After hearing that he was at risk of diabetes and had high blood pressure, Covington resident Gary Johnson knew he had to make a lifestyle change.
“My physician told me ‘either we get started with medication or we can try changing your diet,’ ” Johnson said.
He chose the latter. Several years after changing his diet to incorporate more fruit and vegetables, he lost 45 pounds and officially was not at risk for diabetes.
He credits some of that to the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, a federal program that gives low-income seniors money to spend at local farmers markets.
“I still think it is an absolutely amazing program, and it's very much needed,” he said.
The Senior Farmers Market Program is a federally funded initiative that currently awards low-income seniors $50 every year to spend on eligible produce at local farmers markets. In Kentucky, the money is doubled for seniors with this card through Kentucky Double Dollars.
But this year, there’s less money to go around and seniors are still waiting for access to the funds.
“We normally start signing seniors up in April, because the funding gets released in May,” said Covington Farmers Market Manager Allison Wendling. “At least it's supposed to; there is a delay this year.”
Senior Farmers Market Nutrition program coordinator Jesse Frye said access to funds has been delayed statewide, but he hopes it will be available by the end of next week at the latest.
Wendling is in her first year as Covington’s market manager; she said last year Kenton County had enough money to sign up 39 seniors. This year, they only had enough to sign up 23 people on a first-come, first-serve basis. Campbell County had 90 seniors sign up last year, but officials couldn’t say how many they would be able to serve this year.
Tina Garland, branch manager of the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, said the program cuts back how much money they give by county each year if not all of it was redeemed, even if it was still awarded to seniors, for budgeting.
Approximately 90 of Kentucky’s 120 counties participate in the program.
“We had to look at some counties that did not have a high redemption rate,” said Garland. “We had to restructure and kind of set them apart, or take them off of the program, but we are keeping them on a waiting list should we receive more funding.”
Barriers to the program
Because of last year’s participation, both Kenton and Campbell counties have less money to distribute this year. Boone County doesn’t participate in the program. But Fort Thomas Market manager Tiffany Tomeo says sometimes the factors leading to seniors not spending their money are beyond their control.
“In Fort Thomas, we don't have a bus line that gets people to the farmers market,” Tomeo said. “There are no buses that run in Fort Thomas.”
Beyond transportation, sometimes seniors lack the cooking skills to use healthier ingredients.
Be Concerned, a food pantry in Northern Kentucky, used to provide classes for people with pre-diabetes or diabetes to learn how to cook with healthy ingredients, which included seniors.
“They finish the eight-week course [with] 40 diabetic friendly recipes that they can then make and utilize, and finalize their shopping list of those permanent items they need to make a positive lifestyle change,” said Executive Director Andrew Brunsman.
But federal funding cuts also have affected the organization who provided educators for the program.
“The last time we did it was probably about a year ago,” Brunsman said of the program. “Because the funding cuts ended up coming down, and we lost some of the partners.”
Access to healthier eating habits does more than improve individual health. With federal cuts to healthcare and social service programs around the country, good nutrition can keep one of the most vulnerable populations from needing these shrinking services. Covington resident Gary Johnson said politicians should keep this in mind when thinking about cutting down national expenses.
“Keep our seniors healthy, have us eat healthy; rather than have us hungry and declining health and paying the Medicaid bill for when we're running to the hospital every other weekend,” Johnson said.
But this year, he’ll have to figure out another way to afford fresh food. He was not able to get into the program, and will have to adjust his finances accordingly.
“It's concerning,” he said. “I really have to watch what I spend and pick and choose.”
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