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The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands

Purpose In this research we address how food, social status as well as the interactions at the food bank induce emotions in receivers, such as shame, gratitude and anger. Since early 2000s a steadily growing number of low-income and/ or over-indebted households in the Netherlands alleviate their sit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British food journal (1966) 2014-08, Vol.116 (9), p.1506-1520
Main Authors: van der Horst, Hilje, Pascucci, Stefano, Bol, Wilma
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Purpose In this research we address how food, social status as well as the interactions at the food bank induce emotions in receivers, such as shame, gratitude and anger. Since early 2000s a steadily growing number of low-income and/ or over-indebted households in the Netherlands alleviate their situation with food donations from local food banks. Such food banks collect from companies edible food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The growing demand for food assistance indicates it is a welcome contribution to the groceries in many households. However, receiving food assistance as well as eating the products forces the receivers to set aside embodied dispositions towards food and norms about how to obtain food. Furthermore, it places them in interactions of charitable giving that may be harmful to the self-esteem of receivers. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a qualitative study at a food bank in the Netherlands, consisting among others of in-depth interviews with 17 receivers of food assistance, observations and several interviews with volunteers. Findings Of all emotions that were expressed during the interviews, shame appeared as the most prominent. Particularly issues of shame emerged in relation to all three food bank related experiences: the content of the crate, the interaction with volunteers and lastly the understanding of one’s positioning in a social hierarchy. While shame can be a very private emotion – even talking about being ashamed can be shameful – it is also an utterly social emotion. Originality/value This research is among the few ones explicitly addressing emotional emotions related to receivers in food bank.
ISSN:0007-070X
1758-4108
DOI:10.1108/BFJ-02-2014-0081