“Food, for many older adults, is a way to bring family to you, and if you cannot afford it, you’re either not going to do it or you’re going to have less food for yourself later in the week because you value that interaction so highly.”Some who had avoided restaurants and crowds for much of the pandemic were eager to step out with friends for dinners, but those nights out became expensive.“I started going out for lunches once or twice a week, but then the lunches turned into $20, and that’s a lot of money,” said Sharon Cohen, 73, who owned a communications business for decades. Instead, Ms. Cohen and her fr …
