Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany — Lilifer Kus works five days a week at a butcher’s shop, but every Thursday morning she can be found at her local

Germany’s hidden hunger

submited by

Style Pass

2021-08-21 10:30:05

Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany — Lilifer Kus works five days a week at a butcher’s shop, but every Thursday morning she can be found at her local food bank, collecting the supplies she needs to feed her family.

Kus, 46, has been coming to the food bank (known in Germany as a “Tafel”) in Fürstenfeldbruck, a town half an hour from the southern German city of Munich, since 2011.

She’s one of around 150 people who visit this food bank every week – mothers and fathers, pensioners and refugees. Like the others, she doesn’t have enough money to feed herself and her family.

This is one of more than 930 food banks affiliated with the centralized federation of German food banks. Around 1.5 million people are supported by affiliated Tafeln across the country, with countless more served by independent food banks. And according to a survey carried out by the federation in 2016, demand is growing.

Munich and its surrounding area are home to six of Germany’s 10 wealthiest districts. But this region is also home to 18 food banks. Fürstenfeldbruck is one of them.