Food bank
A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food directly with their food pantries.
St. Mary's Food Bank was the world's first food bank, established in the US in 1967. Since then, many thousands have been set up all over the world. In Europe, their numbers grew rapidly after the global increase in the price of food which began in late 2006, and especially after the 2008 financial crisis began to worsen economic conditions for those on low incomes. Likewise, the inflation and economic crisis of the 2020s has exponentially driven low and even some middle income class consumers to at least partially get their food.
The growth of food banks has been welcomed by commentators who see them as examples of active, caring citizenship. Other academics and commentators have expressed concern that the rise of food banks may erode political support for welfare provision. Researchers have reported that in some cases food banks can be inefficient compared with state-run welfare.
Individuals in lower income areas in the United States who depend on food banks often receive foods that are highly processed and low in nutrients. In the United States, dependence on food banks has led to a rise in obesity and diabetes within the food insecure community. Food insecure individuals living in low-income communities experience higher rates of chronic disease, leading to healthcare costs which create more financial hardships.
Starting in spring 2025, it became even more difficult for people in the United States who depend on food banks to get nourishing food. The Trump administration cut $500 million or about 25 percent less than what was received by food banks from the Emergency Food Assistance Program in 2024. Plus in the summer of 2025 President Trump signed into law the biggest cut in food stamps in the program's history.
Operational models
With thousands of food banks operating around the world, there are many different models.A major distinction between food banks is whether or not they operate on the "front line" model, giving out food directly to the hungry, or whether they operate with the "warehouse" model, supplying food to intermediaries like food pantries, soup kitchens and other front-line organizations. In the US, Australia and to an extent in Canada, the standard model is for food banks to act as warehouses rather than as suppliers to the end user, though there are exceptions. In other countries, food banks usually hand out food parcels direct to hungry people, providing the service that in the US is offered by food pantries.
Another distinction is between the charity model and the labor union model. At least in Canada and the US, food banks run by charities often place relatively more weight on the salvaging of food that would otherwise go to waste, and on encouraging voluntarism, whereas those run by unions can place greater emphasis on feeding the hungry by any means available, on providing work for the unemployed, and on education, especially on explaining to users their civil rights.
In the US, cities will often have a single food bank that acts as a centralized warehouse and will serve several hundred front-line agencies. Like a blood bank, that warehouse serves as a single collection and distribution point for food donations. A food bank operates a lot like a for-profit food distributor, but in this case, it distributes food to charities, not to food retailers. There is often no charge to the charities, but some food banks do charge a small "shared maintenance" fee to help defray the cost of storage and distribution.
For many US food banks, most of their donated food comes from food left over from the normal processes of for-profit companies. It can come from any part of the food chain, e.g. from growers who have produced too much or whose food is not sufficiently visually appealing; from manufacturers who overproduced; or from retailers who over-ordered. Often the product is approaching or past its "sell by" date. In such cases, the food bank liaises with the food industry and with regulators to make sure the food is safe and legal to distribute and eat.
Other sources of food include the general public, sometimes in the form of "food drives", and government programs that buy and distribute excess farm products mostly to help support higher commodity prices. Food banks can also buy food either at market prices or from wholesalers and retailers at discounted prices, often at a cost. Sometimes farmers will allow food banks to send gleaners to salvage leftover crops for free once their primary harvest is complete. A few food banks have even taken over their farms, though such initiatives have not always been successful.
Many food banks do not accept fresh produce, preferring canned or packaged food due to health and safety concerns, though some have tried to change this as part of a growing worldwide awareness of the importance of nutrition. As an example, in 2012, London Food Bank started accepting perishable food, reporting that as well as the obvious health benefits, there were noticeable emotional benefits to recipients when they were given fresh food.
Summer can be a challenging time for food banks, particularly in regions where school children are usually given regular free meals during term time. Spikes in demand can coincide with periods where donations fall due to folk being on holiday.
Worldwide
Since the 1980s food banking has spread around the world. There are over 40 countries and regions with active food bank groups under the umbrella of the Global Food Banking Network. Countries and regions in the international network include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and the UK. There are also several countries with food banks which have not yet joined the network, either because they do not yet meet the required criteria or they have not applied.In Canada, foodbanks underwent a period of rapid growth after the cutbacks in welfare that took place in the mid-1990s. As early as the 1980s, food banks had also begun to spread from the United States to the rest of the world. The first European food bank was founded in France in 1984. In the 1990s and early 2000s, food banks were established in South America, Africa, and Asia, in several cases with van Hengel acting as a consultant. In 2007, The Global Food Banking Network was formed.
United States
History
The world's first food bank was St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona, founded by John van Hengel in 1967. According to sociology professor Janet Poppendieck, the hunger within the US was widely considered to be a solved problem until the mid-1960s. By the mid-sixties, several states had ended the free distribution of federal food surpluses, instead providing an early form of food stamps which had the benefit of allowing recipients to choose food of their liking, rather than having to accept whatever happened to be in surplus at the time. However, there was a minimum charge and some people could not afford the stamps, leading to severe hunger.One response from American society to the rediscovery of hunger was to step up the support provided by soup kitchens and similar civil society food relief agencies – some of these dated back to the Great Depression and earlier. In 1965, while volunteering for a community dining room, van Hengel learned that grocery stores often had to throw away food that had damaged packaging or was near expiration. He started collecting that food for the dining room but soon had too much for that one program. He thought of creating a central location from which any agency can receive donations. Described as a classic case of "if you build it they will come", the first food bank was created with the help of St. Mary's Basilica, which became the namesake of the organization.
Food banks spread across the United States, and Canada. By 1976, van Hengel had established the organization known today as Feeding America. As of the early 21st century, their network of over 200 food banks provides support for 90,000 projects. Other large networks exist such as , created by and World Food Prize nominee Gary Oppenheimer which lists nearly 9,000 food pantries across all 50 states that are eager to receive surplus locally grown garden produce from any of America's 62 million home or community gardeners.
File:Free Soup For the Revolution.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Food Not Bombs, a food bank and distribution cooperative
In the 1980s, U.S. food banks began to grow rapidly. A second response to the "rediscovery" of hunger in the mid-sixties had been extensive lobbying of politicians to improve welfare. Until the 1980s, this approach had a greater impact. In the 1970s, U.S. Federal expenditure on hunger relief grew by about 500%, with food stamps distributed free of charge to those in greatest need. According to Poppendieck, welfare was widely considered preferable to grassroots efforts, as the latter could be unreliable and did not give recipients consumer-style choice in the same way as did food stamps. It also risked recipients feeling humiliated by having to turn to charity. In the early 1980s, Ronald Reagan's administration scaled back welfare provision, leading to a rapid rise in activity from grassroots hunger relief agencies. According to a comprehensive government survey completed in 2002, over 90% of food banks were established in the US after 1981. Poppendieck says that for the first few years after the change, there was vigorous opposition from the left, who argued that state welfare was much more suitable for meeting recipients needs. But in the decades that followed, food banks have become an accepted part of America's response to hunger. Demand for the services of US food banks increased further in the late 1990s, after the "end of welfare as we know it" with Bill Clinton's Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.