Hunger and nutritional poverty in Germany: quantitative and qualitative empirical insights

Abstract

Despite increasing social inequality, hunger and nutritional poverty are not regarded as phenomena of German reality; Germany's debate on eating patterns is largely dominated by the issue of obesity. The article challenges this view and shows by means of empirical approaches that hunger and nutritional poverty tend to be underestimated in a supposedly affluent society. Due to a lack of appropriate food research in Germany, our study gives quantitative evidence drawn from a combination of studies to show that there is nutritional poverty in Germany, and that social welfare recipients are widely excluded from eating out, arguably an essential form of social and cultural participation. Furthermore, we provide insights, based on a qualitative longitudinal study, into day-to-day coping practices in response to food shortage. As the empirical results show, physiological hunger and hunger for social inclusion by eating out are a reality in contemporary German society. The predominant responses of the German political and social welfare system, however, can be characterised by delegation and denial of the problem and by a tendency to stigmatise the poor.

An explorative cross-sectional study examining self-reported health and nutritional status of disadvantaged people using food banks in Germany

“…In addition, the relatively high education level among our sample might have been caused by our study procedures. It is possible that food bank clients with lower educational status were hesitant in participating, a fact that has been repeatedly described [4, 24, 39]. Another possible selection bias could have occurred by using a Russian questionnaire in Fulda and having a Turkish speaking researcher in Berlin.…”

“…Elderlies cooperation rates can also be limited because of diverse physical (poor eyesight, impaired hearing, being chair or bed-ridden) and health problems (dementia) [8]. In the second German national nutrition survey (NVS II), migrants, residents in institutions, persons without a permanent home, children under the age of 14, families with children, and elderly living on their own are clearly underrepresented [24]. This potentially leads to an underrepresentation of poor people and population groups at a higher risk of nutritional poverty [13].…”

Food for thought: An ethnographic study of negotiating ill health and food insecurity in a UK foodbank

“…In Germany increasing numbers of people have been seen accessing food aid (Tinnemann et al, 2012). This is supported by evidence from Pfeiffer et al (2011) who point to existing circumstantial evidence of the increase of food banks in Germany, and go on to explore the range of mechanisms German households employ to manage experiences of food insecurity (including reducing the quantity or quality of food purchased and eaten, food bank use and turning to friends and family).…”

Nueve años de hartz iv: evaluación de una reforma del bienestar

“…Interacting with welfare institutions, the Hartz IV beneficiaries show divergent rationality patterns in contact with the poverty institutions (submissive behavior, cooperation as pseudo-work, superficial adaptiveness, legitimate basic income with no reciprocity requirements, tit for tat, market chance improvement, self improvement, see Wenzel 2008), not all of which are suitable for the intentions of activation policies. There still are actual problems of hunger under Hartz IV, in two respects: First, indirectly, as the social event of eating out is absolutely restricted by budget scarcity, and the people concerned may face a loss of social relations otherwise maintained by the social ritual of eating out (Hirseland et al 2011), but there is also direct scarcity of food, when mainly mothers eat less or worse from mid-month on to allow their schoolchildren more budget for clothes and school activity participation in order to avoid stigmatization (ibid., Bosch 2010). Coming back to the unemployed in the Hartz IV system: Vocational or professional identities rooted in vocational training during adulthood seem to stabilize the self-perception, self-effectiveness, labouring capacity and employability even through long periods of unemployment (Hirseland 2010), while non-participation in labour again evokes the destructuring powers on everyday life,…”