The number of food aid beneficiaries continues to increase in French-speaking Switzerland. In Valais, the question particularly worries associations, because donations of unsold items are increasingly rare and collections are increasingly complicated.
A change of life, the loss of a job, health concerns and finally piling up bills, the reasons that push everyone into financial distress can be numerous.
And the observation is general in French-speaking Switzerland: food insecurity is gaining ground and associations are seeing an increase in the number of beneficiaries. For example, in the Valais point of sale of the Swiss Worker Mutual Aid Organization in Sion, daily attendance jumped by 70% in three years.
“Everything is increasing: electricity, health insurance, foodstuffs as well. This is leading more and more people to resort to distributions,” explains Guillaume Sonnati, adult sector manager of OSEO, on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Valais.
Food collections getting complicated
And if the beneficiaries increase, the collection of food becomes more complicated for certain associations. Swiss aid networks have become concerned in recent months that the number of donations of unsold food products has decreased. For Guillaume Sonatti, “the world is getting tougher for everyone and everyone wants to make some margin, to avoid losses.”
According to him, distributors buy smaller stocks of food in order to meet the needs of their customers as closely as possible.
>> Also listen to Guillaume Sonnati, adult sector manager at OSEO-Valais, in the 12:30 p.m.
Difficulties felt on the ground
Volunteers from Tables du Rhône go around the shops in Chablais every day to collect unsold items. But in recent years, negative responses have become more frequent.
In the field, they make multiple stops and kilometers to supply their distribution center. “Before, it was easy (…). Today, we really have to make an effort to communicate and travel to look for these goods. We go to market gardeners and producers to compensate for this lack of harvest,” notes Jean-Jacques Claeys, volunteer at Tables du Rhône.
The distributors contacted by 7:30 p.m. assure for their part that the volume of foodstuffs distributed to associations is increasing.
>> Read also: Food aid, a necessity for more and more people in Switzerland
TV and radio topics: Cédric Jordan and Emilien Verdon
Web adaptation: msa
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