Local senior residents are dealing with raising grandchildren or helping out family members more each year.  With local job opportunities only offering minimum wage or little more it is getting harder for young families and parents to provide for their families and there is an increase in generations of families combining resources to make ends meet.  One of those resources is everyday food costs.  For the past several years the Boyd County Extension Agent for Horticulture has worked with the Kentucky Department of Ag program to secure the Senior Farmers Market Vouchers for local low income seniors.  This program has been able to educate many seniors not only about the importance of healthy foods but also about how important it is to support our local farmers.  Many of  the senior recipients of this program have also gotten into food preservation because of this program so that they can make those dollars stretch into the winter months by canning and freezing and they are teaching the younger generations in their family how important food preservation is and how to properly put up their produce.  Many of the seniors in the community have come to depend on this benefit to help offset their grocery bill costs and help to feed their families.  There are many examples of seniors witnessing to the Extension Staff and local farmers how they would not be able to make it through the winter if it were not for this benefit and their knowledge of preserving food.