September 13, 2024 • 24 mins
Welcome to Under the Dome, your update from Empower Missouri about what is happening in Jefferson City with a focus on our anti-poverty agenda. Sarah Owsley is joined by Christine Woody, one of our Food Security Policy Managers. Today, we discuss food insecurity in Missouri's older adult population. Christine sheds light on this often overlooked issue and shares how Empower Missouri aims to raise awareness and change policies to help seniors access necessary programs.
Empower Missouri is committed to public awareness and advocacy to improve food security for older adults. Learn how you can help by visiting EmpowerMissouri.org and connecting with us.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:07):
Welcome to Under the Dome, your update from Empower Missouri about what is happening
in Jefferson City with a particular focus on our anti-poverty agenda.
We've been working to advance evidence-based public policy to end poverty for over 100 years.
We lead coalitions addressing affordable housing, criminal legal system reform, and food security.
We also support our partners leading on wages, health care, child care,
(00:30):
voting rights, and other issues.
We know that poverty can and must be solved for our neighbors,
but we can't do it alone. I'm Sarah Owsley, Advocacy Director.
I'm joined today by Christine Woody, one of our Food Security Policy Managers.
And we're so glad you're with us.
Today, we are going to talk about food insecurity in the older adult population in Missouri.
(00:53):
We are really excited to have Christine Woody, one of our Food Security Policy
Managers, here to talk about this issue.
Christine, welcome back to the podcast. cast. Hey, Sarah, thanks for having me today.
I really appreciate it. Yeah, as you said, I am one of the food security policy
managers, and we do a lot of work on food security on lots of different populations, right?
(01:14):
So we do a lot of work on kids, families, those living in poverty,
but a kind of a newer focus that we're going to be really working on this upcoming
year is food insecurity in our older adult population.
This is a population that I don't think gets as much focus or attention on,
especially around food insecurity.
I think it's ever-present, but it may not be discussed. So Empower Missouri
(01:36):
as a whole and our Food Security Coalition really wanted to uplift that issue,
make the public more aware of it, and really in the end do some work on changing
some policies to make it easier for seniors to access these programs and get
the help that they truly need. That makes a lot of sense, Christine, for sure.
I think that that's absolutely right. We don't talk a lot about poverty in the older population.
(02:01):
I'm not like sure culturally why that situation happens.
Maybe it's that Midwestern nice thing. I don't know one way or another,
but we certainly don't talk enough about it. Can you sort of like set the stage for us?
How many folks, when we say older population, what is the age range that we're looking at?
Yeah. I mean, the data really varies on that, right?
So some data points use 55 and older, Some use 60 and older,
(02:25):
some use 65 and older. So it really depends on the data point.
We really typically look at regarding like when the Department of Social Services
is looking at older population and using SNAP, for example, they're looking at 55 and older.
Can we just define SNAP really quickly? Lots of our listeners are totally going
to know that that stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program, but some folks may not.
(02:49):
And that's what we, yeah. SNAP is actually the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
What did I say? I don't know what you said, but you did say assistance. But I was wrong.
Yeah. Okay, cool. No problem. But it was formerly food stamps.
It was, yes. So it's a benefit that individuals can receive on kind of like a debit-like card.
(03:11):
It's an EBT card where they can use to purchase non-already-made perishable,
non-perishable food items from grocery stores to help supplement their food budget every month.
Yeah, that makes sense. Let's just start over.
And let's not talk about that in terms of that specific data.
Okay, got that part out. That's not a problem.
(03:31):
Can you give us just like a rough idea of how many folks we're talking about
in Missouri that are food insecure older adults?
Yeah, the data shows there's about 170 older adults who are living in poverty
in the state of Missouri.
And that equates to about 13% of the population that's considered food insecure.
About 170,000, Christine?
(03:52):
Yes. Okay. 170,000 who are living in poverty.
Okay. 13% of our older residents are food insecure. Okay.
And when we say food insecure, surely there's a like definition,
policy definition somewhere.
Yes. I mean, those are the people who would state that they do not have access
(04:15):
or are unable to amount of nutritious food for themselves every month.
Okay. So that's the like, when we ask the question, do you know where your next meal is coming from?
These are the folks who would answer like, no, or like, I've struggled to put
enough food on the table this week, right?
They would answer that they've struggled with that. Yes. Okay. Exactly.
(04:38):
Okay. And we're just, these are mostly like self-defined then.
Yes. Do we feel like there's a gap there of folks who don't want to admit that
they might be struggling to meet their food need?
