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Food Banks

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dave50 | 13:31 Wed 16th Apr 2014 | News
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Apparently even more people are using them now. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2605661/Almost-ONE-million-Britons-seek-food-bank-help-following-162-percent-jump-number-people-seeking-emergency-food-help.html
When something is free, demand will always outstrip supply. Are we saying that if these food banks disappeared, these people would starve to death?
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I find it all difficult to believe they are necessary. We have a welfare state and not only help out our own community but all who wish to come here as well. If they do seem necessary someone should be hired to work out where the system is going wrong. Lord knows the authorities steal enough tax off of me, they must be rolling in wealth.
why waste beer money on food when they're giving it away. ;)
They would go hungry until next pay day.

You can't just walk into a food bank and get 'free' food. You have to be referred by a doctor/health visitor or similar.

And don't assume that people using food banks are all unemployed.

The cost of living has gone up loads, if some were just keeping their heads above water before then they are starting to sink now.
Starve to death - probably nor. Become undernourished and lead to lack of concentration in Children at school and prone to other infections, maybe.


There will always be a few who abuse the system yes, but I for one am prepared to accept that as long as those that need the help get it.
If theres a supply/demand problem then maybe we could apply for foregin aid to feed our hungry?
that's a good idea^. seeing as we spent £4 million setting up the Ethiopian spice girls maybe they could hold a 'live-aid' style concert to feed us.
What is your view Dave - before your thread gets bogged down by more wonderfully sensible replies?
don't run yourself down, mamya. I'm sure you tried hard with your reply.
Just a guess, Mamy, but I think Dave will be in the 'workshy scumbag scroungers' camp.
According to this article - http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hsbc-research-savings-money-emergency-month-salary-521855

Millions of people have less than £250 in savings. It doesn't take much for some people to suddenly be landed in poverty and to need the services of food banks. Benefits are not paid immediately when first applied for so it's quite easy to see why food banks are necessary.
And you never know when those pesky kids are going to have a growing spurt!!!

What do you do? Don't buy your child new trousers for school and leave him to be ridiculed and bullied or, buy him new trousers and go hungry...
//According to bank HSBC, which questioned more than 1,000 British households, (25%) have no savings at all to fall back on, up from 19% in 2012, while one in 10 have £250 ($397, €295) or less - together representing around 8.8 million households.//

What a nonsense survey. How do you extrapolate to 60milion from a survery of just 1000?

Food banks are intended for emergency use. Generally it is when the civil service have failed to pull their finger out.

However it was exposed a while back that the system is being greatly abused. If there is something free there are bucket loads of people ready to exploit it.

Want to buy your kid a pair of trousers? Try not buying expensive trainers, smoking, drinking and mobile phone first before bleating no money for food.
Why do you think that people that are poor spend their money on expensive trainers, alcohol, fags and mobile phones? That's ridiculous...

I've been in a situation where I've not had enough money for food. I didn't spend my money on non necessities. I split with my partner, I had a job but I also had a large mortgage to pay, along with bills and 3 kids to look after.

Don't tar everyone with the same brush. It makes you appear ignorant!
“...become undernourished and lead to lack of concentration in Children at school…”

Most “poor” children qualify for free school meals. Many more (poor or not) will receive them next year when Mr Clegg’s Portacabins for their schools' new kitchens have been delivered.

“It doesn't take much for some people to suddenly be landed in poverty and to need the services of food banks.”

No it does not. But almost a million of them? A 160% increase, with numbers of food bank users tripling in a year when unemployment is falling?. Are they all suffering from the “benefits cap”? I don't think so. Government numbers suggest 38,000 households have had their benefits income reduced (by virtue of capped Housing Benefit) since April 2013, with half of them in London. So 19k in London and 19k elsewhere. Factoring in the so-called “Bedroom Tax” estimates from people like Shelter suggest that around 150,000 households have seen their HB cut as a result of the under occupancy rules. Taking this at its highest and accepting that a few people may have lost their jobs, this still leaves about 600-700,000 people who have, apparently seen their fortunes decline so drastically that they cannot afford food. Before we blindly accept that people’s fortunes are declining so rapidly in the UK let’s have a few reasoned suggestions - perhaps backed up by some figures - as to how almost a million people have become so destitute in the last year or so that they need handouts of food.

I’m inclined to agree with Youngmafbog. If something suddenly becomes available free of charge there’s a very good chance there will be an increasing demand for it.
I still think the State should be covering the desperate citizens' needs, it should not be down to food banks. If they are needed then the system is failing.
You can't just walk into a food bank, as has been stated, you have to be referred by either GP/Social Work/Job Centre.

The 'poor'children who qualify for free school meals still need to be fed at weekends and during school holidays.
£250 in saveings thats a fortune to me ! I'm lucky if I have a spare £10 after bills etc. With haveing 5 children and only basic wages it was always hard just to last till next pay day. Now on a pension and with 12 grandchildren it is even harder. Easter alone is going to cost me around £50 in Easter eggs.
People are being sanctioned for the pettiest of reasons at the job centre. And if folk don't have any family to turn to,where else can they go ? Some people are denied any benefit for sometimes months at a time. God help them.
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What happened before these food banks were introduced? There will always be destitute people and for them it's a lifeline, but so many? I still cant help but think some of those have their priorities wrong. For example if they walk in with a mobile phone in one hand and a fag in the other then they can afford food.
I agree free school meals and breakfast clubs are essential too - it is not really the price of food that is the problem. Overheads like fuel, water and contributions to housings costs are high - the notion that folk get everything free is nonsense.

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