Amity Overall-Laib, NORC Director, Fred Steele, OR State Ombudsman, and Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, NJ State Ombudsman are Interviewed on Food Shortages in Nursing Homes

May 01, 2025

The number of dietary complaints to ombudsman offices around the country increased from 5,620 in 2020 to 8,485 in 2023, a jump of more than 50%. 

“There are plenty of pictures of food I have seen where it’s ‘a guess-what-is-on-the-plate scenario,’” Oregon State Ombudsman said. “We have seen scenarios of residents being limited to 4 oz. of milk a day in a tiny glass.” Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, the ombudsman for long-term care in New Jersey, said the thing about food in a nursing home is as residents are getting older, their world is getting smaller.

“We are hearing from ombudsman programs that food is running out or it’s inadequate,” said Amity Overall-Laib, the director of the National Ombudsman Resource Center.

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