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Die Tafel distributes supermarkets from all over the country to the poorest. Last year, the number of beneficiaries increased by 10%.
From our correspondent in Berlin , Nathalie Versieux
At Die Tafel, the name of an association that means "the table", the beneficiaries are called customers. For one euro and after long queues, the poorest receive twice a week packets of food, unsold goods recovered by volunteers from supermarkets.
First-timers at distribution points receive potatoes, bananas and bread, which are in high demand. To register, you have to justify living social minimums.
Launched 14 years ago, the movement has continued to grow. Today, 1.65 million people in Germany benefit from these almost free food distributions.
The worrying increase of very young beneficiaries
Single mothers raising their children, retirees and people of immigrant background are the most numerous. Last year, the number of retirees rose by 20%, leaving the threat of a serious crisis of poverty among seniors.
" The poverty of pensioners will catch us with violence like today's climate crisis, " insists the head of the Tafel. The stagnation of pensions and the taking into account of long years of unemployment in the calculation of pensions would explain this progression. But the Tafel are also worried about another phenomenon, at the other end of the age pyramid: last year, 50,000 children and adolescents joined the number of beneficiaries.