Anna Angelin

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the establishment of large-scale food philanthropy in Sweden. Food philanthropy is here understood as collaborations between civil society organisations and the food industry, through which food surplus is turned into food aid for people in food insecurity. The first examples of such philanthropy emerged less than ten years ago in Sweden, but it has since experienced a dramatic growth. This article will try to explain why this type of philanthropy is growing and what it means for the organisations and people working in, and for them. The development in Sweden follows a pattern known from many other European countries, with the exception that it is going faster, as if Sweden is catching up. This makes food philanthropy in Sweden an interesting case for an empirical study. This paper is based on an interview study performed in 2022. Staff and managers at two large, national organisations were interviewed about how the rapid growth in food philanthropy has affected their work and the institutional logics of their organisations. They also provided their thoughts on the role of food philanthropy in Swedish society. The findings show that the growth of food philanthropy is driven both by growing need and from changes in the organisations. They also suggest that food philanthropy will continue to grow and to become a permanent part of an emerging charity economy in Sweden.