Oh, I would definitely believe that, especially in the senior population.
I mean, I think there's so much stigma about that on a wide range of things, right?
(05:00):
They are really concerned about taking food or accessing programs from people who really need it.
Government handouts, they're too proud to do that.
There's a wide range of reasons why. I think that number is probably lower than it actually is.
But even if it's accurate, 13% is a whole heck of a lot of older adults who are struggling.
(05:23):
Yeah. That's a lot of folks for sure. But yeah, I got to think it's underreported. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, just the self-report there feels like there's data issues anytime
we ask people to self-report.
But I got to think especially older adults are not very likely to identify their need for help.
Yeah, but and then, I mean, looking at it even more, a more non-self-reporting data point, right?
(05:45):
So people who are eligible for SNAPs, you know, SNAP eligibility,
which is, again, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for those who
are right at the poverty level, the federal poverty level or below,
the eligibility numbers for that.
So for older adults who are eligible to access SNAP, but those who are actually
partaking in that program is only about 40%.
(06:07):
So there's 60% of our older adults in Missouri who could qualify for the SNAP
benefit, but are not taking part in that.
And that is a really low percentage of participants.
There's a huge amount of individuals who could be receiving those benefits that
aren't. And that is all, you know, poverty income data that is,
(06:31):
you know, not self-reported. That's, you know, real data.
Yeah. And these older adults are not likely to have unreported income in the
same way that we might think that that's a thing that happens with younger folks, right?
Like maybe they're doing gig work or something that's just like,
you know, under the table.
That does not happen, I got to imagine, especially not for like that 65 and up population.
(06:52):
Maybe if you can see folks still doing some of that. But 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. And a lot of those, you know, right at the 100% of the poverty level and
below, and, you know, our older adults, those 65 and plus, I mean,
their incomes are usually pretty fixed, right? They're just getting social security.
They're just getting that same income every month. It's not fluctuating.
They're not starting a job and, you know, ending a job.
(07:15):
It's going to be pretty much the same from now until the end,
right? It's not going to change.
And so when they're at 100% of poverty, that's what they're going to be at. Yeah.
Which like that's the definition of fixed income. I feel like often in a policy
space or, you know, wherever else we'll say, you know, older adults are on a
fixed income and everybody's like, yeah, my income is fixed,
too. Right. Like I live with a budget.
(07:37):
I have an expectation about what I make every year. It doesn't change regularly.
But that fixed income really means like these folks are not going to be receiving raises.
They're not going to be eligible for promotions like their income is their income
and it's not likely to change over the years.
Yes. Or it increases, you know, that cost of living increase or they they they
(07:58):
increase Social Security just a bit every year or so.
But it's not nearly enough when the cost of everything else is skyrocketing.
Right. Rents, utilities, food.
I mean, all of that is going up so much more than what they're.
Increase in their social security is. Yeah.
Yeah. And I mean, I think so. Yeah. So a lot of older adults are struggling, right?
(08:21):
They're either having a difficult time paying their rent, paying for medicine, paying for food.
But I think the food insecurity, not having access to nutritious,
healthy food or being able to pay for that.
I mean, I think you can argue that all of those things are challenges.
But I think you can directly relate the idea of not having enough healthy,
(08:45):
nutritious food to so many increases in risk factors and healthy outcomes, right?
So if you don't have enough food, you are at a much higher risk of not being
able to live independently,
going have to go to a nursing home, a higher, you know, chance of heart attack
and asthma and depression, all of those are so directly linked to food quality
(09:07):
and food access and having enough nutrition in your body.
It just connects everything so directly.
Yeah. And that, you know, nursing home care and things like that.
Especially for families who have been in poverty for, you know,
older adults in poverty, like that's so expensive and certainly much more expensive
than whatever their SNAP allotment is.
(09:29):
It's important to remember, too, I think, like within these conversations that
even those 40% of folks who are taking advantage of SNAP that they are eligible
for, those folks who are participating in the program, they still are not receiving a full food budget.
It's still just a gap. Yeah, I mean, because that is, I mean,
(09:49):
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is supposedly just that, right?
Supplemental. It's not meant to cover your entire food budget a month.
But when food is skyrocketing so much over the past couple of years,
that supplemental budget for that 40% who are taking advantage is not going
(10:10):
nearly as far as it did two, three years ago, right? Right.
Yeah, especially for convenient foods. You know, I just think back to like my grandmother, right?
When we were caring for her, she was able to stay at home because we were able
to like fill in some of those things, go to the grocery store, things like that.
