Food banks - what is the real story
Discussion
A day or two ago, I saw a news article in the Independent I think, with a lady in her kitchen saying she couldn't afford to feed her family.
Whilst no I-pads or sky boxes were visible, every product visible was a major brand.
Ie comfort conditioner, persil, fairy liquid, heinz ketchup etc.
Wound me right up. The saving from un branded goods would easily buy some mince, tomatoes, pasta etc and make a cheap family meal.
Ok, she couldn't make that same saving every day, but it was obvious she wasn't clued up about economising.
I also think a lot of "heat or eat" families could do with some frank and direct advice about buying / cooking cheaply, and energy conservation.
But, nasty tory party makes a far better headline.
Ian
Whilst no I-pads or sky boxes were visible, every product visible was a major brand.
Ie comfort conditioner, persil, fairy liquid, heinz ketchup etc.
Wound me right up. The saving from un branded goods would easily buy some mince, tomatoes, pasta etc and make a cheap family meal.
Ok, she couldn't make that same saving every day, but it was obvious she wasn't clued up about economising.
I also think a lot of "heat or eat" families could do with some frank and direct advice about buying / cooking cheaply, and energy conservation.
But, nasty tory party makes a far better headline.
Ian
oO course nasty tory works better...
Went past the free food place tonight after gym and a quick pint to see 50-60 in a line awaiting, all in full weather gear (berghaus, etc jackets) and not a single on of them British, they drank the drink given and threw it on the road, we were told to f
k off when asking them if they could please walk 10m to place it in a bin.
One was urinating on the grass area (through the bars/fence) despite there being a toilets just there.
Just here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Holborn,+Londo...
hopefully that should do a ground view of bin and toilets.
Any of the 'have you ever been to a food bank' want to comment? Other than to say its outside of the nor, etc... this happens every wednesday Im there and is nasty.
Went past the free food place tonight after gym and a quick pint to see 50-60 in a line awaiting, all in full weather gear (berghaus, etc jackets) and not a single on of them British, they drank the drink given and threw it on the road, we were told to f
k off when asking them if they could please walk 10m to place it in a bin.One was urinating on the grass area (through the bars/fence) despite there being a toilets just there.
Just here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Holborn,+Londo...
hopefully that should do a ground view of bin and toilets.
Any of the 'have you ever been to a food bank' want to comment? Other than to say its outside of the nor, etc... this happens every wednesday Im there and is nasty.
Sorry to resurrect. We've just started a donation to a food bank, and wandered along here to see what was being said.
We've decided to spend just over £30 per month on it, so from Lidl (where we get our own stuff from mostly) that will give the local place enough grub to parcel up to someone for 2 weeks, or 2 visitors for 1 week apiece.
I sometimes wonder, how the food is used and if people are gaming the system. Perhaps. but then, there will always be genuine users, and I'd like to think (perhaps naively) that it is helping someone to get out of a tight spot. The local one does try and encourage people visiting the bank to take advantage of their financial planning services, and also don't allow more than 8 weeks worth of 'claiming'.
That's not to say that reading stories of folk with 46" LED tvs, game consoles etc. struggling under card debt don't annoy me. but how prevalent is that actually? I don't know. We are all aware of how meedja focuses on bad things (tm) to fulfill their agendas.
I guess the only real way to find out is to actively go and participate & volunteer to see for yourself and draw your own conclusions; however, we (as in I
) can't be bothered, don't have the time etc. and thus donating to such a place - in a way, I am as guilty as some of the patrons of said food banks in that I'm blithely donating to such a place in place of actually going out and doing the job myself. Which is what I would do if I really cared, rather than expecting others to do the 'dirty work' as it were.
We've decided to spend just over £30 per month on it, so from Lidl (where we get our own stuff from mostly) that will give the local place enough grub to parcel up to someone for 2 weeks, or 2 visitors for 1 week apiece.
