Introduction to senior hunger special issue

Over 5 million persons aged 60 and older are food insecure in the United States. Previous research has uncovered information about the causes and consequences of food insecurity, but, especially in comparison to households with children, research on food insecurity among seniors has been sparse. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (USDA, FNS) funded a series of studies in this research area. In this introduction, we describe how food insecurity is measured and trends in food insecurity among seniors followed by an overview of the eight funded projects.