I received the following information from North Texas Food Bank about how senior citizens are struggling to get enough food to live active, healthy lives.

New research from Feeding America finds that Texas is second in the nation in the number of adults 50 and older facing hunger, with 1,098,400 older and senior adults experiencing food insecurity in the Lone Star State. More than 22% of the 5 million people facing hunger in Texas are 50 and older. Texas has a food insecurity rate of 15.4% among older adults who are 50 – 59 and a rate of 9.8% among seniors who are 60 and older.

Nationally, 6.9 million out of 79 million seniors were food insecure in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. That same year, 4.9 million out of 41 million older adults in the U.S. were food insecure. Nearly 12 million adults ages 50 and older struggle to make ends meet. These estimates show how food insecurity —or having limited access to enough food to live a healthy life— impacts individuals in these two groups.

“Food insecurity is so closely tied to health, which becomes especially critical as we age. Addressing hunger among seniors helps reduce chronic health conditions and could result in healthier communities overall,” said Trisha Cunningham, President and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “The aging population in North Texas is growing each year, so it is more important than ever to work together to ensure seniors have access to the food they need to thrive and to eliminate barriers preventing older Texans from accessing food assistance.”

Across the country, seniors and older adults of color experience food insecurity at disproportionately higher rates compared to their white counterparts, according to the new estimates. In 2022, Black and Latino seniors experienced rates of food insecurity 2.7 times higher than white seniors, with rates for Black and Latino older adults being twice as high. While these estimates do not include separate food insecurity estimates for other racial and ethnic groups, it has been shown through other analyses that individuals who identify as Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian subgroups also have disproportionately high rates of food insecurity.

Additional key findings include:

• In Texas, 551,600 older adults (age 50-59) face hunger, which equates to a food insecurity rate of 15.4% (or 1 in 6). Texas ranks No. 1 in hunger among older adults.
• Additionally, 546,800 seniors (age 60 and older) face hunger, which equates to a food insecurity rate of 9.8% (or 1 in 10). That is up from 8.5% in 2021 and puts Texas third (behind California and Florida) for the number of seniors experiencing food insecurity.
• Together, 1,098,400 older and senior adults in Texas experience food insecurity, putting Texas second in the nation (behind California) for hunger among adults 50 and older.
• More than 22% of the 5 million people facing hunger in Texas are adults 50 and older.
• Seniors and older adults experiencing food insecurity live in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. However, nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of food insecurity for seniors and seven of the 10 states (including Texas) for older adults were in the South.
• Food insecurity exacerbates many of the unique health, economic, mobility and nutritional challenges that can come with aging. This is especially true for those with disabilities. Seniors with a disability had food insecurity rates over twice as high as seniors without disabilities. For older adults, the disparity is even greater. Older adults with disabilities had food insecurity rates more than three times as high as older adults without disabilities.