But we would, you know, open those convenience items for her.
(10:31):
So, you know, it was like prepared soup that was in the fridge with a lid barely
on it because she couldn't take the lid off, right?
And those sorts of gap things that were only available to us because we had
the privilege of being able to help her through that.
And she would have not been able to do that or not been independent had that
not been something that was an option for us.
100%. Yeah. Well, what kind of things can we... So I think that it makes sense
(10:57):
why these programs are underutilized for folks in that older adult population.
We've named some of them, right? That stigma of pride, a feeling of pride,
a feeling like self-independence, and I've always cared for myself and I should do that.
What do we know about these folks who are not taking advantage or not?
I hate to say taking advantage because I just mean participation.
(11:19):
Participation, right. But it's such a twisted like term, unfortunately now,
but participating in these programs that they are eligible for and need,
especially because of the way that we have, you know, that eligibility number,
it's so low to be at the federal poverty line is so low income.
These folks really need that help.
What do we know about the folks who are not participating?
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is a combination of awareness,
(11:42):
unsure of how to apply or where to apply or how to get connected.
And part of it is just not wanting to do it because of the pride,
right? You don't think they qualify.
So it's a combination of all of those. And I think after, you know,
Empower Missouri and our coalition have had some conversations about this,
(12:04):
I really think that we have a role in...
Helping that through increasing awareness to the older adult population and
the general public, just increasing the awareness of the issue and then helping
those seniors that are eligible that aren't taking part in the program,
helping them get connected, understanding how they can apply, where they can apply,
(12:27):
that it is for them.
That it's there to help supplement, you know, the budget that they have every
month that that they should could qualify, can qualify and can benefit from this program.
So both of those kind of public awareness and education pieces is going to be
super important as we kind of go out to talk about this in the hopes. Oops.
(12:51):
I think ultimately what Empower Missouri is known for and will continue to be
known for is our advocacy work in changing programs and policies,
right? So we want to do community education.
We want to do older adult population education, helping them get connected.
But with the ultimate goal of really changing the system and changing the programs
and policies to make it easier and more accessible for this population.
(13:15):
And we're going to do that with a few different programs and policies that we
think could ultimately be tweaked and changed to make those accessibility points easier.
Yeah, that's certainly true for Empower, right? We want to do that systems change
work, but it's particularly true for Christine Woody that she wants to do that
overall change in the system, right?
(13:38):
So that it's, she wants to solve a problem. She wants to work towards a solution.
Yes we can talk about it but
we also need to do something yes that's gonna change it in
the end for sure that's the most christine woody statement of all time 100 i
hold people in the field in missouri who said this it would be christine i i
(13:58):
i agree with that i i what's the word what's the word i'm trying to say here
i i'm not gonna be able to remember it sarah do you endorse that statement?
I say I endorse that statement. There you go. All right.
Excellent. Yeah, for sure. So I think one of the all of that that you just said
leaves me with a question of like application,
because we do a lot of work around the application process for SNAP and why
(14:22):
it's problematic for families, especially working families.
I have to think it's problematic for different reasons for the older adult population,
because it's all online, right?
So, yes, you can print it off and you can fill it out and you can then upload it or mail it in.
So that is still an option. That takes about seven hours for some older adults.
(14:42):
Missouri does have that option.
Doing it on your own for anyone, I think, would be a challenge.
Right. So really having to find someone to help you through that process is
important for anybody, specifically an older adult who may not have Internet computer skills.
Having someone help you along with that is important. So, yes,
(15:02):
just the application in general is a challenge.
And I think there is a lot of advocacy that can be done to help that.
Specifically, I think there's a very simple way that we as advocates can help
Missouri make the application process better for our older adults.
There is a very simple waiver that our Department of Social Services can apply
(15:23):
for to the federal department that kind of runs and administers the SNAP program
that makes it easier for older adults.
It's called the Elderly Simplified Application Project, or ESAP for short.
It is an optional waiver that states can take advantage of. a majority of states,
a big majority of states are doing this ESAP program.
(15:48):
It's just the way that seniors are allowed to apply for and continue to access the SNAP program.
So for example, a normal SNAP applicant has to reapply for the program every
year and has to do a mid-certification kind of application review every six months. Okay.
(16:09):
In the state of Missouri, currently, if you are a senior who has that fixed
income, you don't have to reapply for every two years, right?
So 24 months, which is better.
But if the state of Missouri actually partook in this ESAP, those seniors would
not have to reapply for the program for 36 months.
(16:30):
Oh, okay. Just three years.
