Senior Hunger Awareness Week to kick off April 9 | News

Senior hunger is a prevalent issue- nearly 5.5 million Americans 60 and older face hunger, according to Feeding America.

Thankfully, Coweta has resources for seniors who may not have enough food to sustain themselves. A short list of resources includes Meals on Wheels Coweta, I-58 Mission, One Roof Ecumenical Outreach Newnan, Bridging the Gap, Three Rivers Area Agency on Aging, St. Vincent de Paul, and other members of the Coweta Family Collaborative.

Food insecurity negatively affects the lives of seniors health-wise, economically, and nutritionally, according to Feeding America. According to the most recent data from Feeding America,

Seniors with disabilities (13.4 percent) had food insecurity rates over twice as high as seniors without disabilities (5.0 percent).

An estimated six in 10 (57 percent) seniors experiencing food insecurity were female.

Seniors who live with grandchildren were more likely to be food insecure than seniors who do not (15 percent compared to 6.8 percent).

Seniors with relatively higher incomes still need help to get enough nutritious food. More than half (59.1 percent) of seniors experiencing food insecurity who reported income had income above the federal poverty line, and a majority were either retired (50.6 percent) or disabled (28.5 percent), while only 2.8 percent were unemployed.

Seniors who are renters (17.1 percent) were more than three times more likely to be food insecure than seniors who are homeowners (5 percent).

And more seniors in Coweta need additional help with food security as well.

According to…