Before a Senior Nutrition Program pilot, a wheelchair-bound senior said she had only one “meal” per day consisting of milk and toast. Another man, whose hands shake badly, shared how much he struggles with being able to make meals for himself regularly. For him, tasks like mixing noodles and spaghetti can have poor results, greatly limiting his options for consistently preparing food.
These two individuals are part of a select group of 19 seniors chosen to be part of a recently launched Food Bank pilot program. This program aims to address food insecurity among older adults by providing them with nutrient-dense frozen meals. With the dignity and independence of those involved top of mind, the idea is to provide seniors with simple, yet nutritious, meal preparation.
Food Bank staff and volunteers have created each of these meals in the Food Bank’s Nutritious Kitchen. The food is tailored to best address the nutritional needs of seniors. While using low-sodium, low-sugar ingredients guided the menu, each dish was made to be as mouth-watering as it is healthy.
With each meal delivered to their door, seniors have received scrumptious and comforting foods like, BBQ pulled pork sandwich with baked beans and a side of peas and carrots; a grilled cheese sandwich with roasted tomato soup and seasoned broccoli; spinach mushroom quiche with scalloped potatoes and Italian bean puree — and as you can view in the video, ratatouille made from fresh vegetables, served with a lemon herbed chicken and orzo pilaf with fresh mushrooms and spring onion.
The feedback seniors have shared speaks to how impactful this food has been to their lives.
“Thank you for the balanced nutrition – the most vegetables I’ve eaten regularly in years.”
“The nutritional info on each meal is very helpful to someone concerned with calorie intake.”
“Quality was amazingly perfect, and portions were filling, fruit and sides were absolutely amazing, very enjoyable!”
This pilot would not have been possible without the help of our volunteers and community partners.
The Food Bank is grateful to our health care partners, UCHealth and Sunrise Community Health who helped to medically screen and identify malnourished seniors who could benefit from the pilot program. Additionally, nonprofit partner North 40 Mountain Alliance helped the Food Bank to connect with seniors living in rural areas.
The Food Bank is also tremendously grateful to the seniors participating in the pilot. With their feedback, the Food Bank hopes to continue this work to address food insecurity among older adults.
