Record run on Germany's food banks: 50 percent more in need

Germany's food banks are at their breaking point – many are even beyond that.

High energy and food prices as well as the rush of refugees from Ukraine led to a rush to Germany's food banks in 2022.

“This year, on average across Germany, around 50 percent more people came to the food banks than in the previous year. We're talking about around two million people who come to the Tafel," says Jochen Brühl, Federal Chairman of Tafel Deutschland (umbrella association of more than 960 food banks), to the RND about the dramatic situation.

Around 30 percent of the food banks should therefore have imposed a freeze on admissions, Brühl continued. Reason: too little food and full capacity. According to Brühl, more than 70 percent of the food banks stated that they had less food.

This is also due to the fact that supermarkets order in a more targeted manner, leaving less for the food banks.

Poverty was felt at Germany's food banks, especially during the holidays. "Poverty knows no breaks and no holidays, poverty promotes loneliness," says Brühl.

Food Bank Association makes it clear: the supply obligation lies with the state

Brühl addressed warning words to politicians and made it clear: "The state has the supply mandate." There is an imbalance between what the food banks can and must do: "Sometimes food banks not only support, but are already firmly calculated."

Source: Bild