Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Pushes for Nearly $2 Billion in Funding for Older Americans Nutrition Program

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says more senior citizens are facing hunger and it's the government's job to help them.

With rising costs at the supermarket and stagnating wages, Senator Gillibrand is urging Congress to make sure elderly Americans aren't going hungry - especially during the winter.

Gillibrand is on the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

The senator shared a letter she sent to the House and Senate, urging lawmakers to allocate additional resources for Older Americans Act Nutrition Services Program.

She is asking for $1.84 billion to be directed toward the program.

The OAA Title III-C Nutrition Program provides affordable meals to seniors and supports services like Meals on Wheels. She said demand has grown significantly since the pandemic.

She added funding the OAA Nutrition Program has "historically been backed by bipartisan support."

Gillibrand said if the funds aren't allocated, more seniors will face impossible decisions.

The number of Americans 65 years and older is increasing. Currently 1 in 4 Americans is older than 60, with 12,000 more turning 60 every day. By 2030 the number of older adults is expected to reach 91 million, with 112 million expected by 2060. Demand for OAA services is expected to increase in the coming years as the older adult population continues to increase.

Gillibrand also noted Meals on Wheels found 14% of New York's senior population lives in rural areas that are considered food deserts.

Food deserts, which are areas that are not nearby supermarkets or grocery stores, place an additional challenge for this demographic.

"They're just much more vulnerable because of their separation from population bases and other people who might notice that they're in need," she stated.

Gillibrand said approving the nearly $2 million in funds would "help deliver 251 million meals and allow 2.2 million older adults to get the nutrition they need."

She said this would combat the threat of malnutrition, isolation, and hunger within the elderly populations.

"Food insecurity has long been a problem for older adults. In 2022, at least 7 million older Americans faced food insecurity," She continued. The senator said that amounts to at least one in 12 New York seniors facing hunger.

The senator noted, "Low-cost meal deliveries are a lifeline for older Americans, especially as food prices remain high."

Read More: The 5 Fraud Types Scamming the Most Money from New Yorkers

WIBX asked Gillibrand during the press conference to identify what's causing more seniors to slip between the cracks and struggle with hunger.

The senator said the issue is both a social and private industry problem.

Gillibrand pointed out that wages have been stagnating for years while inflation has caused prices to skyrocket at grocery stores.

She remarked there are seniors who work 40 to 60 hours a week and still live in poverty, so adjusting their raises would ease their burden.

In Oneida County, 9.1% of the population consists of seniors living in poverty while 9.53% of Madison County's population are impoverished elderly residents.

In Herkimer County, that number rises to 12.1 percent.

She said increasing wages would reduce the number of people impacted by hunger.

"You either have to create a living wage, you either have to create a society that looks after our most vulnerable, or the government's gonna have to pick up the slack," she said. "It's one or the other."

Gillibrand also noted those upset by government spending should either invest in faith-based operations that feed the hungry, donate to hunger banks, or volunteer for food delivery services like Meals on Wheels to help chip away at the crisis.

"I don't think we should let people starve to death, especially our seniors," the senator remarked.

Get our free mobile app