The Nutritional Content of Rescued Food Conveyed by a Food Aid Organization

Anne Nogueira, Fátima Alves and Paula Vaz-Fernandes
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Anne Nogueira: Centre for Functional Ecology-Science for People and the Planet, Department of Life Science, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
Fátima Alves: Centre for Functional Ecology-Science for People and the Planet, Department of Life Science, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
Paula Vaz-Fernandes: Science and Technology Department, Universidade Aberta, 1269-001 Lisbon, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Background: The number of food-insecure families in the European Union has increased, resulting in an increasing number of households depending on food assistance programs. The aim in this study was to evaluate the nutrient content of food rescued by a food aid organization that rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. Methods: To determine the nutritional content of food hampers provided by our case study organization, we weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) was applied to measure households’ food insecurity. Results: Our results show that, at our case study food aid organization, food donations substantially contribute to energy, macro, and micronutrient dietary recommendation intake (DRI). Conclusions: When evaluating how these nutrients contribute to alleviating food insecurity of the beneficiary households, we found that the perception of food insecurity is independent of the amount of nutrients served. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study measuring the nutritional content of fresh or freshly cooked rescued food conveyed by a food aid organization.

Keywords: food insecurity; nutritional adequacy; food aid organization; rescued food (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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