Baby Boomers, the current senior citizens living on social security due to age, are used to canning their own food using fruit and vegetables from your own garden. Most healthy senior citizens would be able to physically garden and can, assuming that they've both done that in the past, have a garden and the canning supplies. 

We are fortunate enough to have the supplies and a relatively large garden. We can or freeze spinach, squash, kale, beets, carrots, tomatoes, berries, apples, peppers, corn and beans. My husband prefers water bath canning to pressure canning. In general, we can the vegetable or fruit by itself and make something with it through the winter. My husband does make his own jelly, salsa, and Italian sauce. 

We live on two city sized lots. One entire lot is set up as a permaculture small farm. We have chickens for eggs. The chickens have an outdoor covered pen and an indoor coop. They are allowed to free range half of the second lot. We used leaves and chopped straw in their outdoor pen. The chickens scratch at the leaves and straw, breaking down the product. We clean the top layer weekly and place it in a compost pile. 

In the late spring, we take out 12" to 16" of the broken down leaves and straw and place it in a compost pile near the gardens. In the fall, we remove the same amount but put it directly in the garden beds. In both cases, we want the compost to sit for six months before planting anything in it so the nitrogen levels are not so strong. It also important for the compost piles to heat up as the heat kills parasite and insect eggs. 

We also feed the chickens all the kitchen scraps, except potatoes and avocado's. Chickens can't process an enzyme that is in the skin of those vegetables. My husband also raises barley fodder that he feeds to the chickens about a week after it sprouts. We know that the eggs we eat were formed with healthy foods. 

We also planted fruit trees and berry bushes. It takes 4 to 5 years before the trees produce big crops. Our hope is that we receive enough to can what we need and take the rest to the local food distribution service in town. 

Gardening and canning is a way to stay active in your senior years as well as providing healthy food for yourself.