Use of food banks triple in one year

[LadyDeliah]

The Trussel Trust, a food bank charity has called for an official inquiry into the fact that use of food banks by people who need them to feed themselves, has tripled in one year. This in one of the richest countries in the world.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/16/charity-inquiry-food-bank-use-triples

[DaveR]

It is worth pointing out that the single biggest cause identified was delays in receiving benefits.

There was a similar media uproar a year or so ago when Save the Children suggested that mnay UK familes routinely go hungry. This was the response from Martin Narey (head of Barnardos 2005-2011 and ex-chair of the End Child Poverty coalition):

"Child poverty in the UK is very real, but it?s not the simple poverty that Save the Children describes. Low income is certainly at the heart of it, but it?s also about poverty of aspiration, education and parenting. But I know why Save the Children is talking about missed meals: it captures public attention. Many times when I ran Barnardo?s ? and during the five years in which child poverty was our No 1 priority ? I declined to sign up to campaigns suggesting that British families do not get enough in benefits to feed or clothe their children. I did so for two reasons: because it?s not true, but also because such campaigns suggest that if we met the very basic requirements of a hot meal and warm clothing, people would think that poverty had been lifted.

This isn?t to say that there are not emergencies when families do need urgent help with food or clothing. But they are generally short-term and caused by an administrative glitch, a marital separation, because money has been lost and sometimes, frankly, because it has been squandered on drink or drugs. Such crises are not symptomatic of the welfare state?s failure to provide families with enough money for the basics of life"

In short, it's just too simplistic to say 'this is a rich country but some people can't afford to eat'. The reasons why people at a particular time don't have money to buy food are many and varied. One example that was widely reported this week, in apparent support of the Trussell Trust campaign, was of a JP Morgan banker with 2 kids at public school who got made redundant, had his credit cards cancelled, and couldn't get any cash to buy food.

It's also worth saying (tho' a bit cynical) that if you give away anything of value for free you should expect demand to increase - it's not necessarily evidence of growing need.

[KidKruger]

Also surely there's a % who just take because it's free ?

Rather than 'need' it. Therefore taking a resource intended for others.

It's based on trust, right ? Nothing would surprise me in a country with such a benefits rip-off culture.

[StraferJack]

Man people in this country have become HARSH

people just decide to queue up at foodbanks because it's free?

You need a voucher

"Care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, CAB and police identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher. Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals who are best placed to assess need and make sure that it is genuine."

[Jessie]

Poverty is alive and kicking in the UK. Agree with SJ, people in this country have become harsh. Compassion doesn't cost a thing.

[Loz]

Is it relative poverty (i.e. the 60% of median wage thing) or absolute poverty (no food)? If it is the second "real" poverty then they question must be asked: why? It's easy to say 'oooh look at the nasty Tories" (which I suspect was the point of this piece, but that is forgetting that they haven't actually cut a lot (yet) and Labour would have done much the same.

So... what is the solution? Is it purely money (therefore more benefits) or is there some other factor here?

[StraferJack]

before we go looking for a solution, we need a consensus about the steep rise in food banks

It seems self-evident that it's a sign of something being wrong

but then as soon as someone says something like that we have an array of people going "pish and nonsense, nothing to worry about"

wether it's Edwina Curry

"The former Conservative minister Edwina Currie told Radio 5 live's Stephen Nolan that she did not believe people in the UK were going hungry. Two listeners told her she was wrong but she refused to agree with them." in the media to people on here saying "probably because it's people giving stuff for free"

determining a solution in the face of that level of cynicism seems almost impossible.

[Otta]

Could the increase simply be a result of more people realising they're actually there, and professionals making more referrals that they would have done in previous years had they known it was an option.

[StraferJack]

what would have triggered that tho?

[Loz]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> It seems self-evident that it's a sign of something being wrong

Thus my first paragraph... what exactly is the problem we have here? Is it lack of money/benefits, benefit bureaucracy, or other issues? Just saying 'we have a self-evident problem' is no analysis, it's an assumption.

[Loz]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> what would have triggered that tho?

Until someone started this campaign raising this issue about six months ago, I didn't even realise the UK had food banks. I suspect I'm not alone. The profile of food banks has been raised considerably.

[DaveR]

The point made by Neary (who knows more about this than most of us) was that it is not simple, black and white, goodies and baddies, but that if you are campaigning there is an incentive to portray it that way. A bit like this:

"It seems self-evident that it's a sign of something being wrong

but then as soon as someone says something like that we have an array of people going "pish and nonsense, nothing to worry about"

The point I made was that the main cause identfied for people attending food banks was delayed benefits payments i.e. not people not having enough money to buy food generally, but people not having enough to on a particular day, because of mistake, cock-up, bureaucracy or whatever. I can understand that completely - do you go to the DSS and try and get a crisis loan or do you go to a food bank and get a box of free food (and probably a smile). I know what I'd do.

