Food aid in four European countries: Assessing the price and content of charitable food aid packages by using food basket, household budget survey and contextual data
Food aid in four European countries: Assessing the price and content of charitable food aid packages by using food basket, household budget survey and contextual data
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Author
Hermans, Karen
Mäkinen, Lauri
Szivos, Péter
Carrillo Álvarez, Elena
Other authors
Universitat Ramon Llull. Facultat de Ciències de la Salut Blanquerna
Grup de Recerca Global Research on Wellbeing - GRoW
Universitat Ramon Llull. Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Educació i de l’Esport Blanquerna
Grup de Recerca en Pedagogia, Societat i Innovació amb el suport de les TIC (PSITIC)
Publication date
2023-01Abstract
Many European welfare states are confronted with a growing demand for charitable food aid among households that struggle to make ends meet. This issue is particularly pressing today as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the following soaring inflation. In this exploratory case study research, we estimate the financial importance of charitable food aid packages for vulnerable recipient families by using cross-country comparable food basket data. Concretely, we
collected data about the content of food packages and conducted interviews in twelve food distribution points in Antwerp, Barcelona, Budapest and Helsinki. Furthermore, we evaluate the content of food aid packages by comparing them with food basket and Household Budget Survey data. Based on the data in our twelve case study organisations, we find that the monetary value of food aid packages differs greatly between and within cities. While average food aid packages in Antwerp and Barcelona exceed 100 euros a month (adjusted for Purchasing Power Parities), this value is lower in Helsinki but especially in Budapest. This variation seems to be partially driven by differences in administrative and volunteer capacity, the (financial) support by municipalities and the position within the broader food aid network. Nevertheless, food aid packages as a top-up to inadequate minimum incomes are never able to close the at-risk-of-poverty-gap for social assistance recipients in the studied organisations in the four countries. Furthermore, our results show that the food aid packages do not fully represent a healthy and varied diet and do not correspond to people’s average consumption choices. Hence, it is very likely that food aid recipients will attach a lower recipient value to the food aid packages than the estimated market values, because the packages do not entirely reflect specific household preferences and needs.
Document Type
Report
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
316 - Sociology
613 - Hygiene generally. Personal health and hygiene
Keywords
Ajuda alimentària -- Bèlgica
Ajuda alimentària -- Finlàndia
Ajuda alimentària -- Hungria
Ajuda alimentària -- Espanya
Nutrició -- Working Papers
Pages
65 p.
Publisher
Universiteit Antwerpen. Centrum voor Sociaal Beleid Herman Deleeck
Grant agreement number
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FWO/11K2621N
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EU/H2020/870978
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Rights
© L'autor/a
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/