According to the USDA 800,000 seniors benefit from the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, known as SFMNP.  The Whitley County SNAP-Ed Program Assistant has worked with this program to provide with services for seniors, for many years. Senior citizens are among the most vulnerable population for food security, food availability, malnutrition, isolation, and victims of abuse. While collaborating with Williamsburg Senior Center for a few years now, this year has been particularly challenging to reach this population because they are at high risk according to the CDC guidelines and the State Guidelines for COVID-19.

This year I had the opportunity to offer SFMNP to sixty-five participants. This means access to fresh, locally grown food this summer through the program and the partnership with the Whitley County Farmers Market. For a second year, Kentucky State University SNAP-Ed is living up to one of its core goals to promote and facilitate access to nutritious food for individuals with low income and vulnerable situations. Senior Citizens have been in the center of these factors, many living merely on their Social Security income. Rural areas, like Whitley County, have many barriers for its seniors as there are few programs to promote healthy lifestyle habits. Distance is a critical factor for those that need to receive services as there is no public transportation and many no longer drive, limiting their access to affordable, fresh vegetables and fruit.

Statistics have shown that senior citizens, in general, consume less fruit and vegetable than the recommendation in the American Guideline for Nutrition. In Kentucky, according to American Health Rankings’ report 2020, just 9.6% of seniors consume the amount recommended serving of vegetables. The SFMNP plus SNAP-Ed can help to promote the consumption of vegetables and I am proud to be part of this effort.