Right. And they would not have to do this interview, wouldn't have to do this
mid-certification as regularly. It just makes sense.
Accessing the program and staying on the program for that population who,
yeah, whose income is not going to change that much easier.
Yeah, it's not like, you know, I think that there are really reasonable and
(16:54):
good arguments for expanding that timeline for everyone who's receiving SNAP,
but especially for folks who are in the older population,
because we're not trying to, like, return them to the workforce, right? Right.
There's no, like, educational desires for these folks, though they certainly
have a lot to contribute to our community still.
We are not expecting that they are going to be, you know, earning college degrees
(17:17):
and then sort of no longer needing SNAP.
Exactly. It's just making it easier for not just the older adults,
but for the state of Missouri, all of their Department of Social Services workers, right?
So it's not, it's just going through this paperwork and conversations and interviews
and all this kind of red tape for something that's going to be the same, right?
(17:38):
Yeah, let me tell you the same thing I told you two years ago, yeah. Yes, exactly.
Yeah, so three years is better. That's good. And it's something that could easily
change in Missouri, right?
This is not a huge ask.
It's not a heavy lift. I mean, they're doing the same thing,
just having to do less of it for this specific population.
So, you know, Empower Missouri and our conversations moving forward are going
(18:02):
to be continuing to have that conversation with the Department of Social Services,
encouraging them to take advantage of this ESAP program,
which would impact, you know, 170,000 seniors potentially.
Yeah, that's awesome. What other things are we doing?
We've learned a lot over the last six months about the Seniors Farmers Market Program.
(18:23):
That is a program that provides a $50 voucher to low-income seniors to be able
to spend and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from some local farmers markets.
It's a program that's run through our Area Agency on Aging. Like they're the
ones who kind of do the application and provide the vouchers.
Overall, it's run through our Department of Agriculture.
(18:45):
And it's a really great program. And it really helps seniors be able to increase
the fruits and vegetables, which we know is so vital for their nutrition.
Most all of the benefit funding for that is through the federal government.
We would like a grant to help kind of run that in the state of Missouri, but it's not a whole lot.
And we're really hoping to expand it to more counties in the state because right
(19:08):
now it's not everywhere.
There are big chunks of the state and counties throughout the state that do
not have access to the seniors farmers market program.
So the seniors and the farmers in those areas aren't benefiting from this money.
So if we could increase the state funding for this by just a little bit,
we could expand that program to reach more counties in the state,
(19:29):
thus helping more seniors and farmers.
Yeah, that's got to be good all around, too, right? Because it's good socialization.
It's getting out there. I mean, I feel often on a weekend, like going to the
farmer's market is self-care. It's like good for me to go do.
So I feel like there's lots of extended benefits, right? Right.
For sure. And I mean, I think the argument you made, it's helping Missouri farmers
(19:52):
as well, which is a huge sell for legislators in this state who have a lot of
farmers in their communities.
Right. So it's not just helping the low income seniors in their communities.
It's also helping the farmers in their communities being able to access more
funds for the fruit and vegetables that they're trying to sell. Yeah, absolutely.
Because it's certainly better than being wasted. Exactly.
(20:13):
Yeah. Get them into the bodies of folks who are important in our community. Good. Anything else?
Those are the two main ones that we're going to be pushing on the advocacy side of things.
Okay. Are we doing some public awareness to increase folks who are participating in these programs?
Yeah. A big chunk of what we're planning on doing over the next year is going
(20:34):
to include that public awareness piece of this.
Okay. So, you know, like I said, a combination of increasing public awareness
in the general population.
So just residents of Missouri in general, understanding food insecurity exists,
food insecurity exists with the seniors and older adults in your community and how you can help that.
(20:59):
And then additional targeted education for the seniors themselves.
So it's going to be kind of a two prong education campaign.
Mm hmm. Yeah, that's great. How can folks get involved or connected or learn about these events?
Yeah, so we've pulled together a steering team of folks who are connected to this work.
(21:19):
And we've been meeting really regularly since the summer to kind of pull together
the data and the information and the messaging that we're going to be putting out there.
And I think how folks can really help us is get us connected to these populations.
So we really would like to get in front of seniors, community members,
(21:42):
community groups that are meeting to talk about this issue, share information.
Get them engaged in the advocacy efforts around this.
So if you or your organization is holding public meetings,
is holding staff meetings, are working with seniors in a community center sort
of atmosphere, we would love to get connected with you to share the information
(22:04):
that we have and help spread the word. Awesome.
