Foodbanks

[Gary]

Not ther kind of story I like writing at any time but especially in the run up to Christmas when many people will be over indulging.

Hard to believe in our modern society that childrten in our home town are going three days without food!

All politicians need to work toegther to come up with a solution. We are almost going back in time to Dickensian times!

https://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/2019/12/19/foodbank-reaches-out-as-young-girl-and-two-siblings-go-without-food-for-three-days/

[Dizzy]

Heartbreaking to watch the video in that link and to hear how many people in Warrington alone are struggling so much  that they can't even afford the basics of food each day and even more heartbreaking to hear that children are going days without food because their parents are too proud to ask for help.

We all know there are foodbanks and most of us probably donate to them at some time or another when we see collection points in shops etc but I'm ashamed to say I only ever do it around xmas time.  Whether that's because there are more visible collection point this time of the year or maybe it's because  it's the time of the year where my thoughts are with other people so I notice them more.

What just made me feel worse after watching the video was earlier today I sorted out my fridge and freezer and as per usual threw away a lot of food stuff I'd bought that had now gone past it's eat by date or had been opened, partly used, then needed throwing.   The amount I throw away each month is terrible when I think about those having nothing and I'm sure a lot of us are the same with the amount of food bought and wasted.
 

[asperity]

I can't pretend to know much about the subject of food banks, I can sympathise with people who find they need them for whatever reason. Their existence points to failure of government to organise this sort of help for those in need, and for this reason I can't understand the calls for the government to be organising this sort of assistance. However, the government needs to urgently sort out the benefits system so that those in real need get the help they require, but in the mean time the voluntary sector, in the form of food banks, is filling the gap much more efficiently than the (obviously) inefficient government can do. I believe that the use of food banks has risen massively in recent years, but the number of food banks has also risen massively so it's a chicken/egg scenario isn't it? In the mean time it is beholden on all of us, and not just because its Christmas time, to help anyone we know in need as much as we can all year round and not just demand that the government "does something" when we know what a useless shower we have in Westminster at the best of times.

[Stallard12]

Maybe the dwindling support of churches in the U.K. creates a problem.  We still have very active churches and they really help with the problem, both in supply and in being able to identify the needy.  As usual, I have to say, the Salvation Army leads the way.

[Dizzy]

Our local church (St Thomas'a in Stockton Heath) is apparently is a drop off point for the Warrington Food Bank Stallard so maybe others are too.

[Stallard12]

That's good Dizz, glad to hear it.

[Milky]

I too know nothing about food banks and feel sorry for the people who are in a situation that require them to use one. Whenever there is a collection at the supermarket I contribute.

Last couple of times they have been featured on the news have left me not so sympathetic. Last time ( I think it was the BBC news) featured a young woman who could not feed her children driving a nearly new Renault Kadjar to the food bank. Previous to that it was a story about children going to school hungry and a school opening early to feed the children, interviewed were two heavily tattooed ladies with I phones on the table in front of them who were saying how valuable this service was to them and their children.

Now I know the system isn't perfect or generous but the majority of people seem to cope on it, some people even manage to have things like Sky TV which again I do not have, others need food banks on a regular bases, apparently.

[Milky]

On 12/21/2019 at 12:23 AM, Dizzy said:

What just made me feel worse after watching the video was earlier today I sorted out my fridge and freezer and as per usual threw away a lot of food stuff I'd bought that had now gone past it's eat by date or had been opened, partly used, then needed throwing.   The amount I throw away each month is terrible when I think about those having nothing and I'm sure a lot of us are the same with the amount of food bought and wasted.
 

I really throw very little food away and really don't get how people not know they have food going off?

Bought a load of frozen cake of various types on the 22nd for a family dinner on the 24th and some to put in the freezer for New Year dinner and so on, but I left it in the car and forgot to put it in the freezer. Worse my family hardly touched any of it and the instructions said do not refreeze, eat within 24 hours of thawing. Well I be finished eating old cake by tomorrow evening!

[Gary]

8 hours ago, Milky said:

I too know nothing about food banks and feel sorry for the people who are in a situation that require them to use one. Whenever there is a collection at the supermarket I contribute.

Last couple of times they have been featured on the news have left me not so sympathetic. Last time ( I think it was the BBC news) featured a young woman who could not feed her children driving a nearly new Renault Kadjar to the food bank. Previous to that it was a story about children going to school hungry and a school opening early to feed the children, interviewed were two heavily tattooed ladies with I phones on the table in front of them who were saying how valuable this service was to them and their children.

Now I know the system isn't perfect or generous but the majority of people seem to cope on it, some people even manage to have things like Sky TV which again I do not have, others need food banks on a regular bases, apparently.

Never judge a book by its cover - the tattoos could have been done years ago and the car could have been borrowed or purchased on a leasing agreement prior to falling on hard times.

It is often quoted that many of us are just two pay cheques away from needing a food bank.

