food poverty | Kitchen, account, climate

The left-wing top candidate served food during the Berlin election campaign and presented her party's concept for neighborhood canteens with inexpensive meals. Photo: dpa / Stefan Kruse Research into poverty and its consequences is being carried out here and there in Germany. However, appointments are rare where those affected from all over Germany are not only asked to act as individual key witnesses, but can also debate themselves and among themselves. One of the big meetings is taking place in Berlin until this Friday: the summit against inequality. The National Poverty Conference, church, non-profit and trade union institutions and associations have invited people to attend. This time the range of topics ranges from everyday life to leaving basic security for the labor market and responses to right-wing dominance. But housing and food poverty also have a permanent place in thematic workshops.

A round about cuisine, account and climate begins with group work: several shopping baskets have to be evaluated, including a lactose-free selection, a vegan selection and one based on the Planetary Health Diet. The latter describes a healthy diet for a healthy planet and is similar to a classic, predominantly plant-based diet plan, which also includes a small amount of animal products on the plate. There is also an “absolute savings model”, an organic selection and a “balanced” diet in many respects.

"One bag of oatmeal lasts four days."

The participants should evaluate whether the food from the different models shown on small posters would be enough for a week. And whether they cost more than 49 euros. Because this value is approximately the amount that is available to those entitled to citizen's benefit or, since July, basic security under the heading "food and non-alcoholic drinks". A total of 195.39 euros per month is planned here. The first calculation error is that the entire month consists of exactly four weeks - there are still a few days more.

The conversation then shows how used people are to socialize over food when they have little money. “A bag of oatmeal lasts four days,” is one statement, for example. This might be longer for others - if they don't have to eat enough of it and can add all sorts of delicious ingredients such as nuts, seeds or fruit. Big package, little profit, that also applies here: “Have you ever eaten toast when you were really hungry?” Not all foods are the same. In the absolute economy model there is nothing fresh except onions, but a lot of canned goods.

»We are not taught to be frugal. We are forced to be stingy," says Nicola Dülk from Trier, after recounting her constant struggles to always put enough on the table as a single parent for two children - including special offers, preserving fruit and other practices, all of which take a lot of time. »I often ate after the children – when there was something left or what was left at the moment.«

However, given the specified maximum costs for a weekly shop, a number of things are basically missing from all shopping carts: namely coffee, tea, spices, sweets. And it is also not clear how every snack and every meal could be paid for on the go. One of the initial questions for the shopping carts offered was this: "With which selection will there still be money left at the end of the week for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake in a bakery café?" The standard rate for basic security includes 14.71 euros per month for accommodation and restaurant services. It is probably unlikely that you will be able to plan your annual vacation for 176.52 euros. Alternatively, three to four cups of cappuccino out a month.

The solution to the puzzle for some of the shopping baskets: The savings model is available for 19.11 euros, the Planetary Health diet for 36 euros and the organic basket for 45 euros. All others were more expensive than 49 euros. So no cup of coffee on the go – and with others.

Having to save on food also means that many opportunities for community are lost. Cooking courses for families affected by poverty are certainly well-intentioned, but Nicola Dülk, who runs these courses herself, knows that it is not a lack of knowledge and skills - but that the courses are much more important for social participation.

Leliah Karbe is researching the topic at Berlin's Humboldt University. She is familiar with scientific findings that nutritional education “doesn’t do anything.” The political demand is rather to increase the standard rates. Internationally, there are also good experiences - for example from Sweden - with free meals for children in schools and daycare centers, as activist Dülk adds. The neighborhood canteens in large Berlin housing estates announced by the Die Linke party also represent a bit of hope at the conference because, even more than the food banks, they could be a place for people to meet.

This article cost you nothing. We do: for research, printing and technology. We saved on office rent as well as printing and distribution. And we gave up salary. Nevertheless, the calculation doesn't work without you. We need 300,000 euros by the end of the year. You pay what you can, in return we keep writing.

No paywall, no small print, just one goal: that nd stays.