food bank

Volunteers sort food at the Greater Boston Food Bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that collects food for distribution to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food directly.

St. Mary's Food Bank was the world's first food bank, established in the US in 1967. Since then, many thousands have been set up all over the world. In Europe, their numbers grew rapidly after the global increase in the price of food which began in late 2006, and especially after the 2008 financial crisis began to worsen economic conditions for those on low incomes. Likewise, the inflation and economic crisis of the 2020s has exponentially driven low and even some middle income class consumers to at least partially get their food.