Berlin: EStà brings the issue of food poverty to the 2026 Agricultural Transition Festival

Background

The Heinrich Böll Foundation invited EStà to contribute to the ‘Fest der Agrarwende’ 2026, or the ‘Agricultural Transition Festival’, held in Berlin on 17 January 2026.

This cultural event welcomed 800 people to promote sustainable agriculture worldwide. The programme featured interesting contributions on the following topics:

• agriculture
• climate
• the environment
• animal welfare
• the food movement
• development policy

Why does our current food system create inequality? Why are resources exploited and profits prioritised over people, animals and the environment? These are some of the questions the event sought to address.

EStà’s contribution

On this occasion, Bianca Minotti – an EStà member and expert in local food policies and governance – presented, via a video clip, the report ‘Three different models of food poverty intervention: Italy, France, Germany’, which analyses how these three European countries tackle food poverty, starting from a common policy framework but developing very different models.

Food poverty

Food poverty is often seen as a distant problem, despite being a structural reality even in European Union countries. In fact, food poverty is not merely an economic issue, but a multidimensional condition affecting access to healthy food, people’s dignity, the ability to choose what to eat, health and social relationships.

In Europe, the problem is not a shortage of food, but unequal access to adequate nutrition. For this reason, the fight against food poverty is a matter of social justice and not merely one of solidarity.

A comparison of the three cases

Italy represents a hybrid model: a strong public sector presence in planning, but a high degree of operational delegation to the voluntary sector. It is a widespread system, reaching millions of people, but one that remains fragmented, heavily reliant on volunteers and still too tied to an emergency-based approach. Alongside these challenges, however, interesting innovations are also emerging: from solidarity shops to urban food hubs, such as the Aiuto Alimentare Cuccagna Food Hub in Milan, which seeks to prioritise autonomy, choice and dignity.

France, on the other hand, has a much more centralised and institutionalised model. The state plays a strong role: it purchases food, coordinates distribution and accredits organisations. This ensures stability and continuity, but also entails bureaucratic rigidity, regional inequalities and food quality that is often inadequate. Alongside the traditional system, however, highly innovative initiatives are emerging, such as the Caisse Alimentaire in Montpellier, which introduces mechanisms akin to ‘food social security’, based on conditional cash transfers, participation and the right to food.

Finally, Germany is the most decentralised case. Here, the state relies primarily on cash transfers, whilst the fight against food poverty is entrusted almost entirely to civil society, in particular to the network of Tafel food banks. It is a system capable of mobilising enormous civic energy and reducing waste, but one that has significant limitations: access to food is not a guaranteed right; it depends on the availability of donations and volunteers; and there are significant regional inequalities.

Read the report