State Units on Aging (SUA) Promising Practices Combating Food 

Insecurity: Webinar Takeaways

Hosted Wednesday, August 31, 2022

by the Office of Nutrition and Health Promotion Programs, Administration for Community Living

Speakers: Kathryn Tucker, ACL Consultant; Autumn Trombetta, Population Health & Nutrition

Manager, Ohio SUA; Ophelia Steppe, State Nutritionist, New Mexico SUA

Go to the YouTube recording

What is food insecurity? 

• Food security per USDA: “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active life.”

• Low food security: poor nutrition quality and limited variety; little or no sign of reduced

food intake.

• Very low food security: reports of skipping meals or not eating; reduced food availability.

• Food insecurity can lead to poor physical and mental health, decreased functionality,

and increased risk for multiple chronic diseases.

Food Security Continuum

• People can experience a range of food needs over time, moving up and down the

continuum as their needs change.

• Enables us to design interventions to meet unique food insecurity experiences.

Focus on Food Insecurity

• By making efforts to decrease food insecurity at the state level, SUAs can:

o Increase access to and use of OAA programs and services.

o Increase access to and use of nutrition assistance programs.

o Increase connections to additional food resources.

o Decrease hospital readmissions.

o Improve overall health, physical health, and quality of life of older adults.

Georgia Food Insecurity Initiatives

• Georgia’s State Plan to Address Senior Hunger designates a new position of senior

hunger nutrition coordinator and requires the formation of 12 senior hunger coalitions.

• Nutrition clients screened with a six-item food security survey standardized across state.

• The SUA hosts an Aging and Disability Resource Connection conference that includes

sessions on senior hunger initiatives.

California Food Insecurity Initiatives

• Home and Community-Based Services Senior Nutrition Infrastructure Grant Program

allows providers to increase older adults served by modernizing kitchens and buying

equipment, vehicles, and technology.

• Older Adults Recovery and Resilience (OARR) funding helps increase support to the

Older Californians Nutrition Program.

• Partnerships between SUA and state agencies, California Association of Food Banks,

local government agencies, and agencies specializing in senior resources.
SUAs Promising Practices in Food Insecurity Webinar Takeaways | August 2022 | ACL | Page 2

Ohio State Unit on Aging Promising Practices

• Malnutrition Prevention Commission established to develop recommendations to reduce 

malnutrition among older adults; a final report published in 2018.

• Ohio’s 2020-2022 Strategic Action Plan on Aging aims to advance elder justice and 

equity and achieve optimal health and well-being for older Ohioans.

• AAAs and/or their contracted service providers conduct screenings at least once a year.

Consumers at high nutritional risk are referred to home and community-based services.

• One local grantee is piloting combined food insecurity and social isolation screening.

• Ohio SUA and local providers expanded certain services (e.g., grab-and-go, grocery 

shopping assistance, emergency shelf-stable food boxes) during the pandemic.

• State-supported pandemic relief funds used by many providers to upgrade kitchens or 

purchase vehicles to support home-delivered meals.

• The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program allowed SUA to expand operations to 

allow bulk purchasing and the distribution of produce boxes.

• Launched Staying Healthy, focused on small business restaurants and home delivery.

• Ohio Nutrition Incentive Network is a partnership of retailers, producers, state agencies, 

and local partners collaborating to improve food access and reduce malnutrition.

• Multi-year partnership with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has 

explored opportunities to support aging well while incarcerated.

New Mexico State Unit on Aging Promising Practices

• The New Mexico Food, Farm, and Hunger Initiative is a plan to revolutionize the state’s 

food system and expand effective programs by investing in local producers.

• Meal Gap Funding will provide food bank assistance to seniors in high-need counties.

• New Mexico Grown Program connects meal programs with locally produced goods.

• Double Up Food Bucks provides dollar-for-dollar incentives to SNAP participants to 

purchase New Mexico-grown produce at grocery stores, farmers’ markets, farm stands.

• Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program provides vouchers to purchase from farmers.

• Senior Food Box Program is piloting a nonperishable box program in five food desert 

counties – delivery to homebound older adults or distribution at congregate sites.

Resources

• Nutrition and Aging Resource Center (ACL)

o Innovative Models

o Options for Contracting Meals

o Senior Nutrition Programs and Sustainability: Guide to Prioritizing Clients

o Tips for Recruiting and Working with Volunteers

• Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a Survey of Lowincome Americans (PubMed)

• How Food Insecurity Affects Older Adults (National Poll on Healthy Aging)

• Hunger in Older Adults (Meals on Wheels America)

• Policies to Reduce Food Insecurity: An Ethical Imperative (PubMed)

• The Food Security Continuum: A Novel Tool for Understanding Food Insecurity as a 

Range of Experiences (SpringerLink)

• The State of Senior Hunger in 2020 (Feeding America)