How is This the Best We Can Do? Senior Hunger and Access in Washington

You live in a small rural town in eastern Washington, with just under 250 residents. You have a car, and the closest grocery store is a Dollar General. There is no reliable or accessible public transportation. Once a month, your friend drives you 80 miles to Spokane and back so that you can grocery shop in stores with sale items. You survive on a fixed income and despite living in poverty, you only receive $32 from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) each month. This amount covers less than a single bag of the most basic groceries. You are expected to make the impossible happen.

This is a reality for Meredith Simonson. She is attempting to make the impossible happen. “I plan out everything,” Simonson says.

“With my income, I only plan for two meals a day. After the middle of the month, I don’t have any fresh produce. I mostly eat canned soup and cook frozen food in my air fryer. These aren’t necessarily foods I enjoy, and I know they aren’t the foods my doctor recommends that I eat, but it’s what I can afford.”

Simonson is experiencing adrenal insufficiency, which causes her pain if she stands or walks for too long. Her doctor wants her to get a bone density scan to monitor her osteoporosis, but she often has to choose between paying for health necessities or buying groceries. “I can’t afford dental care or glasses or diagnostic tests. If I do this, something else goes— tell me what to go without for that month and I’ll do it,” Simonson explains. “Rent and utilities accounts for more than half of my monthly income.”

For many people, this situation is not uncommon. Often, seniors and people with disabilities live off incredibly lean benefits and routinely are not able to access basic necessities. Age, mobility, where a person lives, and access to reliable transportation can exacerbate these difficulties, making everyday tasks and essential healthcare services out of reach. No matter how expertly and carefully people budget, there is simply not enough leftover and additional resources must be acquired to fill the gaps. Many turn to food banks and food pantries.

The local food bank in Meredith’s town is open once a month for two hours. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the food pantry allowed shoppers to select their own items. Now, the model has shifted to accommodate a limited capacity: prepacked boxes are provided to food pantry visitors. So, despite having a local food pantry, Meredith does not go because she does not always get items she can routinely use and does not like to waste resources that others may need. Food pantries play a crucial role in addressing emergency needs, yet they fall short of being the comprehensive stopgap solution many perceive them to be.

Simonson expresses her exasperation and defeat trying to navigate survival with such limited access to life-saving and life-giving resources. “I don’t have enough money to feed myself three square meals a day, but no one wants to hire a 62-year old woman who can’t get anywhere and hasn’t worked in 20 years. What is someone in my situation supposed to do? People don’t have any idea what it’s like. When the lines for the food banks are around the corner and down the block, we have a big problem here.” She also shares that while people who have low incomes are at higher risk for food insecurity, they are rarely given a voice or invited to provide feedback on policy solutions that might impact them.

Northwest Harvest believes that the health of our society can be measured by the health of those furthest from justice. We live in a state with abundant natural resources and massive swaths of agricultural land. We live in a state with immense wealth and industry. Yet, we also live in a state with persisting hunger.

Despite the daily challenges Meredith faces, she considers the long-term impact food insecurity will have on our collective community.

“How are we even pretending we are doing right by our future generations? How is this the best we can do, as a society?” Meredith asks. We believe we can do better—together. Hunger is a solvable problem. Our seniors deserve dignity, care, and the right to live healthy lives. They should never have to choose between medical care and affording basic necessities. That’s why we work to expand access—both economically and physically— to nutritious and nourishing food for communities most impacted by poverty.