{"id":6647,"date":"2019-07-29T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=6647"},"modified":"2022-02-09T16:02:20","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T22:02:20","slug":"garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faith in Action<\/a> at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center<\/a> in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach.<\/p>\n

Faith in Action provides help to seniors 55 years and up living in Vermilion\u00a0County. The network of volunteers provide practical, emotional and spiritual assistance for seniors so they can live a safe and independent lifestyle.<\/p>\n

One program offered by Faith in Action is Garden Share, which allows senior citizens over age 55 to receive free produce once a week during the growing season.<\/p>\n

Identifying the need<\/h2>\n

\"fresh\u201cWe started the program out of an awareness that a lot of seniors weren\u2019t eating healthy,\u201d said Johnson Flanagan, coordinator of Faith in Action. \u201cIt really started as a way to try and help this particular population with food insecurity. Fresh food, in general, seems expensive and a lot of seniors on fixed incomes can\u2019t stretch their budgets to buy fresh food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food insecurity among adults age 60 and older is a growing problem in the United States.<\/p>\n

Nearly 5.5 million adults 60 and older in 2017 were food insecure \u2014 meaning that they often went hungry because they could not afford food \u2014 according to a study released in May 2019 by Feeding America<\/a>, a hunger-relief organization that operates a network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs nationwide.<\/p>\n

And the issue isn\u2019t just among seniors who are poor, the report\u2019s co-author said.<\/p>\n

The study was based on data gathered from the Census Bureau\u2019s Current Population Survey. That poll was conducted in December 2017, and the data was released last September, making it the most current data available on food insecurity. This is the third year Feeding America has published the \u201cState of Senior Hunger in America\u201d report<\/a>. This year\u2019s release of the study also included the introduction of a new report: \u201cHunger Among Adults Age 50-59 in 2017.\u201d Those findings showed that in 2017, an estimated 11.3%, or 4.8 million, older adults age 50-59 are food insecure.<\/p>\n

Food insecurity impacts seniors\u2019 health<\/h2>\n

According to the AARP, older adults who are food insecure are 50 percent more likely to have diabetes and 60 percent are more likely to have congestive heart failure. The AARP reports that seniors face a health care bill of\u00a0more than $130 billion every year<\/a>\u00a0due to medical issues stemming from senior hunger.<\/p>\n

Garden Share program<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The only criteria for participants in the Garden Share program is that they must be age 55 or older.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll they have to do is show up during distribution times and take home a bag of fresh produce,\u201d Flanagan said.<\/p>\n

Last year, just under 200 people took advantage of the program with distribution at two locations. In Danville alone, there was more than 2,700 pounds of produce donated for distribution.<\/p>\n

This year, the distribution dates are every Wednesday beginning July 24 and running through October 9. The locations and times are at the CRIS Healthy-Aging Center<\/a>, 309 N. Franklin Ave., in Danville, from noon to 1 p.m., and at the Multi-Agency Service Center<\/a>, 206 S. 1st Ave., in Hoopeston, from 2-3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Donations welcome<\/h2>\n

Donations are also accepted at those same locations. Both locations have refrigerators where the excess produce can be stored until the next distribution day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur donations come from local famers and people who grow gardens and just have too much produce for themselves,\u201d Flanagan said. \u201cEach Wednesday, our volunteers arrive to sort through the produce and put it out. The participants are given re-useable bags at the beginning of the season and they just bring the bag back each week and go through the line. We load them up with whatever we have to last them until the next distribution day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Typically, donated produce includes items like tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, corn, zucchini and squash, to name a few.<\/p>\n

In addition, each distribution day often features a presentation by a University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener from the area who gives tips on preparing the produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur donations vary \u2013 last year, one of the ladies who showed up to get produce brought in mint that grows around her home to share with others,\u201d Flanagan said. \u201cThe feedback we get is amazing \u2013 they really love it. One gentleman last year said, \u2018I haven\u2019t had a fresh tomato in like five years.\u2019<\/p>\n

We gave him an extra tomato because that\u2019s just so hard to imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

No donation of produce is too big or too small, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur donors really love the program as well. A lot of time they\u2019ve grown so much it\u2019s just going to go to waste,\u201d Flanagan said. \u201cThis way, it\u2019s going to someone who is incredibly thankful and will actually use it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably one of my favorite programs we do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how thankful everyone is and it\u2019s just great knowing you\u2019re having a direct impact on improving someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in donating to the Garden Share program or volunteering can call Faith in Action<\/a> at (217) 431-8489.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach. Faith in Action provides help to seniors 55 years and up living in Vermilion\u00a0County. The network of volunteers provide practical, emotional and spiritual assistance for seniors so they can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,176],"tags":[642,47],"coauthors":[688],"class_list":["post-6647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-exercise","category-careers","tag-community-health","tag-healthy-eating"],"yoast_head":"\nGarden Share program addresses food insecurity | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-29T13:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-09T22:02:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Coon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Coon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/\",\"name\":\"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity | OSF HealthCare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-29T13:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-09T22:02:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d\"},\"description\":\"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Bushel basket of garden vegetables\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"OSF HealthCare Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d\",\"name\":\"Lisa Coon\",\"description\":\"Lisa Coon is a Writing Coordinator for OSF HealthCare, where she has worked since August 2016.\u00a0\u00a0A Peoria native, she is a graduate of Bradley University with a degree in journalism. Previously, she worked as a reporter and editor at several newspapers in Iowa and Illinois. She lives in Groveland with her husband and son. In her free time she likes to cook, bake and read. She freely admits that reality TV is a weakness, and she lives by the quote, \u201cThe beach is good for the soul.\u201d\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lcoon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity | OSF HealthCare","description":"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors","og_description":"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach.","og_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/","og_site_name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare","article_published_time":"2019-07-29T13:00:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-09T22:02:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Coon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors","twitter_description":"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus of its community outreach.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","twitter_creator":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_site":"@osfhealthcare","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Coon","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/","name":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity | OSF HealthCare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-29T13:00:03+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-09T22:02:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d"},"description":"Faith in Action at OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, has identified food insecurity among seniors as a focus.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Bushel basket of garden vegetables"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/garden-share-program-addresses-food-insecurity-for-seniors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Garden Share program addresses food insecurity for seniors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/","name":"OSF HealthCare Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/af687c49ea5036bfbfb4eb47d107558d","name":"Lisa Coon","description":"Lisa Coon is a Writing Coordinator for OSF HealthCare, where she has worked since August 2016.\u00a0\u00a0A Peoria native, she is a graduate of Bradley University with a degree in journalism. Previously, she worked as a reporter and editor at several newspapers in Iowa and Illinois. She lives in Groveland with her husband and son. In her free time she likes to cook, bake and read. She freely admits that reality TV is a weakness, and she lives by the quote, \u201cThe beach is good for the soul.\u201d","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org"],"url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/author\/lcoon\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Michael Vujovich","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/garden-share-blog-ft.2jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6647"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12291,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6647\/revisions\/12291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6647"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}