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FLASH NEWS n° 19
Fighting hunger and waste in Europe
FLASH NEWS n° 19 – January 2010
At year end, and at the beginning of 2010, it is time to take a look on the past activities, draw some lessons, and especially see how we could do differently if necessary, and do better during the months ahead.
Each Federation, each Food Bank, all of us, must stop and think about what we all want this year to be.
The questions and the positive answers that will be made will not be sufficient to reduce the needs that we all try to meet for what is our reason for being: the fight against hunger and the fight against waste.
If, however, by our commitment, we could continue to better help the most deprived, which is also our reason for being, we could persuade ourselves even more of the necessity of Food Banks, obviously without forgetting the field associations.
The time is also to thank you all, for your commitment, your enthusiasm and faith in what you do, in respect of our Charter.
Jean-M. Delmelle
SERBIA IS BECOMING A FEBA MEMBER
Following a site visit, the Board of Directors of the European Federation of Food Banks has granted its final approval to the Belgrade Food Bank.
Led by Radmila Ivetic, who was with us in Palermo, and conducted by a still small but dynamic team, the Food Bank of Belgrade continues its rise. The increasing number of the donors and the financial supports are promising.
We wish them a Happy New Year 2010
Raymond Vaillant
THE RESULTS OF THE 2009 COLLECTION
The food collection, launched for the first time in France in 1987, and repeated since by many European countries, under various forms, has showed again a strong moment in the existence of the Food Banks. It is indeed an opportunity at the beginning of winter and before the holiday season, to unite all people of goodwill to help the poor.
Belgium
As last year, the collection organized by stores such as Delhaize used vouchers instead of "in kind" products provided by buyers. These vouchers represent goods selected by the Food Banks with a list and prices agreed in advance. Quantities are determined by the number of people in need. This will allow to make comparisons between the amounts in Euros and not between the donations. This solution is undoubtedly more ecological, since it suppresses plastic bags, multiple handling and transport, but probably less attractive to donors.
The results were disappointing: the donations made in the form of vouchers represent the sum of 1 097 964 Euros against 1 195 608 in 2008, equivalent to a decrease of 8%.
For the holiday season, Delhaize has proposed an action called "the longest chain of wishes". For every personal picture sent through a computer with their good wishes, 25 Euros will go to food banks. For those who do not have computers, their pictures will be taken in the stores, obviously with their agreement. Delhaize agrees to pay a maximum of 250,000 Euros. For the mean time, the amount collected arises approximatively to 100 000 euros.
France
The November collection gathered 10 800 tons of products, a decrease of 7% of the figures recorded in 2008, which indeed had known last year a very large increase (21%).
If consumers have been more careful with their budget this year, the Food Banks have relied on the commitment of more than 100 000 volunteers present at 2 000 collection points.
Hungary
On the occasion of the World Day of Food, on October 16th, 155 tons were collected by the trucks passing in the streets of Budapest.
Also 38 tons were collected from the Tesco stores and about 10 tons from the Auchan stores.
Italy
In a press column dedicated to memories, Mario Amati is telling how he came to Paris in 1996 along with Marco Lucchini to be present at "the famous collection that our friends from the French Food Banks had praised so much! Hosted by Bernard Dandrel at the time, he said he was particularly amazed by the work of the volunteers but especially by the fantastic opportunity to share the experience of foodbanking with people and encourage them to participate.
Since then, our Italian friends made a great adaptation of it! In 2009, 8 600 tons of food were collected in 7 600 supermarkets by 100 000 volunteers, an increase of 3% compared to 2008. Difficult to compare results with those of last year, since the Caserta Food Bank does not exist anymore, and the new Salerno Food Bank only started to operate in October 2009.
Portugal
A record has been reached in Portugal where, despite the deep economic crisis that is felt here too, the collection of November 28th and 29th showed an increase of 30,9% as compared to 2008. 2 498 tons of food were collected in 1 323 supermarkets by 27 000 volunteers.
In addition, many supermarkets have offered to their customers, throughout the week and until December 6th, the opportunity to give vouchers to purchase 5 selected products such as oil, milk, sausage ... These products were then collected and delivered by a specialized company.
Poland
This year's collection was organized in 2 300 shops and supermarkets and allowed to collect 620 tons of food.
Moreover, those who could not participate in the collection could make their purchases at " the internet store" open until December 31st, which was promoting 20 selected products.
Slovakia
The Food Bank of Slovakia organized a successful collection on December 4th and 5th to prepare a Christmas dinner for the homeless and most deprived people in Kosice (400 persons), Banska Bystrica and Zvolen (300 persons), Nitra (250 persons) and Bratislava (500 persons). All these events were organized in cooperation with the local municipalities, the Slovak Red Cross, the associations and the nuns. The Food Bank also provided food parcels for oncology patients and their relatives in Kosice, Banska Bystrica and Bratislava. Also, 250 food parcels were distributed to needy and large families. All these actions were related by the national television and radio.
