ABSTRACT
Demographic changes are reshaping America, with many more immigrants living in the United States (US) than in the recent past. Indeed, immigrants have become a major source of population growth and cultural change. From 2005 to 2050, for example, immigrants are projected to contribute 82% of the total increase of the US population. Movement of immigrant families into rural areas partly reflects changing opportunities such as the availability of jobs and increasing numbers of compatriots from immigrants’ home countries in some rural settings. Employers have encouraged immigrants to recruit family and friends to work at the plants, sometimes including family members. Culture is important in other central ways that have significance in understanding older adult immigrants in rural areas. For example, seeking to understand the elder immigrant experience through the cultural lens of food has been found to be instructive. The food available through food pantries and food-support systems might not be familiar to immigrant families.
