Senior Project Fresh Update

A new nutrition program that supports low-income seniors and local farmers in Washtenaw County has been a great success this summer. Senior Project FRESH (SPF), which is sponsored by MSU Extension, the Michigan Offices of Services to the Aging, and Washtenaw County Public Health, provides seniors with $20 worth of coupons that can be used at farmers’ markets and road side stands to purchase fresh, Michigan-grown produce. In all, 150 coupon books were distributed this market season to seniors and adults with disabilities in Washtenaw County. Katie Loveland of MSU Extension touted the economic benefits of the program for both farmers and older adults. “Because of Senior Project FRESH, $3000 worth of produce will be in the hands of low-income seniors this summer and in the pockets of local farmers.”

For the pilot year of the program, the organizers have chosen to target older adults in Ypsilanti because the city has fewer grocery stores and produce vendors than other areas of the county. Despite the limited number of healthy food outlets in Ypsilanti, Loveland asserts that, “Older adults in Ypsilanti care deeply about eating healthy, locally grown food. Seniors have been some of our best customers at the Downtown and Depot Town Farmers’ Markets and we hope this program will increase their access to and awareness of healthy food options in the city.” Coupons were distributed at three different sites in Ypsilanti: Chidester Place and Towne Centre Apartments and the Ypsilanti Senior Center. A coupon distribution day was also held at the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor.

Program organizers gathered demographic data about the program participants’ as well as data on their access to healthy, affordable food. This data highlights the vulnerability of the low income senior population, while underscoring their desire to eat healthy food. Of the participants surveyed, 77% live alone and 42% have a disability. In addition, 83% of the SPF participants make less than $1000 a month and over half receive food stamps. The rate of food insecurity among SPF participants was over 10 times the rate of seniors in the county as a whole with 46% of the SPF participants reporting that they were concerned about having enough food for themselves or their family in the past 30 days. Despite the high rates of food insecurity, 46% of SPF participants report eating 5 or more fruits or vegetables per day, a rate slightly higher than that of all seniors in Washtenaw County. Loveland explains that, “This data show us that the program reached a nutritionally vulnerable population who want to eat healthy food but may be limited by mobility, transportation, and financial barriers and a lack of access to healthy foods in their neighborhood.” Senior Project FRESH aims to address some of these barriers by providing extra money for seniors to purchase healthy food and introducing seniors to the markets in their communities that provide local food at reasonable prices.