Soup kitchens are increasingly underfunded to help those who can't afford to eat. One cut after another, at the expense of 5 million Italians (photo)

But beyond the responsibilities of politicians, there's also our indifference. Charities do extraordinary work, without which there would be much more poverty in Italy. Here's how we can help them.

di |
cuts to funding for the poor

CUTS TO FUNDS FOR THE POOR

Entering a soup kitchen It's a unique experience. A real and vital contact with a part of ourselves, men and women, that we simply can't see. It's here, in a soup kitchen, that the super-poor, or so-called, meet. absolute poor, as they are not even able to eat and nourish themselves regularly: in Italy they are 5 millionAnd they are increasing, with the paradox that one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN, to eliminate hunger worldwide by 2030, risks being a pure chimera, or wishful thinking, not only in the countries that are among the least advanced, like many African nations, but even in those that are among the most industrialized and wealthy, like Italy.

ALSO READ: The most serious scandal: the food we waste. How can we save it? How can we recover it? How can we donate it? All the answers are in our manifesto book.

Charitable organizations in Italy

Five million men and women without food represent a national shame, a scandal, a "discarded" people, the counterpart of other "discards", the most inappropriate, starting from food that we throw in the garbage and waste everywhere. How do they survive?, this is the question that each of us should ask ourselves, 5 million people reduced to these conditions? They manage, obviously, but first of all they are clinging, like shipwrecked people attached to a life raft, to extraordinary network, a true Italian identity, of the charitable organizations, spread like wildfire across the peninsula, from north to south. You can be sure that in Italy there isn't a single city, municipality, hamlet, or village where a thread of the network isn't stretched, helping, among other emergencies, those without food. Even providing access, from morning to night, to a soup kitchen.

The Italians are moving forward in this extraordinary march of sharing and solidarity more genuine, but politics instead seems to be taking steps backwards, as if the problem of those who cannot eat were overestimated or solved. For example, there is a National Fund, at Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for providing several million euros per year for food aid, including soup kitchens. It's a shame that since 2015, when the National Food Aid Fund could count on 11,5 million euros, year after year, the allocations have been halved. Less and less.

cuts to funding for the poor 1

(Photo credit: Food bank)

TO KNOW MORE: The story of Mirella, 73 years old: her sister dies and she dedicates herself to soup kitchens for the poor and homeless (photo)

CANTEENS FOR THE POOR IN ITALY

Having placed the blame on politics for the faults that belong to the political class, let's see what the errors are. Indifference is a form of error, even among the most serious, that we citizens sometimes commit. With due exceptions, as we have said, for example, with regard to the volunteers who sacrifice themselves by working in the wide range of welfare services provided by charities, starting with soup kitchens.

Take a simple test on the web, spending a few minutes (it's time you don't want to waste) to see what three of these organizations do up close: I chose them because I know them well, up close, I've visited them and talked about them often: Caritas, Community of Sant'Egidio e Food BankVisit the pages of Caritas Rome and see the long list of soup kitchens in the Italian capital that function every day only thanks to Caritas volunteers. Or discover the beauty and strength, as an example to all, of Refectory for the poor of the chef Massimo Bottura and the director Dario Rampello, which is part of the many, many assistance services for the poor offered by Caritas Milan, the richest metropolis in Italy. Then navigate the universe of the Community of Sant'Egidio, whose mission is to help our "poor brothers": note the combination, the poor are "brothers" and not distant unknown relatives. Here too, among the many forms of assistance, there are soup kitchens and other places to host those who lack food and are unable to eat regularly. Finally, don't miss the 829 charities (imagine putting them in single file, and then you'll understand what we're talking about) that the Food Bank helps by collecting and recovering, every year and always thanks to generous volunteers, over 20 million euros worth of food products perfectly edibles and intended for the trashThe mechanism is so simple that it simply needs to be replicated: with one hand, leftover food is collected, thus avoiding waste, and with the other, it is donated to those in need, soup kitchens and charities in general, without which poverty in Italy would be much more severe and murderous.

Once you've finished your visit, ask yourself just two questions: And me? Do I do something? If you're already doing something, what you've read in this article might help you do better and more, or you might already be familiar with it. If you haven't done anything yet and want to try, just click on the sections titled What you can do, by Caritas, the Community of Sant'Egidio, and the Food Bank (I repeat: these are just the stories I know best, but the experiences of volunteers fighting hunger and poverty are truly remarkable). waste of food (There are many in Italy and everywhere) and perhaps you will be happy with a new, exciting experience. With others and for others.

(The cover image is taken from the Facebook page . of Caritas Diocese of Rome)

STORIES OF THOSE WHO WORK EVERY DAY TO HELP THE POOR:

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste