The biggest challenge Bulgarian society faces is poverty. Poverty, on its part entails a string of negative phenomena such as demographic decline, depopulation of whole regions and emigration.

The growing poverty rate is particularly dangerous and inadmissible when it affects children, depriving them of access to education and of wholesome food. One in two children in Bulgaria are living in poverty. More than one million children, aged 1 to 15 live on a diet that is far less healthy than that of children their age in other European countries. One in three do not eat fresh fruit, vegetables or meat at least once a day, because their families are destitute and cannot afford the balanced and nutritious diet children and teenagers need.

School teachers say that children from families with restricted family budgets go to school with no money in their pockets and have to go hungry.

“We regard the growing poverty as a serious problem and knowing that more than 700,000 children are at risk of poverty and are deprived of a normal, balanced diet, we reached the conclusion that it is these children our efforts should primarily be targeted at,” says Tsanka Milanova, CEO of the Bulgarian Food Bank.

This organization collects, stores and redistributes food for the needy and makes efforts to curb food wastage and reduce hunger in the country. The Bulgarian Food Bank’s programme called Sunday Backpack has been running for two years, but work on it has now been intensified as there is a tangible increase in the number of children at risk. The programme provides food parcels to more than 400 children from the poorest and most economically underdeveloped region – Northwestern Bulgaria, says Tsanka Milanova and adds:

“These are families with more than two children and with parents who are unemployed, people who are finding it difficult to earn a living because, as we know, the social and economic picture in that part of the country is most dramatic. The aim is to provide these families with food parcels when the children are home and the families are finding it difficult to put food on the table. But, most importantly, the programme aims to help keep these children at school so they do not drop out because of the financial problems their families face. Our primary task is to reach out to children who have not dropped out of school. This is the most important criterion for entering the programme. The food we provide is by no means a form of humanitarian aid, it is not support aimed merely at physical survival. We want to help these families. The food we provide should have added value and the support we offer is a way for them to be able to put money aside for other priority needs, which on its part, should mean a stabilization and improved incomes.”

The Bulgarian Food Bank makes efforts every day to salvage food that will otherwise not be sold, as the quantities produced are in excess of the demand.

“This is a resource that must be redistributed among the needy,” says Tsanka Milanova and comments that the Sunday Backpack initiative has nothing to do with the charity movement that has been gaining popularity of leaving food from home in refrigerator display cases in the street for those who need it.

“We all realize that life is getting harder and harder. We see homeless people in the streets, trying to survive somehow. This prompted charitable people to share their food with them. I know that they do this from the heart, that they mean well. This civic initiative is different from what we do, we are an organization that has been developing in partnership with businesses. To guarantee that the food reaching the people who need it is safe, we work following a model used by food manufacturing companies. This model generates much pressure and requires great speed, because we have to redistribute the food before the expiry date. As an organization, we are demanding legislative amendments that would make the food donation process more flexible. This is paramount – unless the surplus food is redistributed in time, this is a great loss to society. The model of surplus food storage can be a great help in combating poverty which is so widespread in this country,” says Tsanka Milanova in conclusion.

English version: Milena Daynova