And they can learn about that at EmpowerMissouri.org. That's it.
Great. Go to our website and you can learn more. Get connected to me.
Send me an email at Christine at EmpowerMissouri.org.
Well, thanks for joining us, Christine, talking about this really important
issue. Of course. Anytime.
Music.
Music.
(00:07):
Welcome to Under the Dome, your update from Empower Missouri about what is happening
in Jefferson City with a particular focus on our anti-poverty agenda.
We've been working to advance evidence-based public policy to end poverty for over 100 years.
We lead coalitions addressing affordable housing, criminal legal system reform, and food security.
We also support our partners leading on wages, health care, child care,
(00:30):
voting rights, and other issues.
We know that poverty can and must be solved for our neighbors,
but we can't do it alone. I'm Sarah Owsley, Advocacy Director.
I'm joined today by Christine Woody, one of our Food Security Policy Managers.
And we're so glad you're with us.
Today, we are going to talk about food insecurity in the older adult population in Missouri.
(00:53):
We are really excited to have Christine Woody, one of our Food Security Policy
Managers, here to talk about this issue.
Christine, welcome back to the podcast. cast. Hey, Sarah, thanks for having me today.
I really appreciate it. Yeah, as you said, I am one of the food security policy
managers, and we do a lot of work on food security on lots of different populations, right?
(01:14):
So we do a lot of work on kids, families, those living in poverty,
but a kind of a newer focus that we're going to be really working on this upcoming
year is food insecurity in our older adult population.
This is a population that I don't think gets as much focus or attention on,
especially around food insecurity.
I think it's ever-present, but it may not be discussed. So Empower Missouri
(01:36):
as a whole and our Food Security Coalition really wanted to uplift that issue,
make the public more aware of it, and really in the end do some work on changing
some policies to make it easier for seniors to access these programs and get
the help that they truly need. That makes a lot of sense, Christine, for sure.
I think that that's absolutely right. We don't talk a lot about poverty in the older population.
(02:01):
I'm not like sure culturally why that situation happens.
Maybe it's that Midwestern nice thing. I don't know one way or another,
but we certainly don't talk enough about it. Can you sort of like set the stage for us?
How many folks, when we say older population, what is the age range that we're looking at?
Yeah. I mean, the data really varies on that, right?
So some data points use 55 and older, Some use 60 and older,
(02:25):
some use 65 and older. So it really depends on the data point.
We really typically look at regarding like when the Department of Social Services
is looking at older population and using SNAP, for example, they're looking at 55 and older.
Can we just define SNAP really quickly? Lots of our listeners are totally going
to know that that stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program, but some folks may not.
(02:49):
And that's what we, yeah. SNAP is actually the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
What did I say? I don't know what you said, but you did say assistance. But I was wrong.
Yeah. Okay, cool. No problem. But it was formerly food stamps.
It was, yes. So it's a benefit that individuals can receive on kind of like a debit-like card.
(03:11):
It's an EBT card where they can use to purchase non-already-made perishable,
non-perishable food items from grocery stores to help supplement their food budget every month.
Yeah, that makes sense. Let's just start over.
And let's not talk about that in terms of that specific data.
Okay, got that part out. That's not a problem.
(03:31):
Can you give us just like a rough idea of how many folks we're talking about
in Missouri that are food insecure older adults?
Yeah, the data shows there's about 170 older adults who are living in poverty
in the state of Missouri.
And that equates to about 13% of the population that's considered food insecure.
About 170,000, Christine?
(03:52):
Yes. Okay. 170,000 who are living in poverty.
Okay. 13% of our older residents are food insecure. Okay.
And when we say food insecure, surely there's a like definition,
policy definition somewhere.
Yes. I mean, those are the people who would state that they do not have access
(04:15):
or are unable to amount of nutritious food for themselves every month.
Okay. So that's the like, when we ask the question, do you know where your next meal is coming from?
These are the folks who would answer like, no, or like, I've struggled to put
enough food on the table this week, right?
They would answer that they've struggled with that. Yes. Okay. Exactly.
(04:38):
Okay. And we're just, these are mostly like self-defined then.
Yes. Do we feel like there's a gap there of folks who don't want to admit that
they might be struggling to meet their food need?
Oh, I would definitely believe that, especially in the senior population.
I mean, I think there's so much stigma about that on a wide range of things, right?
(05:00):
They are really concerned about taking food or accessing programs from people who really need it.
Government handouts, they're too proud to do that.
There's a wide range of reasons why. I think that number is probably lower than it actually is.