As to the cynicism, there's been quite a lively debate generally going on about poverty, which can be summarised as "how can you be called poor and still smoke fags and/or have a big telly?". It's really just a re-hash of the old Victorian argument about deserving vs undeserving poor. The point, though, is that most people believe (with some justification) that at least some of the poor are 'undeserving', and, in the context of the food bank story, that some are picking up the free food and spending the money on fags. Who knows whether there is any truth in that?

[StraferJack]

you really can't think of scenarios where people might be driven to foodbanks as a last resort?

Maybe you lost a job and aren't claiming benefits, but your new job has a zero-hours contract and you have no idea how much money you can count on coming in? trumpeting falling jobless figures isn't so good if teh new jobs are less secure/well-paid. That could be avoided

Maybe you are in income support but because of the bedroom tax (and the shortage of homes with fewer bedrooms has forced you to stay put) you have less money than your already tight budget allowed? That tax could have been avoided

or this:

"Evidence from Trussell Trust foodbanks shows food prices have risen by 12.6% above inflation over the past six years and rising energy prices this winter are likely to see more people forced to choose between eating and heating."

[DaveR]

"you really can't think of scenarios where people might be driven to foodbanks as a last resort?"

No, I can. But something like 1/3 of all the people using food banks said the reason was delayed benefits.

The point (if I have to make it again) is (i) the campaign highlighted in the firat post on this thread says 'it's a scandal - something must be done!" (ii) the first post basically repeated that uncritically and (iii) presenting these figures in that simplistic way is knowingly misleading. If you acknowledge that it's a complex situation it makes it obviously fatuous to say "something must be done" and act as if that's enough.

NB - to be scrupulously fair to the Trussell Trust, in their full press release they point at welfare system deficiencies as being the biggest problem, but on the other hand that obviously wasn't the headline they were punting for.

[StraferJack]

"something like 1/3 of all the people using food banks said the reason was delayed benefits. "

what does that mean tho? Really. Are benefits being delayed that weren't previously?

So that leaves 2/3rds of people using food banks with different reasons

[El Pibe]

I guess the higher profile must be significant.

In the past they'd have just eaten grass, sniffed lighter gas or snorted some speed to supress one's appetite I guess.

[DaveR]

Sorry SJ, what are you saying here? Other than 'it's a scandal, something must be done!' Or:

"before we go looking for a solution, we need a consensus about the steep rise in food banks"

Do we need a consensus? Or, somewhat more controversially, have you considered that if the real problem is short term emergency need, then maybe food banks are the solution?

[uncleglen]

So people can get a voucher from the GP etc. so that means they don't necessarily have to be on benefits -in fact, given the level of benefits and the number of people working cash in hand as well, compared with say the old age pension or working people on housing benefit with an extra bedroom- benefit claimants are less likely to get a voucher than older people or disabled people hit by the bedroom tax because of a live-in carer.

Since it is a free handout I would be inclined to think it was abused. Get free food and then you can buy more booze and fags-(mmmhhh there's a thought).

[woodrot]

in the past year ....

BG ?1.5Bn

Thames water ?550M profit

Electric companies ?1B profit

Sainsburys ?750M profit

Tescos ?2B profit

So where is this money coming from ?

[LadyDeliah]

More on this from the Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-nasty-party-is-back-sneering-at-food-banks-and-those-who-use-them-8884442.html

[*Bob*]

But if it is true (?!) that the profit margin on residential energy supply only runs at about 5%, then I can't imagine the domestic consumer ever being happy - even if the energy companies were to supply the stuff at a loss.

[????]

add in 22% for green and various carbon capture costs to appease Middle Class conscious but have F>All impact on global warming. All populists rubbish which will lead to massive underinvestment and incraesing decrepit infrastructure....but it's ok it boost mr Milliband's popularity, don't worry

[Jah Lush]

It's very real. When I was on the dole last year I couldn't afford to pay certain bills. I got so low that I considered this as an option. I defy anyone on here to try living on ?71 a week. It can't be done. If it wasn't for the generosity of friends and family I'd have gone hungry.

[El Pibe]

I'm not quite sure where you stand on global warming. Are you saying it's not happening or just that there's no point trying to do anything about it?

[The Minkey]

One of the reasons is that no cumulative impact assessment was done prior to the introduction of the recent Welfare changes. There's a Petition calling for one here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154

While the media inflames the sheeples ire with exceptional cases of apparent excess and benefit abuse, desperately sick people are dying while waiting many months for their appeals to go to tribunal or quietly committing suicide because they simply can't afford to live.

If there is one positive thing I've gained in the 5 years since I lost my health, and the 18 months I've had to claim benefits, it is compassion for the plight of others in a similar situation. As a member of various support forums, I'm well aware there are many, many, desperate people out there, worried to death about what the future holds, who would love to be well enough to work again, but are instead facing a very frightening future as a direct result of the recent changes to welfare.