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

Abstract

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.