Eating well has an impact on our health and how we feel, especially as we age. Seniors in Pennsylvania should never go hungry or miss out on nutritious meals. The Senior Food Box program is a monthly food package tailored for older adults, age 60 and above, that helps stretch food dollars and adds nutritious foods to promote good health.
The Senior Food Box Program works to improve the health of low-income seniors by supplementing their diets with nutritious food. In Pennsylvania, eligible participants include low-income individuals who are at least 60 years old and whose household income is at or below 130 percent of the U.S. poverty level.
The boxes do not provide a complete diet, but rather are good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diets of older Americans. Among the types of foods included in the food boxes are: non-fat dry and shelf-stable fluid milk, juice, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, dry beans, peanut butter, canned meat, poultry, or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables.
The USDA’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program supports the Senior Food Boxes. The USDA purchases the food and makes it available to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), which works with local non-profit agencies to facilitate distribution of the monthly food boxes to seniors in need at central locations where seniors have easy access.
How to Participate
Seniors should fill out the self-certification form and submit it to PDA via email at RA-fooddist@pa.gov. PDA will then route the application to the appropriate food bank providing service in the applicant’s county of residence.
Applicants can also call 800-468-2433 to be directed to the regional food bank distributing the Senior Food Box in their county of residence.
Refer to the Income Eligibility Guidelines.
For more information, visit the PDA Senior Food Box Web Page.