One in 10 Italians suffer food poverty - Food Bank at Expo

(ANSA) - Milan, June 30 - One in every 10 Italians suffer from food poverty and can't afford a regular meal, and 1.3 million of those who suffer are minors, said Italian Food Bank Network (IFBN) on Tuesday, during their presentation "Food Poverty Food Bank" at Milan Expo.
    IFBN said 65% of the affiliated organizations it works with in 2014 reported a "moderate" or "strong" increase in demand among the people they serve, including the unemployed, indebted, and families of separation or divorce.
    In fact, the principle cause of poverty in 2014 was due to job loss, according to the statistics presented.
    "Poverty seems to be on its way to becoming chronic in our country, where 47% of affiliated organizations didn't report people leaving poverty, a figure that rises to 57% in the areas of the South where poverty is quantitatively more diffuse and persistent," said IBFN.
    "This data represents the scope of the challenge," said Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina.
    Martina said the Agriculture Ministry brought the total of food distributed to the needy to 100,000 tons for this year, and with the Labour Ministry has allocated more than 400 million euros to the cause of food poverty through the year 2020, "also making the most of European resources," he said.