The Food Aid Plan is currently distributing 1,274,830.08 kilos of products to 45,248 needy people in a situation of social and/or economic dependency in the province of Almeria. This is the second phase of this programme which, in its first phase last June, distributed 746,580 kilos of food. The cost of the 1.2 tonnes currently being distributed amounts to 1,184,877.98 euros.
The Red Cross and the Food Bank, which are the two authorised storage and distribution centres in Almeria, distribute the products among 133 partner distribution organisations which, in turn, directly serve the beneficiaries of this aid.
The basket of 11 nutritious, basic, easily transportable and storable foodstuffs, which are not very perishable, enables disadvantaged people to easily prepare a complete meal for one person or for a family with several members, including babies. Manuel de la Fuente stresses that the programme serves to “help those who are in the most disadvantaged situation”.
The European aid fund for the most deprived persons co-finances 85% of the purchase of these foodstuffs. The remaining 15% is financed from the national budget.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA), which purchases the food from the companies awarded the contracts, and the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, through the Directorate-General for Family Diversity and Social Services, are the intermediate bodies managing the Operational Programme, which implements a series of accompanying measures aimed at promoting the social inclusion of the most disadvantaged people receiving food aid.
Under the 2021 Programme, the FEGA has purchased, through a public tendering procedure, more than 59.2 million kilos/litres of food: white rice, boiled chickpeas, canned tuna, spaghetti pasta, canned fried tomato, biscuits, canned vegetable salad, soluble cocoa, infant fruit and chicken jars, UHT whole milk and olive oil.