Food banks face product shortages due to successful food waste reduction efforts

Food banks have been providing food aid to people living in poverty for many years. But the charity is in trouble. As more and more organizations successfully work to reduce food waste, food banks are at risk of facing a shortage of products. An unfortunate downside to something that is actually a very good initiative.

The figures are heartbreaking: 1.2 million people in the Netherlands live in poverty. Food banks help 105,000 people every week with food parcels, so they can still eat enough. These mainly contain products such as bread, coffee, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Food banks work closely with manufacturers and supermarkets. They donate products that they can no longer sell to the organization.

20% less supply due to food waste reduction

This went well for a very long time. But Voedselbanken Nederland has recently seen a decline of no less than 20 percent in the supply of essential products. The reason: supermarkets and manufacturers are paying more attention to waste. And they are doing so successfully. For example, they buy less and work with other food waste reduction organizations, such as Too Good To Go.

Sometimes they also launch initiatives themselves. Last year, for example, Albert Heijn launched the Overblijvers packages. Customers are also shopping differently these days. Take products whose best-before date is approaching. In the past, such products were removed from the shelves; now you get a discount on them, and we are happy to take products that are nearly past their best-before date home.

Food waste reduction and poverty alleviation

Of course, all of this is a positive development in itself. The fact that we need to waste less food is beyond question. But alleviating poverty is just as important. Partly due to ongoing inflation, more and more people have experienced financial difficulties in recent years. Did you know that 40% of food bank visitors are under 18? Shocking figures.

The great thing is that food banks not only help combat poverty, but also food waste. Products that would otherwise be thrown away are now given a valuable destination. Two birds with one stone, then. The work of food banks is important; that is why the organization is asking supermarkets and manufacturers whether they can donate some of their products.

Also read:

• Food bank lowers the threshold for collecting food parcels
• Why we are fans of Lidl’s new ‘Don’t waste me’ fruit and vegetable bag
• Meat tax: bizarre nannying or life-saving?

Source: NU.nl