The umbrella organization of food banks, Food Banks Netherlands, has decided that people may have more left over after deduction of their fixed costs to qualify for a food package. Nico Bais, chairman of the Food Bank Den Helder, thinks that the number of registrations will increase from next week due to the decision.
“The standard has been raised every year for the past four years,” Bais says. “Normally that is January 1.” The food banks have decided to raise it now because of high inflation. “We will see what it will mean for us in the board meeting on Tuesday, but I do expect more registrations to come.”
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Whether someone is eligible for a food package depends on how much money that person has left after deducting the fixed costs. Until now, a single parent with two children who has 450 euros left over after paying the fixed costs is eligible for a food package. This will be increased to 520 euros. For someone who lives alone, the amount goes up from 250 to 300 euros.
Although inflation has been high for some time and people have less and less to spend, the Den Helder food bank is not yet noticing that much. “Perhaps people have distributed the energy surcharge of 1,300 euros well, and the high energy bills are only at the end of the year,” explains Bais. “It’s clear that we’re getting more customers.”
In West Friesland, Alkmaar and Langedijk, the food banks are already seeing the number of applications increasing. “Last weekend we had six new applications, normally there are two. That is really a lot for us,” said the Alkmaar coordinator two weeks ago. “And we just have to wait until the energy contracts expire, because then people will come here.”
Filling Packages
Bais says that the Food Bank in Den Helder still receives enough food from the distribution center in Amsterdam. He shares the fresh products from the region with the food banks in Alkmaar and Anna Pavlovna. “We have nothing to complain about at the moment.”
The fact that supermarkets seem to throw away less and less is not a cause for concern at Bais. “If they do it away very cheaply in the evening, people might also get into trouble less quickly. And in the supermarket people may have a little more choice than with us.”