The high prices of bread, vegetables and other foods are a problem for more and more people. Since 2019, prices in Germany have increased by around 40%. In desperation, many are reaching for what others are throwing away.
The Foodsharing association in Kassel rescues food products from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away. This includes food that has expired or is unsellable for one reason or another. This way, kilograms of unsalable vegetables, fruit and pasta accumulate every day, which the association then distributes free of charge to those in need. The demand is growing, writes ARD.
In the meantime, people from the middle class are also having difficulty securing enough food, they tell the German public media from Foodsharing. Gabriela Regenbogen shares her impressions of the Kirchditmold district in Kassel, where she has been distributing food since 2018. According to her, the clientele in this area has changed significantly. Today, the middle class was experiencing financial difficulties and was happy if they could save something. The district is generally one of the wealthy, but this has long since ceased to be the case for all its residents, she explains.
Recently, she has often heard from people: "How nice that you are here! It's good that you are here, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford this". This concerns organic bread, grapes and other products that are priced higher in supermarkets, writes ARD.
When food causes pain
The problem with rising food prices is now so big that it has also involved the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, notes the German public media. In fact, the bank is very pleased with the development of inflation in general. It includes four areas: energy, services, consumer goods and food.
In three of the sectors, prices are good, only food is not, Christiane Nickel, Deputy Director General of the ECB, told ARD. "Currently, the increase in food prices is around three percent, while in other areas it does not exceed two." Christiane Nickel and her team wanted to find out what is causing this, which is why they commissioned a special study.
It is called "When food causes pain". Because - as Nickel explained - food is a product group that people encounter daily, "because they have to eat". In addition, consumers are constantly confronted with prices and ultimately this burdens them. Everyone knows how much their coffee costs. And any change is felt immediately.
Up to 60 percent increase in food prices
For the study, comparisons were made in food prices since the end of 2019, i.e. before the pandemic. Bankers wanted to understand how inflation is two percent, but on the other hand, people experience completely different sensations in stores.
"It is indeed food prices that give rise to the feeling that everything has simply become more expensive," Christiane Nickel told ARD. Meat prices, for example, have risen by over 30 percent since 2019, milk by 40 percent, butter by 50 percent. Cocoa and chocolate have risen the most - by 60 percent.
"The rise in food prices is mainly due to two factors. On the one hand, high energy prices - since the production of many foods is energy-intensive, respectively, this has a direct impact on prices. However, climate change is also an important factor. The Earth's temperature is rising and this means that, for example, large areas are exposed to drought," explains Nickel. This factor mainly affects the large increase in the price of cocoa and coffee - once entire harvests fail.
Will it be like this forever?
The study covered the entire eurozone and found that the increase in food prices varies quite a bit. Estonia is the record holder with a 57 percent increase, Germany occupies a more average position with 37 percent, and the smallest increase in price is in Cyprus - 20 percent. However, Christiane Nickel does not believe that this spiral will continue to develop in this way.
"Food inflation cannot be avoided, because we have to eat. But the increase in price is not as great as it was after the pandemic," says the expert. She expects that inflation in the food sector will also be anchored at around two percent.
Helping where the system cannot
People with low incomes are much more affected by price increases than those with higher incomes. In low-income households, the percentage of funds spent on basic needs such as food is significantly higher than in wealthier ones.
For the poor, food costs often exceed 20 percent of the budget, ARD reports. And if food prices rise, the funds available for other purposes decrease even more. "Before, our main goal was to save food that could still be used from being thrown away," says Gabriela Regenbogen. This goal is still there now, but it has receded into the background.
The new emphasis is on helping where the system cannot: to provide enough food for everyone. "Food inflation" may sound abstract, but it feels real when the refrigerator is increasingly empty. That is why people are increasingly looking for alternatives and more and more of them are reaching for what others throw away.