Anne Renard
FRANCE
25th Anniversary of the French Food Banks
The French Federation celebrated, last September 29th, the 25th anniversary of the creation of the first Food Bank by a series of events in order to mark "a quarter of a century of a constant fight to distribute free food to people in difficulty"
- "Open days" in many Food Banks throughout the country with the organization of various events (visits of premises, shared meals, etc...) in the presence of personalities, local representatives and associations.
- The opening of new premises with local or regional representatives who have each time emphasized "the tremendous job done with a fantastic enthusiasm" or "the considerable work done, but often unknown by the general public."
- An exhibition in Paris on the "Pont des Arts", with the assistance of the City of Paris: refrigerators were decorated by 33 artists on the theme of food donations and social ties. This idea was also used by the Finistère Food Bank.
Discussions on the future of food aid with a final acknowledgement: from July 2008 to July 2009, the number of people turning to food aid has increased by 16%.
Source "la Chronique des Banques Alimentaires"
ITALY
20th Anniversary of Italian Food Banks
To mark the 20th anniversary of the first Italian Food Bank, the Italian Federation has published a book with beautiful pictures illustrating the aspects of the Food Banks lives. In his preface,
Mgr. Mauro Inzoli describes it as: "an illustrated story, a family album, a report from the very first line." The book opens with a special preface by Gianluigi Da Rold: "Images to read, words to see. It is charity on paper".
Birth of the 21st Food Bank in Foggia
On Friday, November 6th, a new Food Bank was inaugurated in Foggia. The objective is to meet the needs of charities working between Daunia and Basilicata. The warehouse is located 500 meters from the toll highway, a strategic position allowing an easy access. The team is composed of 15 volunteers (retirees, entrepreneurs, liberal professionals, employees). As said Giuseppe Brescia, Chairman of the Food Bank of Foggia: "In a strong food processing area, our goal is to focus on the recovery of fresh products in excess, allowing the businesses of our district to be closer to the most deprived people. "
Source Mario Amati
LITHUANIA
Conference in Vilnius
On October 19th, Deimante Zebrauskaite invited Jean-M. Delmelle to attend a conference at the Parliament of Lithuania on the topic: "Do we really have to destroy consumable food instead of giving it to the most deprived? "
The conference, sponsored by Kraft Foods, gathered a hundred participants, including Mrs Irena Degutiene, Speaker of Parliament, Mr Daunatas Jankauskas, Social Security and Labor Minister, Mrs. Skirma Kondratas, Prime Minister advisor, mayors, health and veterinary services managers, agri-food sector and charities representatives. The conference was reported by 11 journalists from television and radio channels.
Leni Van der Meer and Piet Boerefijn planning to develop a Food Bank in Estonia had been invited to participate in this conference by Deimante and Kraft Foods.
Jean-M. Delmelle gave a presentation on the PEAD and the role of the European Federation of Food Banks. He stressed the importance of the public authorities in their support of the food banks. Jean-M. Delmelle was impressed by the quality of the welcome and the dynamism of the Lithuanian team.
Anne Renard
POLAND
Celebration of World Food Day
World Food Day, celebrated on October 16th, was the opportunity of launching many actions to remind the Polish society that the solution to the problem of lack of food also depends on the fight against waste.
A march against hunger was organized in the streets of Warsaw, relayed by the press. Actors and volunteers, dressed as food products, and carrying food and banners calling the public not to waste food. This march against hunger ended with a distribution of food, collected by the Warsaw Food Bank, to the most deprived.
On "World Food Day", 115 tons of food were given to the Food Banks by about 20 businesses.
On that same October 16th, the Polish Federation gave the Jacek Kuron award to the group Price Waters Coopers in appreciation for its work of "lobbying" on the taxation of food donations. In fact, thanks to PWC experts, food producers will not have to pay any VAT on food donations, an important step that will give more opportunity to fight against waste and help those who suffer from malnutrition.
Bon Apetito!
The Polish Federation and Adobe have joined forces to promote good eating habits and good food management. On a website, the "Bon Apetito" proposes a series of simple recipes allowing to cook, in a good mood, with what we have on hand in the kitchen!
Source Maria Gosiewski
UNITED KINGDOM
On Friday 23rd October, FareShare, in partnership with the Food and Drink Federation, launched its “10,000 pallet challenge” to the food industry, with the aim of encouraging the industry to get more food that would be sent for waste disposal to people in the community who really need it.