But I do understand that some people will be getting their priorities wrong when it comes to feeding their kids and buying booze and fags with their benefits.

May be a percentage of benefits should be paid in vouchers which can only be used on life's essentials to ensure cash is not misused?

[Davy51]

I think you also have to wonder if food banks are being exploited by people who don't really need them & just like the idea of saving money on their groceries.

[asperity]

Davy I think you are probably right. It's human nature that some individuals will help themselves to something if it is offered to them in return for little effort, and there are plenty of these individuals around. By the same token there are a lot of individuals who will go out of there way to provide free stuff to others, no questions asked. Hence food banks. And there are a lot of people who need temporary help to get by, we probably all know someone in such a situation.

[Bill]

No child in this country should ever go hungry but if they do, who’s fault is it? The poor blame the government while the rich point fingers at the parents but sadly to me, to some extent, they’re both right.

It’s all relative though because one person’s definition of poverty would be another’s idea of sheer luxury but wherever we set the defining point for poverty, there’ll always be some who, rightly or wrongly, consider themselves hard done by. This makes it an almost impossible problem to solve, especially for a government, short of driving us all into communism.

For me, if anyone is to blame it’s society as a whole which for a variety of reasons has allowed us as a people to become more insular and remote from others who in the past would recognise a developing situation and be willing to help.

 

Bill

[asperity]

Okay Bill, but doesn't the very existence of food banks disprove your theory somewhat? You know, people reaching out to other people instead of expecting government to do it?

[Bill]

No not at all.

There’s always been help for the needy, we just never referred to them as foodbanks in the past. But think about how things have changed since you and I were lads. Back then most people tended to remain in the town where they were born and work there too, so families were always a lot closer together than they are these days. Then consider also the fact that most of us lived in streets where we had neighbours that we could always borrow a cup of sugar from but today the term neighbourly is almost unheard of. Fewer people go to church, socialise in a local pub, shop at local shops, play bingo, the list could go on forever.

The bottom line is that we are rapidly becoming a society of fragmented stay at homes whose family are too far away and where friends are all virtual. The lack of face to face contact thanks to our obsession with mobile technology certainly has a lot to answer for. But neither governments nor the general population created these devices but society is now dominated by them.

Sorry if anything didn’t make sense but in a big rush to get out to socialise (wife’s birthday!)

 

Bill 😊

[asperity]

And there was me thinking I was the only miserable stay at home sod in the country Bill 😂😂

[Milky]

On 12/29/2019 at 10:05 AM, Gary said:

Never judge a book by its cover - the tattoos could have been done years ago and the car could have been borrowed or purchased on a leasing agreement prior to falling on hard times.

It is often quoted that many of us are just two pay cheques away from needing a food bank.

But I do understand that some people will be getting their priorities wrong when it comes to feeding their kids and buying booze and fags with their benefits.

May be a percentage of benefits should be paid in vouchers which can only be used on life's essentials to ensure cash is not misused?

Could have;but before you lease a car should you not have something put away especially if you have children.

The point is even under our system there is no excuse to be a regular visitor to the food bank. I did a quick on line calculation if I were a single mum claiming benefits with two children I would be entitled to £231.96 per week or £349.60 under the new system, is that not enough to feed your children breakfast?

Or am I missing something?

If you have two lots of pay checks put away you can probably weather any troubles you come across.

The only thing that needs changing are the repossession of houses. Seems unfair that these renting get there accommodation paid for these that are buying get thrown out after a period if they can not keep payments up, yet these seem not to be the people at food banks.

[Milky]

On 12/29/2019 at 12:59 PM, Bill said:

 

For me, if anyone is to blame it’s society as a whole which for a variety of reasons has allowed us as a people to become more insular and remote from others who in the past would recognise a developing situation and be willing to help.

 

Bill

People seem to isolate themselves rather then society.

When our neighbours moved in one of the first things they did was put up 6ft high fences. I try to speak to all my immediate neighbours, our immediate neighbour calls round for coffee now and then but never lets me into their house. The other neighbour after years of not speaking now is quite friendly but I suspect that is something to do with getting older, my next door but one refuses to engage in conversation but says hi, his 21 year old son is very friendly, his 16 year old daughter smiles and says hi if I speak to her first

I rarely see them though as we all rush to our cars.

Even though my family does not live in the next street and many live abroad I have helped out family in trouble and I am sure if I needed help I could count on many of them (and no we are not Asian).

[Davy51]

Last time we went to Perth ,Australia we went for a month. Where the son & his missus live is a lovely quiet estate ,individually built bungalows with coiffured lawns & no doggy-do or litter in sight ,anywhere. We could easily walk to the local shopping centre & did so frequently & the most noticeable thing about Canning Vale was the lack of pedestrians...only once in a month did we meet another couple out walking. You didn't even see people pottering about in their gardens or looking nosily from behind their curtains. All movement took place within the anonymity of cars.