in Humboldt, Nebraska, on a recent weekday. Of those, at least half were seniors.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough times for young and old right now,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n
Mabry said the affordability crisis is real and that the Food Bank of Lincoln is seeing more and more neighbors coming directly to their facility, including many older adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne in six of our neighbors is not sure how to put food on the table,\u201d Mabry said. \u201cMany are seniors who tell us they don\u2019t know how they are going to get by, the way things are going now.”<\/p>\n
Where seniors are going for help<\/p>\n
As food prices climb, community and religious organizations across the central United States have intensified efforts to distribute food to seniors and remove obstacles that might make it difficult for them to get help.<\/p>\n
Metro Lutheran Ministry has three food pantry locations in the Kansas City area and other partnerships that help serve residents.<\/p>\n
Once a month, people 60 and older can come to the pantries to receive a \u201csenior commodity box\u201d with canned goods, cheese, instant potatoes and other staples. It\u2019s part of a federal initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want them to have to make multiple trips down to get their food, get their box, and then come back for food pantries,\u201d said Kimberlye Bernard, Metro Lutheran Ministry\u2019s client services program manager. \u201cSo we try to make it like one-stop shopping, because transportation can be a challenge for them as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The consistency of the monthly box is important for people on fixed incomes who are struggling to cope with ever-rising food costs, she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Food](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790526163_823_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Food is unloaded from a truck at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Storm Lake, Iowa, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The delivery from the Food Bank of Iowa will help feed senior citizens. The food is distributed by Friends With Food, a partnership between SALUD! and St. Mark Lutheran Church in Storm Lake.<\/p>\n
Plata-Nino, of the Food Research & Action Center, said older adults who receive SNAP benefits are less likely to be forced to choose between paying a copay for their medicine and being able to eat. The upside doesn\u2019t stop there, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also improves mental acumen,\u201d she said. \u201c \u2026 It has positive impacts on individuals being able to deal better with stress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Preeti Malani, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan who was part of the team that conducts the school\u2019s National Poll on Healthy Aging, said that the consequences of inadequate nutrition can cascade into the broader community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have 50-year-olds who cannot be healthy because they lack nutrition, they lack good food, then they\u2019re going to have a hard time staying in the workforce, which isn\u2019t good for us as a nation,\u201d Malani explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connecting older adults with the assistance they are eligible to use is a challenge throughout the country, but the problem is worse in sparsely populated areas, according to data compiled by the National Council on Aging.<\/p>\n
For example, the proportions of eligible people age 65 or older actually enrolled in SNAP and supplemental Social Security programs are below the national average in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, according to the organization. For 2023, Iowa had the third-lowest rate of SNAP participation, at just 19% of those eligible.<\/p>\n
Across the central U.S., more than 2 million people age 65 or older were eligible for federal food benefits, but did not use them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that we\u2019ve seen in preliminary data is that areas with lower participation have a lower concentration of community-based supports,\u201d said Johnston, with the National Council on Aging. The organization offers tools to help seniors and others find local resources.<\/p>\n
‘We’d probably be in a lot of trouble’<\/p>\n
Once a month, a large truck from the Food Bank of Iowa delivers food to St. Mark Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. Volunteers from Friends With Food, a partnership between the church and SALUD!, a multicultural health coalition, bag up the food and prepare it for distribution.<\/p>\n
Most of the food is delivered to low-income older adults, many of whom don\u2019t have regular access to transportation. A large delivery also goes to the senior living community where Toni Keller lives.<\/p>\n
The residents create their own monthly food pantry in the common room with the donations, laying out potatoes, bell peppers and other fresh produce on the tables, each filing through to shop. Signs in English and Spanish give people instructions on how many items each person can choose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take what I do need and then leave what I don\u2019t need for other people,\u201d Keller said. \u201cLast time was a whole bag of nectarines \u2014 absolutely wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keller said she uses SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks Iowa, a state program that matches SNAP dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables dollar-for-dollar, for amounts up to $15 per day. The timing of the pop-up pantry is helpful, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cUs older Americans don\u2019t have a lot of money, and it can be kind of hard to get help. I think for a lot of us, if not for this program we\u2019d probably be in trouble,\u201d Keller said, \u201cand it\u2019s nice that this program shows up in the middle of the month.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Resident](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790526164_283_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Leah McBride Mensching<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
Harvest Public Media<\/p>\n
Resident Linda Rufus organizes food from the Food Bank of Iowa that is distributed by Friends With Food in a common room at an apartment complex in Storm Lake, Iowa, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Rufus said the pop-up pantry at Storm Lake Senior Living helps her make ends meet.<\/p>\n
Linda Rufus, 67, lives at the same senior housing complex as Keller.<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s had to make some difficult budget decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about how I\u2019m gonna rob Peter to pay Paul because food prices are extremely high,\u201d Rufus said, \u201cand I have to really weigh out what\u2019s more important or how I can get the most out of a meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s changed how she shops for groceries, switching to cheaper forms of protein that won\u2019t strain her wallet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a meat eater, so I love steaks. I love lamb chops. I can\u2019t afford those things anymore. Oxtails \u2014 I can\u2019t afford those anymore. I basically stick to things like ground turkey as opposed to ground beef,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Now she frequently eats Hamburger Helper, homemade skillet meals and other instant meals.<\/p>\n
Rufus said the pop-up pantry at the senior center has been a big help to her and her neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very thankful and grateful to the food banks,\u201d Rufus said, \u201cbecause if it were not for the food banks supplying us with food, we would be in a lot worse condition than we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loading\u2026<\/p>\n
This story was produced by The Midwest Newsroom and Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.<\/p>\n
The Midwest Newsroom is an enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR. There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here. The Midwest Newsroom is a partner of The Trust Project. We invite you to review our ethics and practices here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
METHODOLOGY
This story is part of a continuing series about affordability from The Midwest Newsroom. Journalist Nicole Grundmeier and photojournalist Leah McBride Mensching visited Storm Lake, Iowa, on July 16, 2026, to speak with older adults living there about food affordability. They watched a Food Bank of Iowa truck deliver food items to the Friends With Food group at St. Mark Lutheran Church. They visited Virginia Quintanilla in her home. Volunteer Ulises Maldonado served as a translator. They also visited Storm Lake Senior Housing and interviewed residents there. Grundmeier interviewed Gina Plata-Nino of the Food Research and Action Center, Dr. Preeti Malani of the University of Michigan Health System, Jessica Johnston of the National Council on the Aging, and Kimberlye Bernard of the Metro Lutheran Ministry in Kansas City. Grundmeier reviewed data and reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food Research and Action Center and other sources. Grundmeier also consulted other media reports about food affordability and older adults.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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