But even if it's accurate, 13% is a whole heck of a lot of older adults who are struggling.
(05:23):
Yeah. That's a lot of folks for sure. But yeah, I got to think it's underreported. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, just the self-report there feels like there's data issues anytime
we ask people to self-report.
But I got to think especially older adults are not very likely to identify their need for help.
Yeah, but and then, I mean, looking at it even more, a more non-self-reporting data point, right?
(05:45):
So people who are eligible for SNAPs, you know, SNAP eligibility,
which is, again, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for those who
are right at the poverty level, the federal poverty level or below,
the eligibility numbers for that.
So for older adults who are eligible to access SNAP, but those who are actually
partaking in that program is only about 40%.
(06:07):
So there's 60% of our older adults in Missouri who could qualify for the SNAP
benefit, but are not taking part in that.
And that is a really low percentage of participants.
There's a huge amount of individuals who could be receiving those benefits that
aren't. And that is all, you know, poverty income data that is,
(06:31):
you know, not self-reported. That's, you know, real data.
Yeah. And these older adults are not likely to have unreported income in the
same way that we might think that that's a thing that happens with younger folks, right?
Like maybe they're doing gig work or something that's just like,
you know, under the table.
That does not happen, I got to imagine, especially not for like that 65 and up population.
(06:52):
Maybe if you can see folks still doing some of that. But 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. And a lot of those, you know, right at the 100% of the poverty level and
below, and, you know, our older adults, those 65 and plus, I mean,
their incomes are usually pretty fixed, right? They're just getting social security.
They're just getting that same income every month. It's not fluctuating.
They're not starting a job and, you know, ending a job.
(07:15):
It's going to be pretty much the same from now until the end,
right? It's not going to change.
And so when they're at 100% of poverty, that's what they're going to be at. Yeah.
Which like that's the definition of fixed income. I feel like often in a policy
space or, you know, wherever else we'll say, you know, older adults are on a
fixed income and everybody's like, yeah, my income is fixed,
too. Right. Like I live with a budget.
(07:37):
I have an expectation about what I make every year. It doesn't change regularly.
But that fixed income really means like these folks are not going to be receiving raises.
They're not going to be eligible for promotions like their income is their income
and it's not likely to change over the years.
Yes. Or it increases, you know, that cost of living increase or they they they
(07:58):
increase Social Security just a bit every year or so.
But it's not nearly enough when the cost of everything else is skyrocketing.
Right. Rents, utilities, food.
I mean, all of that is going up so much more than what they're.
Increase in their social security is. Yeah.
Yeah. And I mean, I think so. Yeah. So a lot of older adults are struggling, right?
(08:21):
They're either having a difficult time paying their rent, paying for medicine, paying for food.
But I think the food insecurity, not having access to nutritious,
healthy food or being able to pay for that.
I mean, I think you can argue that all of those things are challenges.
But I think you can directly relate the idea of not having enough healthy,
(08:45):
nutritious food to so many increases in risk factors and healthy outcomes, right?
So if you don't have enough food, you are at a much higher risk of not being
able to live independently,
going have to go to a nursing home, a higher, you know, chance of heart attack
and asthma and depression, all of those are so directly linked to food quality
(09:07):
and food access and having enough nutrition in your body.
It just connects everything so directly.
Yeah. And that, you know, nursing home care and things like that.
Especially for families who have been in poverty for, you know,
older adults in poverty, like that's so expensive and certainly much more expensive
than whatever their SNAP allotment is.
(09:29):
It's important to remember, too, I think, like within these conversations that
even those 40% of folks who are taking advantage of SNAP that they are eligible
for, those folks who are participating in the program, they still are not receiving a full food budget.
It's still just a gap. Yeah, I mean, because that is, I mean,
(09:49):
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is supposedly just that, right?
Supplemental. It's not meant to cover your entire food budget a month.
But when food is skyrocketing so much over the past couple of years,
that supplemental budget for that 40% who are taking advantage is not going
(10:10):
nearly as far as it did two, three years ago, right? Right.
Yeah, especially for convenient foods. You know, I just think back to like my grandmother, right?
When we were caring for her, she was able to stay at home because we were able
to like fill in some of those things, go to the grocery store, things like that.
But we would, you know, open those convenience items for her.
(10:31):
So, you know, it was like prepared soup that was in the fridge with a lid barely
on it because she couldn't take the lid off, right?
And those sorts of gap things that were only available to us because we had
the privilege of being able to help her through that.
