In McDowell County, the Farm to Senior Services project is demonstrating how local agriculture, community partnerships and senior nutrition can work hand in hand. The initiative is helping connect older adults with fresh, locally grown food while strengthening the region’s agricultural economy through a collaboration between the Foothills Food Hub (a program of McDowell Local Food Advisory Council), the McDowell Senior Center and N.C. Cooperative Extension.
Tim Burke, Operations Manager of the Foothills Food Hub, has a passion for food access and community building. As Burke explains, the Food Hub’s mission is simple but powerful: “We want to make sure that nobody in McDowell County is hungry, and we want to feed them with as much local food as possible.” Through Farm to Senior Services, that vision is reaching an often underserved population.
Tim Burke’s commitment to serving older adults comes from a strong connection to both food and community. As a farmer, cook and food systems advocate, he has long worked at the intersection of agriculture and service. “I love to feed folks,” he says. His time working in nursing homes and retirement communities deepened his respect for seniors and the knowledge they carry. “There’s a tremendous amount of wisdom in that population,” he reflects. Today, that belief guides his work to ensure older adults have access not only to nutritious meals, but also to dignity, connection and support.
Burke has worked with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) for several years, starting as part of the 2020 Farm to Senior Services cohort focused on addressing the barriers keeping local food out of senior services institutions. Tight budgets, length of transportation in mountain areas and the higher cost of local foods still persist as obstacles, but thanks to the work of partners like the Foothills Food Hub, seniors now have access to fresh produce, while local farmers expand their markets.
This program also strengthens food system resilience, a lesson underscored after Hurricane Helene, when disruptions in meal delivery exposed how quickly seniors can become vulnerable to food insecurity. Meals on Wheels services operating out of Asheville were destroyed by the storm, and the McDowell Senior Center’s meal delivery program was suspended when the facility was taken over by FEMA. Almost overnight, hundreds of older adults faced increased uncertainty about where their next meal would come from. The Foothills Food Hub and the local network of farmers responded quickly, working with Equal Plates to distribute roughly 800 frozen meals each week to seniors across the county. “To be able to bring them meals twice a week, the gratitude […] it’s very rewarding,” Burke reflected. The crisis revealed not only the challenges facing rural seniors but also the power of a connected community to step up when neighbors need one another most. In many ways, Farm to Senior Services builds on those same lessons, creating stronger local food systems that can support both everyday nutrition and community resilience when future challenges arise.
Inspired by Farm to Senior Services efforts in McDowell County, older adults participated in a free community market made possible by the Foothills Food Hub through support from Manna FoodBank, helping strengthen connections between healthy food, community and local agriculture.