BLOOMINGTON – The Indiana University Food Institute, in collaboration with the IU Center for Rural Engagement, is hosting four, co-design workshops across southern Indiana to create strategies to address food insecurity among Indiana’s senior residents in rural communities.
Food insecurity—the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money or other resources—impacts 30 percent of older adults living below the poverty threshold and 17 percent of older adults living between 100 percent and 200 percent of poverty in the U.S. Indiana spends over $1 billion per year on medical costs tied to food insecurity.
For 18 months, the IU Food Institute has been meeting with residents from Crawford, Greene, Lawrence, and Orange counties to explore the nature of food insecurity among older adults: how seniors obtain and consume healthy, affordable foods, or not. Findings from these meetings and data collected during the project is available online and will be discussed at upcoming workshops.
Co-designed workshops rely on the voices and ideas of all participants to shape recommendations that fit communities. Taking place over two days in each county, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about research related to food insecurity across the southern Indiana region and share thoughts on ways to increase access to healthy food with a specific focus on the senior population.
Residents who live or work in the following counties are encouraged to join the conversations during their county’s scheduled workshop:
Lawrence County
- Aug. 23 and 30, Bedford Depot, 1401 J Street, Bedford, IN 47421
Greene County
- Aug. 24 and 31, 4-H Building, 4503 W State Road 54, Bloomfield, IN 47424
Crawford County
- Aug. 25 and Sept. 1, Public Library, 203 Indiana Avenue, English, IN 47118
Orange County
- Aug. 26 and Sept. 2, First Presbyterian Church, 110 NE First Street, Paoli, IN 47454
Workshops begin with lunch provided at noon and meet until 3 p.m. on each scheduled day. To reserve a seat, contact Phil Stafford at staffor@indiana.edu or (812) 361-6267.
The IU Center for Rural Engagement improves the lives of Hoosiers through collaborative initiatives that discover and deploy scalable and flexible solutions to common challenges facing rural communities. Working in full-spectrum community innovation through research, community-engaged teaching and student service, the center builds vision, harnesses assets and cultivates sustainable leadership structures within the communities with which it engages to ensure long-term success.
The mission of the IU Food Institute is to promote innovative research, education, and public outreach with multidisciplinary approaches to food and foodways. The institute supports collaborative efforts within the College of Arts and Sciences and across the Indiana University, providing space and generating funding for innovative projects that will expand IU’s leadership role in the rapidly growing and evolving interdiscipline of food studies.
