Across the US, older adults are suffering from a lack of food security. On average, houses with elderly individuals receive only $125 a month to feed them. The most recent report, released in 2020 using 2018 data, found that 5.3 million seniors, or 7.3% of the senior population, were food insecure in 2018. The rate of food insecurity among seniors is lower in recent years but remains significantly higher than pre-recession levels in 2007. State-level rates of food insecurity among seniors range from 2.8% in Minnesota to 14.3% in the District of Columbia. The study also includes analysis of metropolitan areas, with senior food insecurity rates ranging from 2.5% in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area (MN) to 15.6% in the Memphis (TN) area. There is a dire need in America to ensure food security for elders that are unable to drive themselves to the grocery store, shop, cook for themselves, and even for those who need assistance bring the spoon to their mouth.

What if there was a better way to deal with leftover food? What if that way also involved doing a good turn for someone else, someone who lives close to you and who could even become a new friend? This is the concept behind Casserole Club, a start-up from local government innovation venture FutureGov. They describe it as a local, community-led takeaway. The idea is that as a Cook you are paired up with a local Diner, usually an older person living in your neighborhood who could do with a home-cooked hot meal every now and then. Casserole Club facilitates the pairing and communication between Cooks and Diners, and Cooks manage the process of taking the food to the Diner. Casserole Club is now available in Staffordshire, Manchester's Tameside, London's Tower Hamlets and Barnet, Surrey's Reigate and Banstead, in Australia.  It is also available in Scotland under the name Meal Makers. They also have 5,000 people signed up across the UK, ready to cook once Casserole goes live in their area.

1. https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/casserole-club/

2. Casserole Club - https://casseroleclub.com/about

3. State of Senior Hunger in America - https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/senior-hunger-research/senior#:~:text=The%20most%20recent%20report%2C%20released,pre%2Drecession%20levels%20in%202007.

Sierra Briscoe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sierrabriscoe/