The Rise of Food Charity in Europe

The ability to acquire or consume an adequate quality, or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, has become a widespread problem for growing numbers of Britain’s population since 2010. The 2008 financial crisis, ongoing ‘austerity’ and welfare ‘reform’ have all contributed to this burgeoning global phenomenon in wealthier countries, with hardship and hunger intensifying across Europe. Editors Hannah Lambie-Mumford and Tiina Silvasti provide a seminal and timely contribution to current food poverty literature in collating comprehensive, in-depth case studies of the charitable food aid landscape in seven European states: Finland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. Bringing together the work of leading academics in a single volume, they draw comparisons on the history of charitable food aid; the relationship between charities and the welfare state; social policy changes and attendant impacts; and the nature of the systemic driving forces of contemporary charitable food assistance.