Life is bustling at the Salvation Army’s Warming Room in Ålesund. Some come by to have a chat, have some dinner and social contact. But more and more people come just to pick up food bags. One of them is Valentina Hoponova and her little son Matvej. He is all too familiar with the volunteers who distribute food, and quickly becomes the focal point of the room. – We need help from here to get by, explains the mother. She has fled the war in Ukraine. These food bags were picked up by another single mother from Ukraine with children aged 2 and 4. – This is a great help to me, she says. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news New type of poverty In the report “Food aid at Dugnad”, researchers from Fafo have examined the Norwegian food distribution offer from April to September this year. They have gathered information from nearly 200 food distribution centers and mapped nearly 1,000 food recipients. The picture is clear: More than half of the mapped recipients were families with children. More than half were also new refugees to Norway – mostly from Ukraine or Syria. Also families with children with two dependents, and people in work need food bags to make the finances last, even if the main burden is single breadwinners and people who receive one or another form of benefit. Action needed in many fields Tone Fløtten is the day-to-day manager of Fafo and responsible for the recent report on food aid together with three other researchers. She believes that what they present shows that broad action is needed in several political fields to avoid the development of a poverty in Norway that will not disappear even if interest rates fall and inflation stagnates. – We are used to thinking of Norwegian poverty as a relative phenomenon. This means that one is worse off than the rest, but that one still has the essentials. The fact that there is an increase in people who actually do not have enough food suggests that we may have pockets of absolute poverty in Norway. That people lack the necessities of life. Tone Fløtten is the day-to-day manager of Fafo. Photo: Per Håkon Solberg / news The survey shows that people with part-time or full-time jobs and couples with children also receive food bags, so it is not just single parents who need help. – After all, these are groups that have not usually had a great risk of poverty in Norway. Those who are in work, and those who are couples with children, says Fløtten. She states that the report shows good cooperation between voluntary aid organizations and public institutions in Norway, and that this cooperation must be strengthened going forward. The researcher believes that it is not just a policy area that needs to be looked at in order to do something about the situation, but that both integration, housing, welfare and labor market policies are important. – It is challenging in many areas, and it is of course extra demanding that there are so many families with children who collect food. It goes against what we see as a good upbringing, and against the ideals of social equalization in Norway, she says. Too little food At the Salvation Army’s Warming Room in Ålesund there is very hectic activity every Tuesday. Åse Berg Grønvik writes down name after name in the book where she registers the recipients of food bags. Before, they distributed the bags on both Tuesday and Thursday, but now there is not enough food to distribute on two days. The reason is both that more people need help, and that it is more difficult to get hold of food from shops. Despite the fact that less food comes into the warehouse for the Salvation Army, they still have enough to deliver food once a week. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news A typical food bag is packed by the volunteers – juice, bread, cold cuts and dinner food. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Every day of the week there is dinner at the Salvation Army in Ålesund, despite less access to food. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Grønvik thinks it is a matter of more people than before buying date goods at half price, so there is little left to give away. In the report from Fafo, 69 per cent of the food helpers answer that more people collect food now, compared to the time before the pandemic. – It is very sad that it is like this. Everything is so expensive now, so many people have trouble making ends meet. I think the governing authorities must do something as soon as possible, says Grønvik. Åse Berg Grønvik takes a breather on the ground at Varmestua in Ålesund. Every Tuesday there is very hectic activity when food bags are to be distributed. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news
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Fafo report on food assistance at voluntary work – more than half of the recipients live with children – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
