Food Insecurity and Poverty in Germany

Abstract

As Germany is considered the most powerful economy in the European Union, one would not expect food insecurity to be a German problem. However, rising social inequality means that food insecurity is an increasingly serious problem in the Global North and in otherwise stable European economies. The predominant responses to food insecurity on the part of the German political and social welfare systems can be characterized by delegation and denial of the problem and by a tendency to stigmatize the poor. Food surveys conducted in Germany exclude from their focus key at-risk groups and suggest that unsatisfactory nutrition is merely a self-inflicted problem caused by unhealthy eating patterns. However, a differentiated look at the data points to a more problematic constellation for Germany. For example, in Germany, 46.6% cannot afford a drink or meal with others at least once a month—a very high percentage compared to the rates of the EU27 (28.8%), Greece (18.5%), and the UK (18.2%). Food insecurity could be an intermittent reality for some 7% of Germany’s population. The number of food banks in Germany increased from 480 in 2005 to 916 in 2013, and 60,000 volunteers currently serve food to 1.5 million so-called ‘regular customers’. These numbers alone could be interpreted as evidence of food insecurity in Germany. Understanding individual day-to-day coping strategies of at-risk population groups will help with the development of social policy strategies to minimize food insecurity not only in Germany but also throughout Europe—provided policy-makers care sufficiently about this issue.