I sometimes wonder, how the food is used and if people are gaming the system. Perhaps. but then, there will always be genuine users, and I'd like to think (perhaps naively) that it is helping someone to get out of a tight spot. The local one does try and encourage people visiting the bank to take advantage of their financial planning services, and also don't allow more than 8 weeks worth of 'claiming'.
That's not to say that reading stories of folk with 46" LED tvs, game consoles etc. struggling under card debt don't annoy me. but how prevalent is that actually? I don't know. We are all aware of how meedja focuses on bad things (tm) to fulfill their agendas.
I guess the only real way to find out is to actively go and participate & volunteer to see for yourself and draw your own conclusions; however, we (as in I
) can't be bothered, don't have the time etc. and thus donating to such a place - in a way, I am as guilty as some of the patrons of said food banks in that I'm blithely donating to such a place in place of actually going out and doing the job myself. Which is what I would do if I really cared, rather than expecting others to do the 'dirty work' as it were.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/food-...
These are just some of the harsh realities facing those who rely on food banks to survive.
They are among the devastating tales of hardship witnessed on a daily basis at just one Welsh food bank.
They include a cash-strapped mother grateful to be given hot water bottles because it meant she didn’t have to put her children to bed with their coats on.
And a blind pensioner with no family was found living on custard creams because he had fallen behind with his gas payments.
These and many others like them are seen every day by husband and wife Sarah and David Jones who set up The Kings Storehouse foodbank in Rhyl in 2012.
An ex-solider left disabled after a hit-and-run crash while out on his bike, had his benefits stopped because he couldn’t get to the Job Centre fast enough in his wheelchair.
Despite his cupboards being bare, a man suffering with Asperger’s syndrome turned down a Fray Bentos pie that was inside a food parcel because it would cost him £3 to put his oven on for 30 minutes, and he only had £10 left in his meter.
....
These are just some of the harsh realities facing those who rely on food banks to survive.
They are among the devastating tales of hardship witnessed on a daily basis at just one Welsh food bank.
They include a cash-strapped mother grateful to be given hot water bottles because it meant she didn’t have to put her children to bed with their coats on.
And a blind pensioner with no family was found living on custard creams because he had fallen behind with his gas payments.
These and many others like them are seen every day by husband and wife Sarah and David Jones who set up The Kings Storehouse foodbank in Rhyl in 2012.
An ex-solider left disabled after a hit-and-run crash while out on his bike, had his benefits stopped because he couldn’t get to the Job Centre fast enough in his wheelchair.
Despite his cupboards being bare, a man suffering with Asperger’s syndrome turned down a Fray Bentos pie that was inside a food parcel because it would cost him £3 to put his oven on for 30 minutes, and he only had £10 left in his meter.
....
[quote=rover 623gsi
Despite his cupboards being bare, a man suffering with Asperger’s syndrome turned down a Fray Bentos pie that was inside a food parcel because it would cost him £3 to put his oven on for 30 minutes, and he only had £10 left in his meter.
....
[/quote]
Is that bit true? It makes restaurants seem even better value when compared to cooking for one
Despite his cupboards being bare, a man suffering with Asperger’s syndrome turned down a Fray Bentos pie that was inside a food parcel because it would cost him £3 to put his oven on for 30 minutes, and he only had £10 left in his meter.
....
[/quote]
Is that bit true? It makes restaurants seem even better value when compared to cooking for one
rover 623gsi said:
Despite his cupboards being bare, a man suffering with Asperger’s syndrome turned down a Fray Bentos pie that was inside a food parcel because it would cost him £3 to put his oven on for 30 minutes, and he only had £10 left in his meter.
....
f....
k me! He needs to speak to the Meerkat about that! An electric oven uses about 2kW of electricity; running at full pelt (it won't be when it gets up to temperature and the thermostat kicks in), that works out as 1 kWh. SSE charge 17.17 pence per unit TCR on a prepay tariff, so he's clearly getting bummed!.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff