Food insecurity among food bank "Tafel" clients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Peer reviewed Manuscript (original) received: 19 January 2024; revision accepted: 2 April 2024

Introduction

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, it was estimated that up to 1.65 million people visited a total of 956 Tafel food banks across Germany [1]. Despite the high number, food bank clients have so far been rarely involved in health or nutritional studies. The few earlier studies describe food bank clients as a heterogeneous group in terms of their level of education, with a low income and the majority of them receiving social benefits [2–4]. A study of more than 1,000 Tafel clients in three cities (Berlin, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe) in the year 2015 reported that over 35% of respondents had experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the previous 12 months [2].

Food insecurity is defined as at least temporarily limited access to adequate, i. e. sufficiently nutritious, safe and culturally accepted food [5]. A characteristic feature of food insecure people is the restriction of food variety to low-cost, filling products combined with the worry of not having enough money for food, e.g. at the end of the income month. If the situation worsens further, restriction of food quantities or even hunger can occur [6,7].
Given the associations between food insecurity and diet quality [8,9] and the physical and, in particular, mental health of children and adults observed in other high-income countries [10,11], the issue of food insecurity has received greater political and scientific attention in Germany in recent years. In its statement “Food poverty under pandemic conditions”, the Scientific Advisory Board for Agricultural Policy, Food and Consumer Health Protection at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (WBAE) examined, among other things, the question of what consequences the closure of Tafel food banks due to the lockdown could have for population groups at risk of food insecurity [12]. ...

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity among bank clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, how the clients realized their access to food, the extent to which they received social support and what association the latter two aspects show with food insecurity. For this purpose, a written and oral survey was conducted in 2020 and 2021 among a total of 985 food bank clients. Descriptive and regression analyses, stratified for 2020 and 2021, were used. The results show a high prevalence of poor social support and food insecurity among respondents. Most participants received food from the food bank at least three times a month for more than a year. Aspects related to food insecurity included family status, social support and the relative amount of food received from the food bank. The article concludes with recommendations for action derived from the results.

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