Accessible food for all

Caritas Vaud has been fighting poverty and social exclusion since it was founded in 1942. Recognised for its local presence and professionalism, the organisation now provides a wide range of services in the canton of Vaud, including social support, training programmes, emergency accommodation, solidarity grocery shops, second-hand clothing stores, and social integration initiatives.

This project, which is fully aligned with this mission, aims to respond to the rise in food insecurity, which is currently affecting a worrying number of people in the canton. It satisfies a vital need – to feed oneself with dignity – by acting on several levels of hardship: the social emergency of homeless people, the structural difficulties of low-income households, and the invisible living conditions of illegal immigrants.

The project is divided into three components:

1. Strengthening the Centrale Alimentaire de la Région Lausannoise (CA-RL, or Lausanne region food bank), which redistributes almost 800 tonnes of food each week to more than 40 partner organisations, by financing the purchase of fresh and essential products to ensure a more balanced diet for nearly 12,000 beneficiaries each week.

2. Providing free hot meals and breakfasts in emergency accommodation in Vevey, Nyon and Yverdon for over 1,000 homeless people each year, who often have no other source of food.

3. Supporting households with limited financial resources through the four Caritas grocery shops, by maintaining a range of basic products at reduced prices and distributing vouchers to 300 households in crisis.

By supporting the supply of food to the Centrale Alimentaire de la Région Lausannoise (Lausanne region food bank) and the Caritas grocery shops, as well as the distribution of hot meals to emergency shelters, this initiative aims to ensure that vulnerable people have regular access to sufficient, healthy food in a way that respects human dignity.