The Dutch food bank organisation wants the cabinet to give them some of the €3.5bn from a new European fund to combat poverty.

The food banks say they are dealing with a shortage of supplies and increasing demand, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.

The European Commission said at the beginning of this week it has set aside almost €4bn for a new European fund aimed at ‘the most needy’. All 28 members states will get some of the funds over the next seven years to combat poverty.

The Dutch cabinet had earlier resisted calls for a Brussels anti-poverty initiative, arguing it should be up to member states themselves. It is also opposed to food aid, saying it does not combat the causes of poverty.

The government has therefore left millions of euros from Brussels untouched over the past few years. Most other countries have supported their citizens who are living on or below the poverty line, the Volkskrant states.

Isolation

The new fund can also be used for initiatives to help the very poor out of social isolation, which is why the government has now agreed to make use of the cash, the Volkskrant says. This, ministers say, is a more effective means of combating poverty.

The government believes food banks should be stocked from supermarket and catering trade surpluses.

‘Children are going to school without food. I do not understand why the cabinet cannot support us on a temporary basis and spend some of the new EU money,’ the food bank organisation’s chairman Leo Wijbelt told the paper.