Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – Many food banks have to react to the enormous increase in demand from the needy by stopping or “stretching” their food expenditure. This was the result of a sample from the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Social Affairs.
According to a government response to a request from the FDP parliamentary group published on Monday, around 21 percent of the 174 panels in NRW responded to a short survey. 75 percent of these 36 boards would have reported a freeze on admission. The rest would have to stretch the food distribution: the needy can no longer come as often or receive less.
According to the state association, the food banks support over 350,000 people in NRW with surplus, perfect food. Accordingly, the number of needy people seeking help from the food banks has doubled compared to 2020.
Social Affairs Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) stated that the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine have now also posed several problems for the food banks after the corona pandemic: “On the one hand, demand is increasing due to inflation, rising food and energy prices – at the same time it is growing the circle of those who make use of the services of the Tafel.” The discounters calculate more tightly, so that less food is available for the food banks. In addition, there are fewer donations. “As a result, an increasing number of people in need is faced with an increasingly smaller supply from the food banks and other food distributors.”
How the state government will continue to support the panels after the end of a three-year project in the coming year has yet to be decided, said Laumann. In their coalition plan, the CDU and the Greens have promised an “Action Plan Against Poverty” that is to be launched this year.