In late February, I had the opportunity to help fill boxes with Food For Free’s Home Delivery program. To the sound of jazz, five volunteers and I steadily worked to distribute healthy, fresh produce, including eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, apples, and bananas, along with fish, bread, beans, whole wheat pasta and peanut butter. At the end of the shift, each box was brimming with healthy groceries ready for delivery directly to clients’ homes.
Since 2001, Food For Free’s Home Delivery Program has delivered food to low-income Cambridge residents who are unable to access traditional food pantries due to illness or disability. Unlike programs that deliver prepared meals, Home Delivery clients receive two grocery deliveries each month, enabling them to cook their own food. This service gives seniors and people with disabilities more control over their meals, and provides support that helps them to stay in their own homes.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts rated highest among states for the number of single seniors over age 65 who cannot afford basic living expenses, such as, food, transportation and healthcare. Since the start of the pandemic, food insecurity rates among older adults have increased 58.8 percent, with Black and Hispanic older adults disproportionately experiencing higher levels of food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis.
Food insecurity for seniors can have serious health outcomes. Research published in Health Affairs, stated that, “food-insecure seniors report lower nutrient intakes, are more likely to be in poor or fair health and to be depressed, and are more likely to have limitations in activities of daily living, compared to their food-secure peers.”
Similarly, Economic Research Service data indicated that one-third of households with a working-age adult who was unable to work due to disability were food insecure. Moreover, food insecurity may have a greater negative effect on the health of persons with disabilities. Lack of access to quality food or enough food can worsen chronic health conditions, including those associated with mental health.
A lot has changed in our world since my visit to Home Delivery in early 2020. The COVID-19 crisis has made it dangerous for many residents to access food through local pantries, due to increased health vulnerabilities from age or chronic health conditions. As a result, seniors and those who are immunocompromised have a greater need than ever for safe access to healthy food. When the pandemic began, we knew we needed to do more to provide for the rapid increase of food insecure households. One way we were able to do this was through the creation of our COVID-19 Relief Grocery Delivery program, which launched on March 17. This was an emergency response to the school closures and quickly expanded to support the closure of the Senior Center and local food pantries. It was an amazing initiative, bringing in 50 to 80 volunteers a day and, at its peak, delivering food to 2,000 households.
As Food For free learned more about this pandemic, we understood that many of the households on our list, made up of seniors and immunocompromised individuals, will remain at significant risk from COVID-19 for the foreseeable future. In response, we developed a sustainable plan to best support these people longer term by merging our COVID-19 Relief Grocery Delivery program into our long-established Home Delivery Program last month. We have expanded the qualifications for the Home Delivery program to include seniors without disabilities as well as immunocompromised individuals who are at increased risk for COVID-19. With this change we have gone from serving 160 individuals to 360 individuals.
Feedback from our Home Delivery clients reminds us how much this program means: “You brought me eggplant and I haven’t had eggplant in so long! I have a favorite recipe for eggplant that I haven’t been able to make for years. I made that recipe and it was very delicious.” “I really like the cans of tuna that you bring me! I mix them with some of the vegetables and make myself a nice little tuna salad for lunch.” Food For Free is committed to making access to healthy food available to all, regardless of age, income or ability and the expansion of our Home Delivery program is one more way we are trying to make this happen.
