Britain's Hidden Hunger

[KanelbulleKing]

www.itv.com/hub/britains-secret-hunger-exposure/2a7613a0001

Just watching this on catch up and I'm sobbing. How has Britain sunk so low as a country that children are frightened of school holidays because they know they'll be hungry? Children thinking it's Christmas because their family has received a few bags of basic food items?

The existence of food banks in one of the richest countries in the world is a national disgrace. My MIL is knocking on 80 and spends her spare time peeling potatoes and carrots for the lunches her church provides for anyone who needs them. She should be putting her feet up and being served herself but she won't because she's too worried about her 'guests' going hungry.

Time for change?

When I get home from work exhausted at 6.30pm and my DC are hungry, I’m going to want to make something quick and easy, like pasta with a readymade sauce. Vegetable soup is nice, but it’s very low calorie and not a meal in itself and needs something to go with it. My DC are fussy about food and even if hungry would not eat porridge for breakfast.

Some of the posters in this thread think that just because a parent has no choice but to have a minimum wage job, then they shouldn’t really have children, and if they do then their children have no right to have preferences about food.

And I don’t think it’s right that companies like Tesco pay minimum wage which isn’t enough to live on. Most of their employees will have to be on some form of benefits. Then they make a profit on all the food bought for the food banks. This food should be able to be bought at cost price.

That’s the thing isn’t it raisinseverywhere, some people on this thread are basically saying that children, who are poor through absolutely no fault of their own, have no right to like or dislike certain foods because they’re not paying for it. They have to put up and shut up.

Good for you Manica. As lying said, you’ve joined the terminally smug. Enjoy your porridge Terminally smug because I'm speaking from experience of having to feed myself and a child on very little money, and choosing porridge over cereal because it's cheaper and I know it will keep us full longer?

Yes. Because porridge isn’t important, it didn’t keep you and your daughter out of food banks, and it’s not the answer for anyone who does use them

I think people forget that poor people are people too. People with preferences, aversions, intolerances and allergies, health conditions, time limitations, busy schedules, caring responsibilities, different capabilities, different cooking abilities. Poor people have inflammatory conditions, anaphylactic reactions, diabetes, arthritis, ibs, celiac disease, asthma etc. Things that affect what they can eat and what they can cook, and whether they have any time or energy. On top of that you have the other effects of financial hardship, like fuel poverty, stress, mental illness, zero hours contracts, inadequate housing or cooking facilities, the anxiety and uncertainty of not knowing what will come tomorrow (or even later that day). Not every body has a pet to get rid of, or a drinking or cigarette smoking habit to get rid of, some people are just poor. And no amount of budgeting or cooking lessons or porridge is going to fix that when we have a society that thinks it is acceptable for children to be going hungry in Britain in 2019.

I don't think that's smug, Maniaca, it makes sense if you have a child who will eat porridge. I like it, one of my children does too. The other one and my husband do not. I can't imagine how soul-destroying it would be for me to be in a position where there is no choice, that they have to eat it. That would pick up what WallyWallyWally has said in their post. Doing something from choice or, not a bad option, is not the same.

Another thought on porridge; many people add fruit, nuts, butters, syrups and goodness what else on this. I don't but I know that others do so for some, if they had to eat porridge without the accompaniments it would perhaps be miserable indeed.

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Just the idea that you have to focus on 'fuller for longer' (and not in a weight-loss, protein intake way) must be hugely stressful.

I've noted the ignorant and thick-witted posters further up the thread who commented on the fact that the children are overweight. Just goes to show that they either haven't watched the programme and are spouting off anyway - or they have and haven't the wit to understand what the qualified professionals are saying. When people are fearful of not having enough food, the body's response is to stockpile it. Not a complicated thing to understand really; add in the mental and psychological stress of it all and I'm sure that in the next generation we'll sadly see the outcome of stigma relating to food poverty.

Some of the comments on this thread are outrageous... and the fact that they're presumably coming from women who may be mothers, is absolutely tragic.

Actually, knowing how to cook basic meals did mean we only had to use a food bank a few times, we would have been in a much worse situation otherwise. Many families would benefit hugely from learning how to cook simple foods, it's not the whole answer but it does make the money go further. I was given a budget recipe booklet from a local church that was incredibly helpful.

Absolutely, AuntGinny. That is the failing really, that for some, it's acceptable to see families in poverty in 2019.

@ManiacalLapwing

Because for you, eating porridge and giving it to your child says something like “hey, I may be poor but at least I’m giving my child a healthy, economical breakfast. Well done me, for making the sensible choice.» and you feel good about it.

Whereas for someone else, the voice in their head might be saying “You total failure... you can even earn enough to buy a box of cereal for your kids, so you have To give them this tasteless, boring shit. What a fucking loser you are”.

It takes a lot to overcome those voices, humans tend to grossly overrate their ability to make choices of their own free will.

@WallyWallyWally Ok, I get what you mean there. I didn't feel good when my child ended up anaemic, but I know I was doing the best I could in the circumstances, I did compensate by always making sure he had something 'nice' like a pack of bourbon biscuits, while now if I forget to buy him something sweet I'm less bothered. I wonder why it seems to take a long time for attitudes to change in some parts of society?

MsMellivora, I won't forget your story either, it's incredibly, sad, humbling and inspirational - all at the same time.

I have to agree with the poster who said it's about mindset. One of the hardest things to overcome. We all know porridge is cheaper than CoCo pops, but some people cant shake the stereotype of it being poor people food.

