Reduce Older Americans’ Vulnerability to Food Insecurity

Posted by on August 06, 2012

InnoCentive and AARP Foundation Announce Online Challenges to Reduce Older Americans’ Vulnerability to Food Insecurity
Deadline: September 20, 2012

InnoCentive, Inc. has announced a collaboration with the AARP Foundation to help advance the foundation’s goal of improving the lives of millions of older Americans who struggle to meet their basic needs for nutritious food, safe and affordable housing, adequate income, and personal connections. As part of the alliance, InnoCentive and the AARP Foundation have launched the AARP Foundation-InnoCentive Challenge Series, which is comprised of a dedicated pavilion located on InnoCentive.com.

The pavilion currently features two initial challenges aligned with the goals of AARP and the AARP Foundation’s Drive to End Hunger program to reduce older Americans’ vulnerability to food insecurity.

The Drive to End Hunger – Sustainable Solutions Challenge seeks ideas for long-term, sustainable solutions that prevent food insecurity from happening in the first place or that reduce an older adult’s vulnerability to food insecurity in a significant way.

The Drive to End Hunger – the Elimination of Food Deserts Challenge seeks ideas for reducing or eliminating “food deserts.” A food desert is defined as a “low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.”

Ideal solutions to both challenges will focus on long-term, sustainable programs designed to prevent, reduce, or eliminate food insecurity and the number of food deserts, respectively, without reliance on food provisions by third-party providers or benefits assistance such as food stamps. The solutions can be existing programs or new ideas that have not yet been implemented.

Each challenge will award $10,000 in prizes for the best solution submission(s) as determined by the AARP Foundation.

Visit the InnoCentive Web site for complete program information and to submit a solution.

http://www.innocentive.com/pavilion/aarp-foundation