EU to increase food aid for the poor
In the wake of the recent sharp increases in food prices, the EU has announced it is to beef up its aid scheme for the poor by 70 percent, to roughly €500 million.
"The recent hike in food prices has hit every one of us, in particular the most underprivileged members of our society," agriculture commissioner Marian Fischer Boel told a news conference on Wednesday (17 September). "
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"We cannot resolve all food poverty in the EU, but we can make a significant contribution," she added.
Around 43 million people throughout Europe cannot afford to buy meat or fish every day, according to the commission.
If approved by the block's agriculture ministers, spending on the EU food aid scheme would rise to €500 million in 2009 from the €310 million earmarked for 2008.
Italy benefits from the biggest share of the aid scheme at present, receiving some €70 million a year. Spain and France are also major recipients of the programme.
Aid is provided to a wide range of people living in poverty, including the elderly, homeless, disabled, migrant workers and asylum seekers in 19 of the EU's 27 countries. Austria, Britain, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and the Netherlands do not participate in the scheme.
The aid scheme was set up in 1987, at a time when the EU maintained a huge stockpile of farm products. But the recent reshaping of agriculture policies has reduced these stockpiles to "an all-time low", the commission said in a statement.
Mrs Fischer Boel said the current food plan would be expanded to include fruit, vegetables and cooking oil. Produce will come from surplus stocks or be bought on the open market.