Food Banks: An eco-social solution? Critical perspectives on food charity in Europe

Abstract: This aim of this thesis was to investigate food banking organisations as part of food charity on different governance levels within the EU in relation to aspects of sustainability. The Doughnut model after Raworth (2017) as an element of eco-social research is employed as theoretical underpinning to explore the organisational positioning regarding the societal problems of food waste and food insecurity, as well as the solutions that the organisations envision in relation to sustainability. The Doughnut model is understood as a human rights-based model to investigate the problem context. Published documents from two organisations, each one on the supranational level of the EU and the German national level, that were published over a period of 5 years between 2018 and 2022 were examined through thematic content analysis. The analysis showed that the approach of the studied food banking organisations regarding food waste and food insecurity does not correspond with an eco-social understanding of sustainability as included in the Doughnut model. Moreover, it has been identified that the solution that both organisations suggest to approach the problem areas are marked by a high degree of systemic immanence and have little transformative potential.