Recent data from the Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) shows that the food banks within its network served 40 million people across 44 countries in 2020, a 132 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The rise in demand is, of course, because of COVID-19 pandemic, which is driving rapid changes in food availability, affordability, and geographic accessibility, reports in Nature Food find.

According to GFN’s study, food banks across the African continent, which served 169 percent more people than the previous year, represent the highest increase in people served through food banks globally. And in the United States, at least 60 million people turned to charitable food assistance in 2020, and food banks are serving 55 percent more people than before the pandemic, according to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization and second-largest U.S. charity.

“There are people who need help right now in the form of food…We are unapologetic about being here to provide people the food they need in the moment. And we are working diligently to be a part of solutions that make it less likely that they will find themselves in those [food] lines in the future,” Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America tells Food Tank.

But food banks are taking opportunities to do more than meet the increased demand for food. Many are also working to provide creative, flexible, and innovative ways of dealing with systemic issues in the food system.

Read the full article about food banks by Vicky Brown Varela at Food Tank.