Die Tafel Osterreich

Die Tafel Osterreich is an independent and non-denominational environmental and community aid association. In 2023 Die Tafel Osterreich emerged from Wiener Tafel, the oldest Food Bank in Austria. In Austria every year about 1.000.000 tons of food is wasted. At the same time over 1,5 million people are endangered of becoming poor or already live in poverty. Almost a quarter of these are children and young people who are at risk of poverty or exclusion. Die Tafel Osterreich - der Verein fur sozialen Transfer has taken on the task of fighting poverty, food insecurity, and food waste. Inspired by the concept of food banks in Germany, our organization has been saving and redistributing food for ... read more Die Tafel Osterreich is an independent and non-denominational environmental and community aid association. In 2023 Die Tafel Osterreich emerged from Wiener Tafel, the oldest Food Bank in Austria. In Austria every year about 1.000.000 tons of food is wasted. At the same time over 1,5 million people are endangered of becoming poor or already live in poverty. Almost a quarter of these are children and young people who are at risk of poverty or exclusion. Die Tafel Osterreich - der Verein fur sozialen Transfer has taken on the task of fighting poverty, food insecurity, and food waste. Inspired by the concept of food banks in Germany, our organization has been saving and redistributing food for over 25 years. In doing so we have become part of a close-meshed network of the social landscape, economy, science, and civil society to effectively tackle the issues of food insecurity and food waste. Today we serve approximately 75.000 people living in poverty in charities such as women's shelters, homeless shelters, refugee homes, The range of charities supported by the Die Tafel Osterreich is as wide and colourful as the organization itself. Through our ongoing cooperation and exchange with a great number of established Austrian charities, we are constantly shaping the social landscape. Considering the extremely high number of perfectly good food going to waste, this process causes CO2-emissions that are permanently threatening our environment. Since we are saving approximately 4 tons of food every day from unnecessarily being thrown away, we play an active part in saving on emissions - a crucial factor in fighting climate change. The image of food banks has changed rapidly over the past few years. They have become a place where more than supplies are being exchanged, a place for social encounters, constant dialogue, and inclusion. A total of 290 volunteers, also from companies, with various backgrounds and stories are supporting the Tafel Osterreich each year, contributing immensely to an open-minded and inclusive atmosphere. At the same time, it is essential to promote an appreciative use of food at various levels of society and to enable a constructive discourse on the connection between poverty and nutrition. For an all-encompassing approach to end social injustice and the waste of perfectly edible food we believe it is therefore crucial to raise awareness on a broad social basis. That is why we further distribute our knowledge and practical experience through low-threshold projects to help people to learn and discover for themselves.