The first “social shop” in the city of Kraków has opened, providing free groceries to low-income individuals and families as well as offering educational workshops on nutrition.
Dobry Sklep (literally meaning “Good Shop”) is run by Kraków’s food bank on the basis of an agreement with the city. It aims to offer people healthy food and the products that they really need, rather than what welfare centres happen to have available, reports local newspaper Gazeta Krakowska.
“This is the first such shop in Kraków,” said Andrzej Kulig, deputy mayor of Kraków, at the store’s opening. “We will observe how it operates, and judging by the number of people who need such support, probably in the near future we’ll open another.”
The shop is open to individuals or families experiencing hardship with a referral from the social welfare centre. Their monthly income may not exceed 200% of the net income threshold defined in Poland’s social welfare act – 1,552 zloty (€318) for individuals or 1,200 zloty (€246) for members of a family.
At present, 120 people receiving support from three branches of the social welfare centre are eligible for support. They receive a personal card and PIN to use for spending in the shop, based on a system of points that items cost.
Each person receives 500 points to be used over a 30-day period. Tables showing the number of points required to purchase a kilogram of various products are displayed in store – for example, 10 points for fruit or vegetables or a loaf of bread, 20 for dairy products and eggs, and 30 for oil, sugar and meat.
One of the first people to benefit from the new shop said that she was left without much money after paying bills and buying medication. “I admire the people who came up with this idea. It’s really wonderful,” she said.
Poland is currently suffering its highest inflation in 25 years, with the annual rate reaching 17.2% in September.
Poland's annual inflation rate rose to 17.2% this month, according to the flash estimate from state statistics agency @GUS_STAT.
That marks another 25-year high and is well above the median forecast of 16.5% pic.twitter.com/cB9moSOmUI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 30, 2022
The store’s staff will offer help with and advice on selection of products to ensure a balanced diet. Free educational workshops on healthy eating are also to be held. Kraków city council has set aside 885,000 zloty (€182,000) to run the shop for the duration of the contract, until March 2025.
A “social shop” was originally supposed to be opened on the same site a year ago, reports Gazeta Krakowska. It was to be opened by Fundacja Wolne Miejsce (Free Place Foundation), a charity which runs several shops selling affordable goods in other cities, including Katowice and Warsaw.
This plan was abandoned, however, as the foundation could not afford to pay for renovation of the shop, which was more expensive than expected.
Image credits: Bogusław Świerzowski / krakow.pl
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