My DM is like that, my Grandad would make it for her every day before school and she had to eat it because there was nothing else. So when we were young DM never had it in the house, she said she hated it, it was gruel etc. She was very surprised to learn us Grandchildren would practically lick the bowls clean when we stayed with him. We loved it. Off subject I know but just found it interesting

These threads always go the same way: othering 'the poor', categorising people as deserving or undeserving poor, lectures about how 'they' can eat porridge/lentils/pasta/soup and it's all their fault because dammit, they just don't know how to act!

There is nothing acceptable about people living in grinding poverty in one of the richest countries on earth. The lack of empathy of some posters on this thread actually sickens me to my stomach.

I think some people confuse "not having much money for a whole" with "living in poverty".

At uni I lived in catered halls (which cost the full amount of my grant) where I got breakfast and lunch. I had £2.50 per week (parents gave me £10 per month as that's what they could afford) for everything else - lunches, books, travel, toiletries etc. I managed by skipping lunch, never going out, getting books from the library (queueing early morning if I had to) etc. BUT I loved uni, enjoyed my course, and knew it was only for a few years.

That is NOT the same thing as relentless poverty. Relentless poverty is when you get up early, scrape together breakfast, get the kids to school knowing they'll be hungry later, get 2 buses to work (which takes 45 minutes) because you can't afford a car, but you don't have time to walk (because then you'd have to put the kids into school breakfast club at an extra £2 per day). You work an 8-hour shift at a minimum-wage job, get 2 buses home (which takes over an hour because it's rush hour now), so you've been out of the house from 8am - 7pm, you collect the kids from your sister/mum/friend or whoever offered to have them that day, and you still need to do homework and make dinner and do some laundry, and you finally sit down exhausted after 9pm. Kids are whiny because they're tired and hungry and can't go to the school disco/ Sam's party because you can't afford to get them there, let alone buying them something to wear or a present for Sam (you can't regift stuff because you don't have storage space to hide things from the kids, so everything's been opened).

At the weekend you have to drag the kids to the supermarket (you need them to help you carry the stuff home on the bus), do all the stuff that you need to keep life running etc.

You don't have time, headspace or money for hobbies or exercise. You don't want to go out with friends as that costs money, you don't want to invite friends round because your house isn't that nice. You constantly feel guilty that you're not feeding the kids properly or spending enough time with them, and you know that tomorrow, next week and next month are going to be exactly the same.

Even something like a cookery class seems impossible because you'd have to pay bus fares to get there and back, plus it's only on in the evenings and you're too knackered and don't have childcare (they run a crèche but firstly that means paying the kids' bus fares too, plus by the time it's over and you get the bus home the kids would be exhausted and whiny and falling asleep in school).

The only person who's ever glad to see you is the dog, so I can see why you'd want to keep him around, too.

Spot on Belfast

I don’t know why some Food Banks request pasta, rice & tinned tomatoes, we never ask for them at our Food Bank. But sometimes organisations, schools at Harvest for example, ask for items without checking with their local Food Bank exactly what is required.

When ‘Period Poverty’ was in the news we were inundated with tampax etc despite (fortunately) having very few women who use our Food Bank ... we were able to pass it on to the local Refuge.

That’s why I always make the point ... please check what your local Food Bank actually needs. Another example is Advent Calendars .. very kind of people to give them but we have less than half a dozen children using our Food Bank & adults who may be sleeping rough or sofa surfing really don’t want a chocolate Advent Calendar.

But sometimes organisations, schools at Harvest for example, ask for items without checking with their local Food Bank exactly what is required

Ah well this was a leaflet distributed from the food bank itself.

Our harvest festival donations are also collected officially with the food bank (Trussell) and they provide a list to parents of things they need. Always includes pasta rice tinned puddings and toiletries

Surely pasta (perhaps not rice as it can take 30 minutes plus to cook which is a lot of electric) is excellent though? It doesn't need to be stored in a fridge, it's safe to eat cold so you can cook a large amount at once (so saving electricity), and can be used with a lot of other items. Asda do an excellent own brand pasta sauce, which actually has less salt and sugar than the branded, and costs 23p. For £1 someone who donates to the food banks could get 4, each jar lasts a good few days and doesn't need long at all to warm through; which could be as many as 8-12 meals. Missing the point slightly, but especially wholewheat pasta is filling, a good source of fibre, and tastes nice- seems odd food banks don't all want it.

Maybe Trussel Trust Food Banks genuinely want pasta, are there any TT volunteers on here who could answer? My point is that in the FB where I have volunteered (not TT) for over 10 years we are constantly, overwhelmed with pasta donations. I’ve tried to share it with other local FBs (inc TT ones). & they all say the same - too much pasta!

Pomley you clearly know how to make a tasty, interesting meal from a packet of pasta, many people do not and why should someone feel obligated to graciously accept donations of pasta & make it last for a few meals - this goes back to the ‘deserving poor’ discussion and it doesn’t show much empathy for people who live in grinding poverty year after year.

It's adding a jar of sauce to cooked pasta, and I've posted about my meals growing up further up the thread. Pasta for dinner most days, my parents would have been ridiculously thankful for something that would put a meal on the table for a few days. It also meant that we could have fruit with our lunch because they were saving money.

Pomley I understand what you are saying, but in my experience at the Food Bank I volunteer in, pasta is just not a popular item to give out. We like to offer our clients some choice rather than just giving a ‘parcel’ and very few ask for pasta (& yes we have tried informal cookery sessions etc).

Fair enough, speaking from experience having lived it, it's a shame it's often rejected.