After 39 years of delivering meals to the homebound, a hospital stay prompted Amy Shimberg to try a taste for herself.

She said her Meals on Wheels volunteers in the Tampa, Fla., area treated her well and the food was excellent, but being on the other side of the plate after her return home from the hospital also made her think more deeply about hunger among seniors.

"Over the years I (occasionally) took my children and then my grandchildren along on my routes, and it impacted all our lives because, of course, we gained much more than we gave," said Shimberg, who, as a recipient, paid the full $4.75 per meal for about two weeks of her recovery period.

When she first started delivering meals, she said about 80 percent of users could afford to pay the full-price rate for food. Today, she said, it's less than 40 percent. The progression has been painful to watch.

"Some of our clients are now getting quite old and fragile," she said. "They're desperately thin."

Food insecurity - defined by the Agriculture Department as ranging from having reduced variety and quality to actual disruptions in eating patterns and reduced overall intake - is on the rise among seniors, despite an improved labor market.

"Even though the recession ended, food insecurity rates remained high," said Craig Gundersen, author of a report on the topic issued in May by the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger.

Hunger rates for people in their 60s rose even more from 2005 to 2012 than for the very elderly, the study found.

"One possible explanation is, at least part of the fall in the jobless rate is not due to employment growth but to people leaving the labor force altogether or being underemployed," Gundersen said.

Slicing a retirement food budget may seem easier or better than forgoing other fixed costs, such as housing or health care, but experts say poor nutrition leads to costlier medical problems down the road.

Here are a few ways to economize without giving up your health:

- Get over yourself: Ask for help. Seniors living on the edge of hunger should be aware that as of 2008, money held in retirement accounts generally doesn't count in the income test for receiving benefits through the Agriculture Department's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, notes James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, an advocacy group. Certain medical costs can also be deducted from income to qualify for assistance, he said.

"The reason seniors are so squeezed is because housing and out-of-pocket medical are taking a larger share of income, so they have less to spend on food," he said. Some seniors are still reluctant to apply for benefits, he said, so his agency tries to spread the word about the availability of the benefits.

- Shop smart. The coupon craze is one way to save on food costs, but for small households it can be counterproductive to buy in bulk, and the coupons often lead to poor nutrition decisions. Check out Iowa State University's "SpendSmart EatSmart" website (extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings) for an online budgeting calculator, recipes for low-budget healthy meals and shopping tips.

Plan ahead. If you'll be retiring in a couple of years, challenge yourself to keep better track of your current food costs - it can be eye opening. For comparison, note that households led by people age 65 and up spend an average of $5,191 a year on all food eaten at home and away from home, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2013 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Janet Kidd Stewart writes The Journey for the Chicago Tribune. Share your journey to or through retirement or pose a question at journey@janetkiddstewart.com.

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