And she would have not been able to do that or not been independent had that
not been something that was an option for us.
100%. Yeah. Well, what kind of things can we... So I think that it makes sense
(10:57):
why these programs are underutilized for folks in that older adult population.
We've named some of them, right? That stigma of pride, a feeling of pride,
a feeling like self-independence, and I've always cared for myself and I should do that.
What do we know about these folks who are not taking advantage or not?
I hate to say taking advantage because I just mean participation.
(11:19):
Participation, right. But it's such a twisted like term, unfortunately now,
but participating in these programs that they are eligible for and need,
especially because of the way that we have, you know, that eligibility number,
it's so low to be at the federal poverty line is so low income.
These folks really need that help.
What do we know about the folks who are not participating?
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is a combination of awareness,
(11:42):
unsure of how to apply or where to apply or how to get connected.
And part of it is just not wanting to do it because of the pride,
right? You don't think they qualify.
So it's a combination of all of those. And I think after, you know,
Empower Missouri and our coalition have had some conversations about this,
(12:04):
I really think that we have a role in...
Helping that through increasing awareness to the older adult population and
the general public, just increasing the awareness of the issue and then helping
those seniors that are eligible that aren't taking part in the program,
helping them get connected, understanding how they can apply, where they can apply,
(12:27):
that it is for them.
That it's there to help supplement, you know, the budget that they have every
month that that they should could qualify, can qualify and can benefit from this program.
So both of those kind of public awareness and education pieces is going to be
super important as we kind of go out to talk about this in the hopes. Oops.
(12:51):
I think ultimately what Empower Missouri is known for and will continue to be
known for is our advocacy work in changing programs and policies,
right? So we want to do community education.
We want to do older adult population education, helping them get connected.
But with the ultimate goal of really changing the system and changing the programs
and policies to make it easier and more accessible for this population.
(13:15):
And we're going to do that with a few different programs and policies that we
think could ultimately be tweaked and changed to make those accessibility points easier.
Yeah, that's certainly true for Empower, right? We want to do that systems change
work, but it's particularly true for Christine Woody that she wants to do that
overall change in the system, right?
(13:38):
So that it's, she wants to solve a problem. She wants to work towards a solution.
Yes we can talk about it but
we also need to do something yes that's gonna change it in
the end for sure that's the most christine woody statement of all time 100 i
hold people in the field in missouri who said this it would be christine i i
(13:58):
i agree with that i i what's the word what's the word i'm trying to say here
i i'm not gonna be able to remember it sarah do you endorse that statement?
I say I endorse that statement. There you go. All right.
Excellent. Yeah, for sure. So I think one of the all of that that you just said
leaves me with a question of like application,
because we do a lot of work around the application process for SNAP and why
(14:22):
it's problematic for families, especially working families.
I have to think it's problematic for different reasons for the older adult population,
because it's all online, right?
So, yes, you can print it off and you can fill it out and you can then upload it or mail it in.
So that is still an option. That takes about seven hours for some older adults.
(14:42):
Missouri does have that option.
Doing it on your own for anyone, I think, would be a challenge.
Right. So really having to find someone to help you through that process is
important for anybody, specifically an older adult who may not have Internet computer skills.
Having someone help you along with that is important. So, yes,
(15:02):
just the application in general is a challenge.
And I think there is a lot of advocacy that can be done to help that.
Specifically, I think there's a very simple way that we as advocates can help
Missouri make the application process better for our older adults.
There is a very simple waiver that our Department of Social Services can apply
(15:23):
for to the federal department that kind of runs and administers the SNAP program
that makes it easier for older adults.
It's called the Elderly Simplified Application Project, or ESAP for short.
It is an optional waiver that states can take advantage of. a majority of states,
a big majority of states are doing this ESAP program.
(15:48):
It's just the way that seniors are allowed to apply for and continue to access the SNAP program.
So for example, a normal SNAP applicant has to reapply for the program every
year and has to do a mid-certification kind of application review every six months. Okay.
(16:09):
In the state of Missouri, currently, if you are a senior who has that fixed
income, you don't have to reapply for every two years, right?
So 24 months, which is better.
But if the state of Missouri actually partook in this ESAP, those seniors would
not have to reapply for the program for 36 months.
(16:30):
Oh, okay. Just three years.
Right. And they would not have to do this interview, wouldn't have to do this
mid-certification as regularly. It just makes sense.
Accessing the program and staying on the program for that population who,
yeah, whose income is not going to change that much easier.
