page_title: Hunger
section_title: Soup kitchen
hierarchical_section_title: Hunger / Hunger relief organisations / Local / Soup kitchen
caption_attribution_description: English: People eating at a soup kitchen. Montreal, CanadaFrançais&#160;: Personnes mangeant dans une soupe populaire. Montréal, Canada.
context_page_description: In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person, for a sustained period, is unable to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs. In the field of hunger relief, the term hunger is used in a sense that goes beyond the common desire for food that all humans experience.
  Throughout history, portions of the world's population have often suffered sustained periods of hunger. In many cases, hunger resulted from food supply disruptions caused by war, plagues, or adverse weather. In the decades following World War II, technological progress and enhanced political cooperation suggested it might be possible to substantially reduce the number of people suffering from hunger. While progress was uneven, by 2015 the threat of extreme hunger subsided for many of the world's population. According to figures published by the FAO in 2019, however, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger increased over the prior four years. This is both as a percentage of the world's population and in absolute terms, with about 821 million afflicted with hunger in 2018.
context_section_description: A soup kitchen, meal center, or food kitchen is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a below market price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church or community groups. Soup kitchens sometimes obtain food from a food bank for free or at a low price, because they are considered a charity, which makes it easier for them to feed the many people who require their services.
caption: A soup kitchen in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1931.
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