Life goes on during a pandemic, and so do such essential tasks as feeding yourself and loved ones. But in a time when we’ve all been advised to stay indoors and minimize social contact, the question becomes how do we get food? Do we order in from still-open restaurants? Do we quickly run to a store and race through the aisles as fast as we can? Do we use a food delivery service and let others assume the risks we don’t want to take? The bottom line is we all need to eat. The question is how.

For many older adults, the dilemma of obtaining a sufficient amount of food is neither new nor easy. Even before the arrival of the coronavirus, the reality has been that 1 out of 10 Medicare beneficiaries has been food insecure: either skipping meals, cutting out meals or just going hungry because of insufficient access to food. The data are even worse among racial and ethnic minority seniors. And as the Brookings Institution recently made clear, millions of low-income seniors can’t stock up on food the way we’ve been advised and may have even lost access to normal routes for acquiring food through senior centers or food banks. Programs like Meals On Wheels and food banks may also be imperiled because of dwindling donations and volunteers, and they are doing all they can to hang on and help ensure that hungry seniors get the vital nutrition they need. For information about how to access a Meals on Wheels program for yourself or a loved one, click here, and if you’re able to, consider donating to your local program here. For a local food bank, look here, and to help support your local food bank programs, consider donating here.

For those of you with the money and means, many local supermarkets and big-box chain stores are now dedicating specific hours to older customers, to allow them to shop in a way that lessens their exposure to crowds. While grocery store delivery options exist in most major markets, store shortages and increased demand mean these may not be quick or convenient. If you go the route of ordering in from an open fast food place or local restaurant, remember there are real human beings risking their health to make and deliver your food and who deserve your patience, respect, and generosity. Vox recently published a post about “how not to be a jerk” when ordering food during this pandemic, and The New Yorker just published a profile of one of the anonymous heroes out there on his electric bike delivering food at a time when he cannot afford to socially isolate himself- you’ll be greatly impressed with his hygiene routines.

Finally, speaking of hygiene, the question we may all have is how safe is our food supply? Would it be possible to contract the virus from the food we order or groceries we buy? The website Serious Eats has just published a comprehensive guide on food safety and the coronavirus. So pull out your dinner plates, and get their expert advice here.