Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Population Health Research Brief Series

Community-Based Food Program Limits in Reducing Older Adult Food Insecurity

Madonna Harrington Meyer and Colleen M. Heflin

October 2025

Madonna Harrington Meyer

Colleen Heflin

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Sociology Department

Center for Aging and Policy Studies

Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series

United States

Portrait of a smiling person with short gray hair, wearing a blue ruffled shirt, set against a blurred green background.

Madonna Harrington Meyer

Colleen Heflin

Abstract

Older adults who are grappling with food insecurity may enhance their food supply through community-based programs that provide free and subsidized food. This complicated system, categorized by group meal programs, home-delivered meals, and food provided to be eaten off-site, is complex, expensive, and may be difficult for older adults to use.

Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief describes three key limits of community-based food programs for older adults. First, the quantity and quality of community-based food programs vary markedly by where one lives. Second, the food may be of poor nutritional quality. Third, physical, cognitive, and transportation limitations may impede participation.

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