More people can now turn to the food bank. This was decided by the Food Banks in the Netherlands this Saturday afternoon during a meeting of members. The standard amounts, based on the amounts left over by people each month after deduction of their fixed costs, will be increased.
From now on, a single person is eligible for a food package if there is a maximum of 300 euros per month for food and drink – that was 250 euros. For households with four people, the standard amount has been increased from 550 to 630 euros.
The food banks do this because they notice that more and more people can no longer make ends meet. Daily groceries are rapidly becoming more expensive due to high inflation.
The group of people who get into trouble as a result is growing rapidly, notes Tom Hillemans, Vice-President of Food Banks Netherlands. “So we had to do something quickly.”
On average, about one hundred thousand people make use of one of the 171 food banks in the Netherlands every week.
Exploding energy prices
Hillemans cannot predict how many new customers will be added now that more people are allowed to come. “Everything is mixed up right now: inflation, but also energy prices that are exploding. Those are uncertain factors for us. Anyone who receives a new energy contract in a few months may have to knock on our door afterwards.”
Under normal circumstances, food banks can absorb a growth in the number of customers, says Hillemans. “We have experience with that. Demand also increased rapidly during corona.”
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He is more concerned about whether there will be enough food to hand out in the future. Because while more people can’t pay for their groceries, the supply of suppliers at the food banks is stagnating.
This is already painfully visible at Food Bank Haaglanden. There, volunteers were sent home as early as 11 a.m. last Friday, because there was no more food to pack. Normally they work until well into the afternoon to distribute the food.
Fewer vegetables from Westland
“There is much less coming in,” says Henk Baars, vice chairman of Food Bank Haaglanden. “We see it collapsing. Literal. Normally there are 25 pallets with products here, now there are 16.”
This is because, says Baars, the companies that supply the food, often leftovers, also have to work more economically. This is partly due to the rise in energy prices. “So there is simply less left for us. For example, we have recently received fewer vegetables from the Westland. Less different vegetables too.”
The result is that the food packages in Haaglanden are becoming smaller and less varied. “Normally, we have to tamped the food in the folding crates quite a bit to be able to stack it,” says Baars. “But that was not necessary last week. There’s just less in it.”
Buy your own food
Baars saw the number of customers rise by an average of ten percent in recent months. He holds onto his heart for the time to come. “It’s going to be really difficult.”
Food banks Haaglanden is discussing this with the municipality of The Hague. Because, says Baars, if the supply from companies continues to fall, we will have to buy more food to meet the demand.”
“We can still put together food packages everywhere,” says Tom Hillemans of Food Banks Nedetland. “But it will be exciting. My hope is that everything will start moving when the need really arises.”