Food poverty: there is an alarm for needy families. In three years, requests for help from Franciscan canteens have increased by 135%.

ROME – Food aid for families up by 135% compared to 2019 and by 18% compared to 2021. These are the data recorded, relating to 2022, by the National Franciscan Network of Operation Bread and disseminated on the occasion of the World Family Daywhich falls on May 15th. The network, made up of 18 structures throughout Italy, has come to distribute the important figure of over 4,400 food baskets every month. An average of 143 a day. “A sign that the economic repercussions of the pandemic and international events continue to be felt, especially on those starting from an already fragile situation, and that today they are affecting families in an alarming way” comments the director of the Antoniano Giampaolo Cavalli. It is a worsening of the economic situation also detected by Istat: in 2022, in fact, the people who declare an impoverishment compared to the previous year reach the highest level ever recorded (35.1%), continuously growing since 2019.

More and more urgent economic support. Families who turn to the 18 structures of Operation Bread Above all, they are asking for food support, but, increasingly, also economic support to meet the many expenses they have to bear, especially if they have children: bills, school canteens, school materials, medical expenses. Essential expenses that have been increasingly difficult to bear alone since the Covid emergency, as demonstrated by Istat data, according to which in 2020 the spending of municipalities for the poverty area increased by 72.9%. Almost to trace the analysis of the network Operation Breadthe item of expenditure that recorded the most consistent increase is that of “shopping vouchers or meal vouchers”, but also the contributions to support family income increased sharply, of which 43% went to families with children.

Work done so far. Operation Bread – the Campaign of Antonian, the association inspired by Franciscan values ​​that supports soup kitchens in Italy and around the world that welcome those who have lost everything and need help every day – in 2022, it was able to reach and help around 1,400 families, including more than 800 mothers, almost 700 fathers and 1,500 children. And it is this last fact that is most worrying. Indeed, it is more difficult for children who grow up in poverty to do well in school and enjoy good health; moreover, these children risk more than the others of becoming adults below the poverty line, without a job. According to Unicef ​​data, in 2021 in Italy almost 30% of minors were at risk of poverty.

There are also single adults. also the But if the data on families is what is most striking, we should not forget the single adults who turn to the Franciscan canteens for a hot meal, which are also constantly increasing. In 2022, in fact, there were almost 39,000 hot meals distributed every month by Operation Bread – up 6% compared to the previous year – which reached almost 7,000 people (+10% from 2021).