Mr. John Fixa, Vice President, St. Anthony Dining Room for those in Need forwarded to me your letter of recent date, in which you requested information pertaining to the reduced food price program for the elderly people in San Francisco. The Office of Aging recognized that many Senior Citizens, living alone in one room with no facilities for cooking, were financially unable to obtain a well rounded nutritional diet. Therefore we contacted two restaurant chains and interested them in providing a well balanced meal for .95 plus .05¢ tax - a total of $1.00. The menus were worked out with the restaurant management, this office and a Public Health and Home Health Service nutritionists and the food is checked on from time to time to assure us the nutritional value is being maintained. The Dollar meal or Senior Plate at first was done on a trial basis but was so enthusiastically adopted by the Senior Citizens, and proving profitable to the restaurants, that the Senior Plates have now become a permanent service to the Seniors. As a result of this more restaurants are offering Senior Plates. The hours at first were quite limited from 2 5 P.M. and now the largest chain serves from 1:30 7:30 P.M. daily and 11:30 7:00 P.M. on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. Enclosed is a menu of one of the restaurant chains, now serving approximately 6500 plates per week, and the number of restaurants are continuing to grow as we surmised. I believe the above information should answer your inquiry. Please feel free to call upon us if we can be of any further service to you. Senator EAGLETON. I would also be curious to know the reaction of any of the restaurant chains that are in the program as to whether they are satisfied with the program. Is it a total loss to them or something they break even with? Are they happy with it? Mr. WALTERS. Mr. Tarr was out at the California State Federation convention and all the information we have had is that the number of participating restaurants has gradually increased. There are more today than there were 6 months ago. From that point of view, it must be somewhat popular. Mr. TARR. Yes; that is the way I understand it. It is growing in popularity and importance. Mr. WALTERS. But we will endeavor to try to break it down and get some real figures, and I feel reasonably sure that especially the chain restaurants in San Francisco will have some statement or some figures they can give us. Senator EAGLETON. Fine. Thank you, Mr. Walters and Mr. Tarr. We will now hear from the American Association of Retired Persons, Mr. Bernard E. Nash, executive director, and Cyril Brickfield, legislative counsel. (No response.) Senator EAGLETON. All right. Dr. Douglas Holmes, director, Center for Community Research, New York City. STATEMENT OF DR. DOUGLAS HOLMES, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR COMMUNITY RESEARCH, NEW YORK, N.Y. Dr. HOLMES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. By way of a preamble, I wrote this literature before having read the bill in question. Our words sometimes come back to haunt us, but in this case my remarks would have been different had I read the bill. Since there is so much in the prepared statement which is really repetitious of testimony already presented here today, I wonder whether I might just enter it into the record, introduce myself, and make a few brief extemporaneous comments. Senator EAGLETON. Excellent. Your prepared statement in full will be made part of the record. (Prepared statement of Dr. Douglas Holmes follows:) NEED FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF NUTRITION PROGRAMS FOR THE AGED Testimony Prepared for the UNITED STATES SENATE Washington, D.C. June 2, 1971 by Douglas Holmes, Ph.D. CENTER FOR COMMUNITY RESEARCH New York, N. Y. 10023 (189) My name is Douglas Holmes, and I am the Director of the Center for Community Research, a non-profit organization located in New York City. The Center has been involved in three demonstration and research programs funded by the Administration on Aging, which have bearing on today's hearing. First, in collaboration with the Associated YM-YWHAS of Greater New York, of which the Center is an affiliate, a group meals program for the aged was maintained for two years, funded under Title IV of the Older Americans Act of 1965, Public Law 89-73, as amended. Second, Center staff currently is working on a National Study of meals programs for the aged, supported by the Social Rehabilitation Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, focusing first on group meals programs, and currently upon home-delivered meals for the aged homebound. Third, we are conducting a study of the potential held by the aged, themselves, for providing mutual self-help activities, in times of acute need and/or stress. I cite these programs only to provide some understanding of the basis from which I make the following remarks. However, I must add a cautionary note: only the Nutrition Program has been completed the other two projects are far from their scheduled completion dates, and hence only tentative suggestions can be drawn from their operation to date. What I will do in this statement is discuss four factors which I consider central to any consideration of the need for, and nature of, nutrition programs. These are: 1) the concept that a program is necessary, and that such devices as income supplements are not adequate; 2) the concept that although the provision of group meals in a social setting may be most effective in meeting the unfulfilled needs of the aged, there is a need for programs of home-delivered meals to the homebound, as well; 3) the concept that just as nutrition programs must take into account a variety of factors which impinge upon the older adult's ability to receive adequate nutrition, so there are a variety of ancillary services which most economically could be provided through the auspice of nutrition programs; 4) finally, the realization that there is the crucial need for major public support, on a continuing basis, for nutrition services to the aged. |