The event included discussions on food insecurity affecting Atlanta’s senior community, as well as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ commitment to supporting and strengthening Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta VoiceThe Atlanta Community Food Bank, one of the nation’s leading food banks fighting hunger, is calling for action within Metro Atlanta for support towards the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).To address this issue, ACFB hosted a “Community Conversation Cooking Class with Mayor Andre Dickens.”CSFP provides seniors with healthy foods through free monthly food boxes, as part of the current farm bill. As critical pandemic-era benefits expire, many seniors on fixed incomes are struggling to afford rising food, housing, and medical costs.The event included discussions on food insecurity affecting Atlanta’s senior community, as well as Dickens’ commitment to supporting and strengthening CSFP. Seniors were able to share their experiences and hear firsthand about the city’s efforts to address food insecurity.“We are always thankful for the diligence and hard work the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s great leadership puts into every community across Georgia that needs food whether that’s in our youth, our families, and today is all about our seniors,” Dickens said. “We’re teaching them how to eat healthy and we’re going to make some meals.”  The event, Dickens said, is to make sure seniors can have healthy food options and enjoy life in the city of Atlanta.“We want to ensure our seniors have food options whether it’s through the Senior Box the community food bank provides or if you’re in need of the SNAP program or assisted food to be able to take care of them and get the food they need,” he said.Beef Lintel Soup with Sweet Potatoe Biscuit and a glass of water. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta VoicePresident & CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank Kyle Waide says food insecurity has increased dramatically over the last two years. He also said the need right now is “tremendous” and has worsened since the damaging effects of Hurricane Helene.“Inflation has had such a massive impact across our region and across the country. We’re serving 66% more people today than we did just two years ago, which is being felt by families, children, and low-income seniors,” he said.Waide says they are proud to be able to partner with the city and other community organizations to get high-quality nutritionally-dense food boxes to low-income seniors every single month. “We’re really proud to be able to support our seniors with great high quality nutrition education resources so they can prepare healthy meals with the food provided,” he said.Furthermore, Waide said ACFB looks forward in the coming months and years to continue to work on how they ensure everyone across Atlanta has the food they need and deserve to live a healthy life.Also, seniors were given recipes to try at home and tried Beef Lentil Soup with low sodium options, vegetarian options, and Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Biscuits. Seniors from Emmanuel Lutheran Church were among the attendees including Atlanta resident Deborah Clarkson who said she appreciates the Atlanta Community Food Bank for even doing this event for seniors only.“Groceries, food, and everything else has gotten entirely too expensive for many people and me at age 65,” she said. “It has become a task to budget on my income for everything, and I’m just so grateful for Mayor Dickens and the Atlanta Community Food Bank for looking out for us old folk, it means a lot.”Senior Darrell Simms said he enjoyed the cooking lesson that was provided, and he also appreciates the efforts of all parties involved.“Eating healthy has gotten hard for me because I can’t afford most things, as most can’t these days, but I’m on a fixed income so things have been tough,” he said. “I appreciate the mayor and the community food bank so much because this helps out more than people realize.”While cooking, Dickens also spoke to everyone about initiatives for senior citizens in Atlanta, including the establishment of a senior center at John A. White Park with amenities like a fitness center, kitchen, dining hall, and event spaces.The center will cater to seniors and is expected to take 18 months to construct.Additionally, there are plans to build 20,000 units of affordable housing for seniors and a rehabilitation program for senior homeowners to help with necessary repairs.Dickens also discussed the annual senior ball and emphasizes public safety, with police officers now allowed to take their cars home to deter crime. The mayor and local police officials expressed commitment to these programs and their impact on the community.Dickens also discussed an owner-occupied rehab program, also known as Atlanta Heritage Owner Occupied Rehab Program in partnership with Invest Atlanta. The program is designed to help senior citizens get rehabilitation services for free.“Your roof may cost $25,000 – $30,000 to replace it, and a lot of times seniors and a lot of people in general don’t have that kind of cash running around,” he said. “Replace a roof or an air conditioning unit, or if you bought a house when you were 35 or 45 and now, you’re 67 years old, so you need handlebars in the bathroom and in the shower.”Before the event ended, Dickens reminded everyone to register to vote if they haven’t already since the deadline is Monday, Oct. 7. Additionally, there is a voter registration event taking place on Saturday, Oct 5.For more information on how to get involved with the ACFB, visit https://www.acfb.org/volunteer/.The post Atlanta Community Food Bank, Mayor Andre Dickens hosts cooking class with seniors appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.