Food bank lowers the threshold for collecting food parcels
Good news and, at the same time, deeply sad: food banks are lowering the threshold for receiving a food parcel because the cost of living is becoming unaffordable for more and more people, partly due to inflation and high energy prices.
The figures speak for themselves: more than one million people live below the poverty line. The food bank helps 40,000 families with food assistance every week and, in doing so, combats food waste. In 2020, the food bank helped 160,500 people. That is almost three times a full Johan Cruijff ArenA. 44 million products—which would otherwise have been wasted—were distributed, worth approximately 74 million euros.
The food banks look at the number of household members and at income versus fixed expenses. A single parent with two children was previously eligible for a food parcel if less than 450 euros remained each month for things such as food and drink. That amount is now 520 euros. According to Tom Hillemans, vice-chairman of umbrella organisation Food Banks Netherlands, it is not yet possible to say how many more people will now start using the food bank.
Last month, Food Banks Netherlands already reported that the total number of people collecting food from the food bank had risen by around 10 percent over the previous two months.
Supermarket waste has decreased
And while it is positive in one respect that supermarkets are wasting less and less food, this also has a negative side effect for food banks: they are concerned about whether enough food will continue to come in now that supermarket chains have taken increasingly more measures to combat food waste, such as the AH Overblijvers packages. As a result, less is left over for food banks.
Image: Food Banks Netherlands
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