Tony Lowe, CEO, FareShare says:
“The food industry has put enormous effort into ensuring that the front end of its supply chain, that is purchasing and manufacture, is as ethical as possible. However, very little has been done to address the ethical issues when it comes to disposal of its products. We know good food is being wasted and we are challenging the food industry to complete its ethical supply chain by ensuring that food that cannot be sold but can be eaten always goes to people first, as not to do so, when there is an opportunity, would be a scandal. The more companies come on board and use FareShare’s services, the more food FareShare can redistribute, the more people FareShare can
reach and the greater the impact on our society and the environment.”
Meeting the 10,000 pallets target will enable the charity to:
• Double the number of people receiving food to 60,000 individuals a day
• Increase the number of meals it is contributing towards to 14 million
• Help businesses reduce CO2 emissions by 25,000 tonnes
• Help businesses reduce their waste costs
Maria Kortbech-Olesen
News from the EUROPEAN FEDERATION
3rd Kraft Foods Donation
The Kraft Foods Company and the Kraft Foundation, as part of their program to support local communities, just made a third donation of 104 000 Euros to finance the recruitment and organization of volunteers in the Food Banks of four Central European countries involved in the project: Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.
For the record, the first donation was used to purchase vehicles in these four countries as well as in the Czech Republic, and the last year donation for the study and development of communication tools to:
- make the general public aware of the fight against food waste and of the role of the Food Banks,
- develop relationships with suppliers to increase the quantity and variety of the supplies.
In terms of supplies the objectives have been exceeded in Hungary, Lithuania and Poland. In Slovakia, the study is completed and the action plan is underway. Thanks to the Kraft Foods support, Lithuania plans to develop the business in 3 cities (Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda) and Slovakia in 8 cities (Bratislava, Banka Bystrica, Kosice, Presov, Zilina, Trencin, Nitra and Trnava).
Aude Alston
Denmark
A visit to the Copenhagen Food Bank in early December 2009 allowed to measure the progress made last year by Thomas Fremming to help the development of the Food Bank: A team of young volunteers is in place and a storage service as well as the supplying of food products will be provided by a large Danish food group by the end of 2009. Efforts must now focus on collects of food products from a greater number of donors, and a research for more sustainable funding to ensure the daily needs of the Food Bank.
The operations being initiated, it is hoped that new donors will realize, by this example, how this great enterprise is justified and that they will give their support very soon.
Annie Javerzac
Sweden
Taking advantage of our trip to Copenhagen, a short visit was made with Th. Fremming to a charitable association based in Lund near Malmö in Sweden, just across the bridge over the Baltic Sea. The purpose was to discuss the merits of establishing a Food Bank in this part of Sweden. We received a very warm welcome, and it is planned to organize a meeting with all the charitable organizations of the region in the coming months to promote the idea and try to establish the foundations of a Food Bank in the area. This work will be done with the support of the neighbouring Copenhagen Food Bank, as those two regions are closely linked.
Annie Javerzac
Estonia
Actions needed to create a food bank in Tallinn have been undertaken by Leni and Piet : a meeting with the charitable organizations was held in October to present the project, the draft statutes were prepared in December, and contacts were made for the financing and donations of products from the banks and the people involved in food distribution.
A follow-up meeting should take place in the Spring, during a seminar concerning safety and food hygiene.
Annie Javerzac
Slovenia
An initial contact was made in Ljubljana in October with two European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) Slovenia officials. The concept and the importance of the Food Banks were submitted to them as well as to the Minister of Social Affairs and to the Red Cross. Both are interested and are trying to find new contacts in the country.
To visualize the situation more clearly, a visit to the Food Bank of Udine, Italy, is planned in January, thanks to the kindness of our Italian friends. A new trip to Slovenia is expected in March to support the work of our sponsors.
Gérard Alix
Romania
Aude Alston and Raymond Vaillant traveled to Cluj-Napoca, Gherla and Bucharest from November 23rd to 25th 2009. Their trip was intended to help Daniel Zegrean to build relationships with sponsors and potential suppliers and to explore possibilities of setting up a warehouse. In Cluj-Napoca: besides the President of the General Council and the Mayor of Gherla who are committed to support the project, they met :
-The Director of the Agro Transylvania Center (storage area for food products) and the DTL Company who confirmed that Mr. Heyndericxk, already a sponsor of the Hungarian Food Bank, would participate in the financing of the warehouse.
-Cluj Caritas officials, and members of an association in Gherla helping 250 poor Rom families, elderly people and persons with insufficient housing.
In Bucharest, they met :
- The General Manager and a Cargill lawyer from Romania / Bulgaria and the Kraft Foods representative from Romania / Bulgaria who will study the possibility to get some help on a local budget, in addition to what is expected at the EU and US level for Cargill.
- The CORA Bucharest Director and the CORA Cluj Director who will provide food products, computer equipment and used furniture.
- The Romanian Red Cross responsibles.
They received a very favourable welcome and the promised material and financial help, as well as advice, is in the process of being carried out.
Raymond Vaillant
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