Introduction

In order to frame the current phenomenon of food aid in Spain, it is important to identify the resources to which people resort when they can find no way to satisfy their basic needs through the labour market. Over the last decade, the Spanish income guarantee system has stagnated and cannot now meet the needs of many people living in poverty (FOESSA, 2014). The first strategy or resource for households – and a very valuable one for those facing specific difficulties, such as a mortgage payment, a particular bill or food expenses – is the family network, though not everyone has access to this. Particularly at the start of the economic crisis, this was a genuine form of micro-solidarity which showed that it is possible to cope with emergencies (Pérez de Armino, 2014). However, after this initial stage, family networks showed signs of exhaustion (Martínez Virto, 2014a, 2014b), and the third sector took on a greater role in addressing the right to food of people who are at risk of exclusion.

It is also vital to note that third sector entities have played different roles in supporting such access to food. It is particularly important to distinguish between, on the one hand, cases where these organisations acted in collaboration with the existing food distribution network – which is organised in Spain by the Spanish Red Cross and the Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL) – and, on the other hand, certain organisations that obtain their own food donations to distribute, or negotiate discount card systems with commercial networks (to provide food at lower prices to deprived people). In the first case, where nongovernmental organisations act as collaborators with the network, their role is largely predetermined by Spanish government legislation that regulates the distribution of aid from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Under the framework of the 2017 FEAD operational programme, the number of collaborating organisations receiving food from the 56 FESBAL food banks and the Red Cross was 5,977 (1,390 organisations that offer cooked meals and 4,587 organisations that distribute food) (MAPAMA, 2017). In the second case – where they act independently – their activities are not covered by state legislation.