Food aid in Europe in times of the COVID-19 crisis An international survey project

Abstract

Food aid has become an integral part of welfare states across Europe, which was particularly striking during the socio-economic COVID-19 crisis. So far, however, there has been little cross-national research on how food aid is organised and em- bedded in European welfare arrangements. The international project "Food aid in Europe in times of the COVID-19 crisis" therefore addressed this research gap by conducting a cross-sectional survey and collecting quantitative data on food aid in different European countries at the same time (Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain). Our findings show that food aid has diverse links to the welfare state arrangement despite different country contexts, indicating that food aid is becoming institutionalised across Europe. During the COVID-19 crisis, these links seem to have strengthened. Our findings also point to a significant role of the Fund for European Aid to the Deprived (FEAD) in food aid.