When a recent decision by the food bank in Essen -- to allow only customers with a German passport to join – became public, a general outcry followed. Even the founder of the first German food bank, Sabine Werth, and Angela Merkel joined those condemning the food bank’s decision.
The chairman of the German food banks, Jochen Brühl, was rankled and retorted: „Poverty has become an enormous problem in Germany. [...] The real scandal is that we have been here for 25 years, that we are now supporting 1.5 million people, that there is an excess of 250 000 tons of food, that there are people in this rich country who lack the most basic things.“ Brühl wasn’t prepared to even consider the chancellor’s criticism. „We don’t accept criticism by the chancellor, since the current developments are the result of her policy decisions.“
The decision by the food bank in Essen caused a huge scandal, because they chose to select customers according to nationality. Other food banks, which chose to select their customers on different grounds, got no media attention. The food bank in Marl wasn’t able to keep up with the growing demand and decided to stop giving food to single men, irrespective of their nationality.
The decisions by the food banks in Essen and Marl illustrate that the food banks are being, as Brühl says, pushed to their limit. They can neither keep up with the rapidly growing demand nor solve local problems in the best possible way. The food banks’ decisions also demonstrate the discretionary nature of charity work. Despite the widespread media coverage and harsh criticism from all sides, the food bank in Essen hasn’t reversed their decision so far. This is only possible, because anti-discrimination law doesn’t apply to charities. The person who gives voluntarily can decide who to give to and who to exclude.
Not only is the number of food banks constantly growing, but so is the demand at the existing ones. The food bank in Munich was founded in 1994. Initially it had seven volunteers and 400 customers. Ten years later the number of volunteers had risen to 450. There were 25 distribution centres throughout the city and 18 000 people came per week. Furthermore, the food bank delivered free food to 85 institutions. Now almost 700 volunteers work for the food bank in Munich. There are 27 distributions centres and 107 institutions get free food. The number of people coming to the food bank has risen to 22 000 and there’s a waiting list.
The ex professional footballer Paul Breitner describes in an interview what poverty in Munich can look like today (Breitner has been working as a volunteer for the food bank for nearly five years).: „I was at the vegetable stand and wanted to give this pensioner [...] she was about 75, a nice head of lettuce. [...] „No, Herr Breitner, please give it to the person behind me. There’s no point in giving it to me. – It was 20th or 21 of the month. – I said to her, Mrs. X, what do you mean there is no point? She replies: At the beginning of the month something broke and I had to get it fixed. I have 1,70 Euros at home. I have no salt, no oil and no vinegar. Give the lettuce to someone else.“
The well-known local journalist Heribert Prantl wrote recently: „The food banks are among the most successful institutions in Germany. They are increasing, because dire circumstances and need are increasing in Germany. [...] They put the welfare state to shame, because the welfare state is not doing what it is supposed to do: supporting those that need to be supported.”
The situation in other countries is even more alarming. In France (67 million inhabitants) 3. 5 million people go to food banks, in Italy (61 million inhabitants) 1. 6 million have to rely on food banks. In Germany (82 million inhabitants), France and Italy right-wing parties are becoming more and more visible and are also rapidly gaining in numbers.