Yeah, it's not like, you know, I think that there are really reasonable and
(16:54):
good arguments for expanding that timeline for everyone who's receiving SNAP,
but especially for folks who are in the older population,
because we're not trying to, like, return them to the workforce, right? Right.
There's no, like, educational desires for these folks, though they certainly
have a lot to contribute to our community still.
We are not expecting that they are going to be, you know, earning college degrees
(17:17):
and then sort of no longer needing SNAP.
Exactly. It's just making it easier for not just the older adults,
but for the state of Missouri, all of their Department of Social Services workers, right?
So it's not, it's just going through this paperwork and conversations and interviews
and all this kind of red tape for something that's going to be the same, right?
(17:38):
Yeah, let me tell you the same thing I told you two years ago, yeah. Yes, exactly.
Yeah, so three years is better. That's good. And it's something that could easily
change in Missouri, right?
This is not a huge ask.
It's not a heavy lift. I mean, they're doing the same thing,
just having to do less of it for this specific population.
So, you know, Empower Missouri and our conversations moving forward are going
(18:02):
to be continuing to have that conversation with the Department of Social Services,
encouraging them to take advantage of this ESAP program,
which would impact, you know, 170,000 seniors potentially.
Yeah, that's awesome. What other things are we doing?
We've learned a lot over the last six months about the Seniors Farmers Market Program.
(18:23):
That is a program that provides a $50 voucher to low-income seniors to be able
to spend and purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from some local farmers markets.
It's a program that's run through our Area Agency on Aging. Like they're the
ones who kind of do the application and provide the vouchers.
Overall, it's run through our Department of Agriculture.
(18:45):
And it's a really great program. And it really helps seniors be able to increase
the fruits and vegetables, which we know is so vital for their nutrition.
Most all of the benefit funding for that is through the federal government.
We would like a grant to help kind of run that in the state of Missouri, but it's not a whole lot.
And we're really hoping to expand it to more counties in the state because right
(19:08):
now it's not everywhere.
There are big chunks of the state and counties throughout the state that do
not have access to the seniors farmers market program.
So the seniors and the farmers in those areas aren't benefiting from this money.
So if we could increase the state funding for this by just a little bit,
we could expand that program to reach more counties in the state,
(19:29):
thus helping more seniors and farmers.
Yeah, that's got to be good all around, too, right? Because it's good socialization.
It's getting out there. I mean, I feel often on a weekend, like going to the
farmer's market is self-care. It's like good for me to go do.
So I feel like there's lots of extended benefits, right? Right.
For sure. And I mean, I think the argument you made, it's helping Missouri farmers
(19:52):
as well, which is a huge sell for legislators in this state who have a lot of
farmers in their communities.
Right. So it's not just helping the low income seniors in their communities.
It's also helping the farmers in their communities being able to access more
funds for the fruit and vegetables that they're trying to sell. Yeah, absolutely.
Because it's certainly better than being wasted. Exactly.
(20:13):
Yeah. Get them into the bodies of folks who are important in our community. Good. Anything else?
Those are the two main ones that we're going to be pushing on the advocacy side of things.
Okay. Are we doing some public awareness to increase folks who are participating in these programs?
Yeah. A big chunk of what we're planning on doing over the next year is going
(20:34):
to include that public awareness piece of this.
Okay. So, you know, like I said, a combination of increasing public awareness
in the general population.
So just residents of Missouri in general, understanding food insecurity exists,
food insecurity exists with the seniors and older adults in your community and how you can help that.
(20:59):
And then additional targeted education for the seniors themselves.
So it's going to be kind of a two prong education campaign.
Mm hmm. Yeah, that's great. How can folks get involved or connected or learn about these events?
Yeah, so we've pulled together a steering team of folks who are connected to this work.
(21:19):
And we've been meeting really regularly since the summer to kind of pull together
the data and the information and the messaging that we're going to be putting out there.
And I think how folks can really help us is get us connected to these populations.
So we really would like to get in front of seniors, community members,
(21:42):
community groups that are meeting to talk about this issue, share information.
Get them engaged in the advocacy efforts around this.
So if you or your organization is holding public meetings,
is holding staff meetings, are working with seniors in a community center sort
of atmosphere, we would love to get connected with you to share the information
(22:04):
that we have and help spread the word. Awesome.
And they can learn about that at EmpowerMissouri.org. That's it.
Great. Go to our website and you can learn more. Get connected to me.
Send me an email at Christine at EmpowerMissouri.org.
Well, thanks for joining us, Christine, talking about this really important
issue. Of course. Anytime.
Music.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.