I recently visited my mother in Detroit. She’s 76. Over the years I’ve noticed some changes in her eating habits. My mother used to be pro-active about cooking and eating whole foods. She introduced me to Macrobiotics and Annemarie’s books back in the 80’s. Little by little over the years, however, fresh fruits and vegetables gave way in Mom’s pantry to more and more processed and artificial foods – non-dairy creamer, “butter” spreads, frozen dinners. I think this trend is increasingly common among the elderly, although it’s prevalent enough among people of all ages.
I always cook for my mother when I visit. I take everything fresh I can find in the refrigerator and turn it into prepared dishes. My mother is always so grateful for this small favor. While she continues to buy fresh produce in stock piles with the intention to cook it, most of it eventually spoils and ends up in the trash. Day-to-day she’s subsisting, like so many Americans young and old, on “convenience” foods with eternal shelf lives.
My guess is that many elderly people don’t cook because they are alone, they’re no longer motivated or, in some cases, haven’t the well-being to do so.
This got me thinking about the current groundswell of programs directed at improving the way our young are eating. Many of our students and graduates are committed to the myriad initiatives designed to educate children and young adults about their origins and quality of their food. Garden projects, cooking classes, nutrition classes for youth – all of these are catching fire both locally and nationally. Consider the recent Chefs Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids recently hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House or Jamie Oliver’s TED prize project. The issue is hot.
The quality of our food is obviously important at all stages of our lives but, like the young, the elderly are particularly vulnerable. So many people are eating foods that don’t support healthier aging.
What can we do to bring older people back into our culinary community, our CSAs, our co-ops? What would it take to get them cooking again? I’m contemplating my own role (maybe cooking classes!). Do you know of programs in this area, or do you have any ideas?
That is really moving Elliott. You are so right and too often, I think, we forget how important a social event cooking is.
Alex, man, where are you???
I have noticed that my mother-in-law, of late, eats only highly processed, easy-to-prepare foods, so I heartily agree with the point you’re making about the need for more elderly focused healthy eating programs. Perhaps classes based at local senior centers focus on healthy food recipes that minimize activities like chopping, stirring and standing for long periods are in order. It would also be good to promote senior citizen rates for services such as Fresh Direct that deliver groceries directly to the home.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful commentary. It’s high time that this needs of this population were addressed.
Liz, I think a senior center class is an excellent idea. And the reduced rate with Fresh Direct would be brilliant. How could they say no to that!
I’m doing my thesis on this very topic. Unfortunately, a lot of dietary advice comes from their doctors who are poor sources for nutrition info. Many are still told to eat a low-fat diet, so they buy margarine and nondairy creamer, low-fat cookies, and frozen low-fat dinners, etc. Many elderly that are on blood thinners are told to avoid green vegetables that are high in vitamin K, rather than maintaining regular servings of these so that clotting factors stay steady. The senior centers, at least in northern NJ, serve food similar to the school lunch program or hospital food – all processed with few fresh vegetables.
This is a lifestyle issue for most seniors. I motivated one particular senior to do potluck dinners with her friends from the hair salon. None of them were motivated to cook for reasons such as “I’ve done this for decades and I’m done” or, the biggest – “I have no one to cook for” (um – yes you do!). The pot luck has been successful and they all brought containers so they have some left overs.
I’m also putting together a class on healthy, convenient whole natural foods to shop for which will be done in seniors’ homes (like tupperware parties) with tastings. Seniors don’t need to eat the amounts of food they ate in the past so showing them how far a whole chicken, a head of broccoli or a bunch of beets will take them is often surprising.
My view is that there will no health care reform without addressing eating issues early with kids AND the elderly.
Deb, this is really inspiring and timely. Where are you doing this?
Great article Chef Elliot! My mom (who is 60, so hardly “elderly” but has more experience than most) is going to a culinary school starting in the fall with the goal to then teach cooking classes to the over 55 communities.
She’s also been a nurse for 30+ years and has seen everything you can see in the medical field (including all of the pharmaceutical sales games) and as experienced 1st hand how much diet can change your health faster (& better) than any drug. I hope..she’s one of many in her age group starting a revolution…
I can see that pro-activity runs in the family, Heather. This is just the kind of news I hoped this post would generate.
I’m planning on doing the in-home classes in northern NJ. The lady who did the pot luck is in the Paramus area and her group is spreading the word.
Wonderful. My father began his fresh fruit and vegetable business in 1945 and it is still going strong. We were seven kids, all raised to enjoy and eat all that we had. Many days my father brought home the things that were not shelf worthy and still to this day, when I visit, we enjoy fresh fruits and veggies.
A healthy fresh live diet – and movement is key.
Wonderful blog.
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I couldn’t agree more with your post! I have met several older ladies and gents who have lost all motivation to cook healthy meals, no matter what kind of cooking fiends they once where. I think a large part of the problem is that these folks often don’t have anyone to cook for. What if there was a system in place in their neighborhoods that brought the elderly together once a week or month for a pot luck? That way everyone gets back in the kitchen and they also feel like they are contributing. What do you think?
I had a similar thought. Cooking twins nicely with community. Everyone enjoys cooking – and eating – more with others, right?
I am so glad that I happened to read Elliot’s blog and the responses that it transpired. I looked into the site because I am seriously thinking about taking the professional chef’s course at the Natural Gourmet Institute so that I may have a second career in the field that I truly feel passionate about.
I am 65 years old and very concerned about the exact issue that Elliot and others wrote about – seniors’ eating habits.
I have enjoyed cooking all of my adult life and still cook for myself because I am convinced that next to exercising eating is probably the most critical element in supporting healthy aging. It is true, though, there are special set of problems that face seniors with their eating/cooking, e.g. physical disability, difficult access to fresh ingredients, digestive problems, poor absorption of nutrients, etc.
I cannot agree more with the view that Deb K has – there is no health reform without addressing the issues of healthy eating.
As passionate as I feel about healthful eating, I am not really sure if I can have a career at this stage in my life if I graduate the Natural Gourmet Institute. I’d very much appreciate if anyone would give me an honest view based realistic observations and experiences whether I should just take public courses or pursue a career as a professional.
I have a 90+ year old grandmother living in an assisted living community and it is sad to say they have limited experiences to talk about. The main topic of discussion is always about the food. We talk so much about changing our kids school lunches when our elderly community is being fed hotdogs and sauerkraut a couple of times a week along with ham and bbq baked beans. Hopefully many will get the idea to reach out to their local community centers serving our elderly and offer some public classes and also reach out to the assisted living centers and educate their food staff. Great subject and thanks for touching on it.
This problem is ubiquitous in the US. It should be given as much attention as school lunch.
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