In some places there is a lack of food to distribute and in others it is not possible to spend all the money available. The new system imagined by Spanish government for the distribution of basic foodstuffs to disadvantaged families, that of wallet cards, produces a balance sheet which shows an obvious imbalance: there are enough for people who meet the established requirement, to the point that it does not cannot be executed 100 percent, but there are There are fewer resources for entities to reach out to others.
Until 2024, the food distribution system was the one that governed a large part of the old continent, since it was supported by European funds. It was him European Fund Aid to disadvantaged people, known as FEAD. Through this system, the Medina Azahara Food Bank received food for the people that the entity had requested with the report of a social worker in hand, as the vice president of the institution explained: Juan Jose Cas.
It was a very large quantity, which was approximately 800 tons of food per year, which represented 33% of the work of the entity, which does not deliver the products directly, but distributes them between institutions (Caritassoup kitchens, shelters) who in turn send them to their beneficiaries. This is their way of doing things.
The food distribution system is the one that almost all European countries still have, said Juan José Cas, who explained how, for this year 2024, the government has decided to change the form of distribution for a system in which beneficiary families would receive a card holder rechargeable with which they could go to certain supermarkets to buy food.
The explanation was, said food bank vice-president Medina Azahara, that they wanted to “dignify” the attention given to these people and avoid the image of what are called “the queues of hunger”, that is, the queue of people who go to a social institution to get food, which leads to stigmatization and problems for those who have to go. It has been given a new name, so that it is now called the European Social Fund Plus for Basic Material Assistance, and is known as the Core Programme.
The conditions of the new system have already led entities like the Food Bank to warn that there would be problems, especially because they established very specific conditions for beneficiaries: they had to be families with children. minors in his charge, and this excluded people who were not in this situation, of whom there were many.
The system created by the central government leaves families with dependent children as beneficiaries and excludes others.
Among those who completed the 18 years old and the elderly live, for example, with their parents. In other words, the range of people served must necessarily be more restricted, and it shows.
They must receive cards that are recharged and with them go and buy them themselves at the supermarketslike any other citizen, even if the method of payment and origin are different.
The Spanish government made it possible thanks to a grant to Red Crosswho would receive money and which would then have to be carried out by giving wallet cards to arrivals referred by the Social Services of the Municipal councils and the Provincial Council, in the case of municipalities with a population of less than 20,000 inhabitants. Figures show that, as the program is set to end this year, 35 percent of the money received in Córdoba has not yet been implemented.
The Red Cross has 1,713,552.80 euros to manage wallet cards in Cordoba, but it does so when derivative cases arrive. The nuance is important: families who receive help arrive after the case has been handled by a social worker from Córdoba City Hall, one of the main centers or the Deputation Provincial.
Card holders arrive at the Red Cross after orientation by municipal Social Services
Everything is done through the different sectors of Social Services, and a total of 1,392 families have arrived, for which an amount of 1,101,240 euros has been committed. In other words, the rest, more than 612,000 euros, as confirmed by Red Cross sources, has not yet been executed and no one has benefited from cards to buy food and health products. first necessity. This is 35% of what was received.
“This money is what is allocated to the cards, it is the budget which is intended for the references”, indicated the same sources, who explained that it is the families who meet the conditions according to the estimate made by the Social services of public administration. In this case, local and provincial.
“We do not carry out an assessment, we check that it is documented, that it is in good standing, that it is one of the possible beneficiaries. Neither the development nor the end of the execution of the budget depends on the Red Cross”, they affirmed. In other words, it cannot be executed if it is not first submitted to the families. This It is not the assistance entity that decides, but the Social Services that provide guidance.
Additionally, the program also establishes how it will be distributed based on the number of people who are part of the family unit. It’s 130 euros per month for two people, 160 for three people, 190 for four people and 220 for five or more people.
Gaps
It is also a system compatible with the reception of other types of public aid for those who find themselves in this situation. This is done using cards that can be reloaded every quarter, but whose management must be ensured by the Red Cross, as the entity chosen by the Government to carry out this food access policy.
It is not just about giving money for food or basic necessities, since beneficiaries are entitled to support measures framed in a personalized itinerary for their social inclusion.
With the filter put in place by the government, only 65 percent of the planned budget in Córdoba has been reached, but that does not mean that there are not people who would need food and could not. to have.
The vice president of the Medina Azahara Food Bank, Juan José Cas, says: “What is true is that we receive many institutions that tell us that there are families with children under 16 years old who don’t give them cards either. “They also join the elderly.
Until 2023, the European Union fund provided a significant part of the food, which was then distributed
The fact that the food that was arriving does not arrive does not hinder the work of the institution which has its headquarters in the old municipal markets. Yes, a high percentage, which was 33 percent. Now we can’t go that far, but what is perceived by the entities that distribute food to people and families is that many are left behind. out.
That is to say: what is received decreases, but not the needs of those who should benefit from the aid. “Many families receive nothing, neither food from Europe nor wallet cards,” lamented Juan José Cas.
Everything can change from next year, since it is expected to pass into the hands of the Autonomous administrations. In this case, Junta of Andalusiawhich would channel the money so that it reaches the institutions that must distribute it based on the social criteria used to decide which families qualify to have access to wallet cards and which do not.
