Senior Food Banks and Pantry Tips: Getting Nutrient-Dense Food When the Budget Is Tight

Food banks and food pantries serve about 60 million Americans each year, and roughly one in three of those visitors is a senior or lives in a senior household, according to Feeding America. There is nothing temporary about needing the help. Many older adults use a food pantry as a regular part of their food budget, the same way they use SNAP, CSFP, and the grocery store, and that pattern is what the system was designed for.

Food banks and food pantries are not the same thing. A food bank is a large warehouse that collects donations from grocery stores, farms, and the USDA, and then distributes them to smaller food pantries. A food pantry is the place where you walk in and pick up food. The food bank is the wholesaler, and the pantry is the retailer. When you want to receive food, you go to a pantry, not a food bank.

Many pantries have specific senior hours, a senior delivery program, or a separate senior food box that includes more shelf-stable protein, whole grain cereal, and produce than the standard pantry box. Some pantries are inside churches, others inside community centers, and a growing number are mobile pantries that bring a truckload of food to a senior housing complex or rural town once a month.

The quality of pantry food has changed a lot in the last ten years. Most pantries now have a refrigerator and freezer section with fresh produce, eggs, frozen meat, and dairy. Feeding America estimates 70 percent of food distributed nationally is shelf-stable and 30 percent is fresh or frozen. Asking for produce, dairy, and protein at the pantry usually gets it — the staff would rather distribute the food than throw it out at the end of the week.

For seniors managing diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease, many pantries now have a diabetes-friendly or low-sodium section. If your pantry does not have one, ask. They may have items in the back that fit your diet.

(Sources: Feeding America — Senior Hunger Report; Hunger Free America — Annual Report; USDA Food and Nutrition Service — The Emergency Food Help Program)