The Suspicious Finances of the International Food Bank Monopoly

The “Preface” describes that the author received a PhD in geography before traveling around doing some sort of personal research into Third World food bank systems. It is unclear if he was employed in a job in this system that might have biased his perspective. His CV at the Wright State University where he is a Professor of Social Sciences or Geography clarifies that he has been employed in academia since finishing his PhD in 2011, without any significant positions abroad.
Most of the “Introduction” is cyclical as it repeats general-knowledge ideas, such as: “In cities, food access is strongly associated with income and the capacity to buy food in the cash economy.” One has to read many paragraphs to arrive at a statistic such as: “statistics from 2018 state that food banks may reduce as little as 1 to 3 percent of food waste across the world’s regions.” Then, a long digression about the theory of what impact Covid had on this system follows, with few concreate statistics. “Chapter 1” eventually introduces some history, or that the “first food bank was founded in Arizona in 1967, when a retired Phoenix businessman named John van Hengel stored food in a warehouse to give to the hungry.” Apparently, he was inspired with this idea when a woman who ate from dumpsters told him about her approach, and he decided that instead of putting expired/spoiled food in dumpsters he could store it in a warehouse. This is an absurd idea as it would make more sense for grocery stores and restaurants that have food that is about to go bad to immediately give it away to the poor, as opposed to spending money to ship it somewhere so that it can sit on a shelf and continue rotting. This system makes some sense when one realizes that it has been used to subsidize American food producers (or to give welfare to food businesses, with any feeding of the hungry being a side effect of this goal). “In the 1970s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched its Emergency Food Assistance Program to stabilize agricultural markets, which led to an excess in food commodities and set the stage for food banks to manage that excess.” The profitability of this business is apparent since Feeding America’s revenue in 2022 was “$4.2 billion”, supposedly from “serving 6.6 billion meals per year.” It would take feeding 20 meals annually to every American to reach this number. And if this organization actually served this many meals, the cost for collecting, storing and distributing this volume of food would be equivalent to the budgets of all American restaurants combined; McDonald’s made $23 billion in revenue on around 2.36 billion burgers (alongside other foods) in the US in 2022, with the fast food industry making $367 billion. It is logical that McDonald’s makes around $10 per meal sold, but how does Feeding America make $.64 per meal? The poor probably aren’t paying them for these meals, or it wouldn’t be charity. Thus, the government is paying them this sum? What percentage is going to the food producers who are contributing this food to these banks? The few other statistics offered by Warshawsky only confuse this subject, rather than answer these questions. For example, he notes that Feeding American is “reaching more than 53 million people annually”. This would mean that these 53 million people are on average eating 125 meals per year at Feeding. Why only 125 and not every meal? Instead of solving this statistical puzzle, he digresses into their mission statement. The next section puffs the “Globalization of Food Banking”, as it describes this monopoly has branched out internationally as the Global FoodBanking Network. Thus, the same monopoly that has been dominating the feeding of the poor across America is now attempting to profiteer from the funds governments are investing in food insecurity internationally. This section adds that this international branch is sponsored by 88.3 percent “from corporations and foundations”, and 11% by individuals. Seemingly governments are not giving these organizations money. This contradicts previous statements where this system was founded in the government propping up the agricultural sector. The monopoly power of this giant Feeding corporation is not apparent because it delivers its food to thousands of different charitable organizations who then food this food-waste to the poor… There are so many spoiled produce at the grocery stories where I shop that I wish they would donate it to the poor instead of leaving spoiled items for customers, but is that seriously the charitable thing to do?
This book seems to be an advertisement for these food-banks instead of being an honest assessment of this system as the blurb promises. And there is insufficient specific investigative information in these pages to help researchers reading this book figure out what is happening within this system that there are still 12.8% or 44 million Americans in food insecure households. If food banks were solving this problem shouldn’t the billions of meals that they provide be feeding these 12.8% and thus eliminating the problem? On the other hand, if it’s a corrupt system that stores and throws out food waste, while collecting billions from businesses for this disposal… It’s disturbing to think about these problems without a book with sufficient information to really understand them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the University of Iowa Press for the digital ARC of this book.

