The volunteers from the Tafel work on the poster.
Since the beginning of the Urkaine War, the workload has increased rapidly.
Freising
– An influx of refugees from Ukraine, helpers on the attack, declining food donations – the food banks are currently facing major challenges.
Against this background, MdL Benno Zierer (FW) invited representatives of the food banks from Freising and the administrative districts Dachau and Erding to exchange experiences.
Peter Zilles, chairman of the regional association Tafel Bayern, also took part in the meeting in Freising, reports on the office of Benno Zierer.
At around ten percent of the 170 Bavarian food banks, the number of customers has more than doubled since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
This includes the Freisinger Tafel, which has now taken a four-week break.
During this time there is no food distribution, the needy receive shopping vouchers from donations: "We have to let our people catch their breath," explained Chairman Manfred Schimmerer.
Customers of the table are already divided into groups
In Erding, they have started to divide the customers into groups.
They get groceries fortnightly instead of weekly to equalize spending.
"Our volunteers are on the attack," reported Petra Bauernfeind, chairwoman of the Erding Neighborhood Aid.
In autumn and winter, the Tafel representatives expect even more visitors.
"The rising prices will bring the lower middle class to the food banks," predicted Peter Zilles.
The demand can currently only be covered by buying groceries, which is controversial among the food bank organizations.
"The basic idea is to save food from being thrown away," recalled Seppo Schmid, head of operations at the Dorfen food bank.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
In the long term, the volume of food donations from retailers could decrease because they try to let fewer goods reach the end of their shelf life for cost and image reasons.
Edda Third Price, chairwoman of the Dachauer Tafel, has already experienced this: "The food retailers have less surplus quantities because they plan differently." That's why the Tafel want to approach producers directly, because there are surpluses there too.
More than 20 percent of food losses occur during production and processing.
The problem: The bars receive larger quantities from producers than from local dealers.
"If there are special items, we often have too much of a product," reported Bauernfeind.
The solution should be food bank associations and better logistics for the state association.
Zilles is hoping for support from politicians.
Zierer was open to this and recalled that the state government and the coalition factions of FW and CSU had supported the food banks with an additional 700,000 euros in recent years.
Peter Zilles and many Tafel representatives also hoped for a mandatory social year for young people, which is also on the agenda of the FW, as Zierer emphasized.
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.