This is a well-researched book about food banks and their role as a food source for people experiencing food insecurity. It effectively discusses the concept of food deserts, government attempts to cut funding for programs like SNAP and WIC in the United States, and how many institutions view food banks as a solution to both food waste and food insecurity, despite the potential limitations.

The book addresses global issues surrounding food banks and food insecurity in various countries, highlighting different approaches taken worldwide while attempting to emulate the structures of the United States and Europe. It acknowledges that what works in some places may not be applicable in others, such as India, where the food bank system needs adjustments due to the less prominent role of shelf-stable foods in daily consumption.

I learned not only about food banks but also about the reasons behind the US government's support for them, driven by corporate funding. Despite this, the book emphasizes that food banks alone are not the solution to food insecurity. Federal and State funds are still needed to address food, housing, job, and transportation insecurity. It sheds light on the unfortunate reality that food is not recognized as a basic human right in a majority of the world.

I recommend reading this book if you want to delve into the intricacies of the food bank system in the United States and globally, understanding why governments favor food banks despite their limitations in addressing broader issues of insecurity.

The Publication date for this book is 1/2/2024

n academic text, whose title reads like a checklist of the content, Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks explores the global system of food banks in the twenty-first century.

After an introductory chapter, Daniel Warshawsky details the United States food bank system, each chapter that follows looks at the food systems in two nations or regions. For each one, Warshawsky notes the foundation of the organization, sources of food and distribution locations and the challenges of both the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic. The latter was of particular importance in emphasizing Warshawsky’s point about the food banks not being enough to address food insecurity.

This book is definitely for those working in or research food issues. It is a succinct, and at times dry, survey history detailing the development of food banks individually and as part of global organizations. The book details the ways corporation use food banks to handle food waste and appear charitable, but that the resources allocated to food banks are not enough. In the regions of most affluence food banks have the most resources, but a key weakness in their usage is a lack of distribution to reach areas of most need.

Any interesting point that comes up in most chapters is the effect of one, or a small group, of individuals in establishing a food bank based on their own experiences or commitment to reducing waste. Warshawsky includes lots of statistics to make this point, emphasis the amount of food wasted in each nation/region. In discussing the food bank sites, he also demonstrates them as more than just warehouses, as some are integral to their community also service as centers or places of displaying art.

Recommended for those shaping public policy, working in any aspect of the food industry and researchers of the food industry or global systems. Not recommended for the general reader.

Solid Primer On The Concept Marred By Typical Academic Left Leaning Myopia. Quite simply, at roughly 38% documentation across just a 225 page or so text, this is one of the better documented nonfiction books I've come across in quite some time. Indeed, at times it seemed like there were citations on every sentence or maybe just every other sentence, they were that prevalent. So a lot of kudos on that end, and it really helps make the case of what Prof. Warshawsky is showing here in describing how food banks began in different regions around the world and what their current realities are. Through these sections, the book is truly a great resource for seeing just how widespread the idea is now and the various challenges each particular country and region faces in providing these services.

Indeed, the only real flaw here - and yes, it was big enough that it warranted the star deduction - is the typical left leaning (vs outright leftist) myopia common in Academic circles. Over and over and over again, Warshawsky blames corporations as only sponsoring these efforts in order to burnish their own public images and condemns these efforts as stymying truly productive reforms, all without truly looking to a more holistic approach to those very reforms or even to this specific issue. Instead, while so much else of the text is so well documented, that government providing these services is better than private efforts is seen more as a fait accompli never to be questioned or even examined.

So read this text, it really is quite remarkable so far as it goes. But don't let its limitations limit your own imagination. There likely are better solutions to these issues out there - but assuming any one approach will work globally probably isn't going to work, for the very reasons Warshawsky illuminates here. Very much recommended.