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?

As to having children they can't afford - yes, I think some do.

However, I also think that people do not have crystal balls - they cannot see that in their future lay - serious mental or physical health problems, partners forming drug addictions or gambling problems, broken relationships, loss of employment, a child with serious, possibly terminal health issues requiring 24 hour care, a child with behavioural issues being excluded from school and requiring 24 hour care. . .

And once you've had children, they're notoriously difficult to get shot of.

managedmis I remember that, but I think the ethos of the undeserving poor was there, there are loads of descriptions of people around the family in equal awful straits in slightly different circs. Either way, the insight into living like that has stayed with me, and simple as I am, any way to avoid inflicting it on children today is good by me.

I watched this and what was interesting was the difference in the type of people who were in this position..

Caveat, obviously we don't know ALL the life events that led to these circumstances but:

1. single mum of 3 (marriage broke down after 25 years which meant a complete upheaval in her finances) housed miles away from kids school, and her elderly mum for whom she is a carer which means a lot of her benefits go on fuel and she can't work full time due to being in the car 3 or 4 hours a day for school run/travelling to mums

She had to use a food bank and she's the exact type of person who has been failed by the system and can't work/budget effectively because of logistics (mainly where she has been housed) and a rotten dose of bad luck

2. Couple with 5 kids, no basic cooking skills, dad earns £8 an hour and mum doesn't work. They also use a food bank and are heavily reliant on the school providing much of their children's nutrition

To me there is a stark contrast between 1) and 2)

1. is exactly the type of circumstance the benefits system / food banks should be helping with

2. quite frankly seem to have kept having children despite the fact they couldn't afford them / didn't have the basic skills to feed them properly on a budget (highlighted by showing the mum on a cooking course completely unaware of the basics).. the more people we have in the 2) bucket the more the system will be stretched and those in 1) will struggle to get the help they need

I agree that there are different type of people needing the services. Some may say self inflicted, some unavoidable and could happen to any of us.

The result of this remains the same though. Hungry children needing fed.

Porridge is made with water! It’s actually pretty healthy, you could eat a lot worse and much better than sugary cereal.

People are so weird - why would you cry making porridge?

I think people have some ridiculous ideas - I’ve been a high earner and a single mum on benefits. Individual situations are all different but I never struggled to feed my dds or myself on benefits. I ate porridge (made with water salt and sugar) every day and it was delicious!

I don’t agree that generally benefits don’t provide enough money for food. Obviously though people get sanctioned and people have unexpected costs, etc.

I’m sorry but if you think porridge Made with water sugar and salt is delicious there is something wrong with you or your tastebuds

For those who blame the parents for not cooking properly... have you seen the state of teaching provision lately? There's a woeful lack of funds for employing good core subject teachers so the other stuff gets squeezed out. And teachers are leaving in droves due conditions and paperwork. This has been going on for at least ten years so I expect there's a whole generation of young parents who've had no "domestic science" education and are just muddling through. Add in the money problems highlighted by other posters and you have your answers as to why food backs are feeding our children.

People are so weird - why would you cry making porridge?

Did you read the rest of that post?

I ate porridge (made with water salt and sugar) every day and it was delicious!

Bullshit

Just wondering how recently you were on benefits zsazsajuju? Because my understanding is that the current form is markedly different from previous and a lot more challenging to survive on?

It has bugger all to with cooking properly. That’s just something people say because it makes them feel superior

Porridge made with water is fine, once in a while.. If you're on a health kick or temporarly skint. Porridge made with water, thin and unappetising (imo) with no lovely honey to sweeten it, not even a blob of jam. Day in, day out with probably a crappy lunch to eat later on, sucks.
I'd be gutted if that's all I had to feed my kids with.
It's the relentless idea of it. It's for the foreseeable. That's why it's so bleak.. No takeaway to look forward to. No bottle of wine on a friday evening. Just crappy in-nourishing food, anything that will fill you all up for the least money/cooking time.

FFS I’ve heard it all now. So because these children are overweight (down to choices made by their parents) we should what? Deny them access to a food bank until they’re starting to look malnourished?
All these people blaming the parents are missing the point. These are children who are going hungry. The reason their parents have no money for food is not their fault.

It didn’t, however, the number of food banks available has been steadily increasing since then, so the increase in use could be as a result of the increase of availability

What, you think they just decided to set up a load of new food banks just in case someone needs one? Rubbish. The reason food bank availability has increased is because food bank need has increased.
Do you think people just decide to set up food banks as a hobby, and they sit around waiting for people to decide they would like some free food?

The benefit cap applies regardless of size of family and housing costs and where you live. So if your rent is £450 week and that’s possible in London for say 3 bed flat with landlord who takes housing benefit. Then that leaves your whole family £50 a week for everything. No one can live on that.

I remember the strikes very well.
I helped parcel up food.
There were lots from Soviet miners, God knows but it was like a beef stew.
Everyone mucked in and shared.

The society supported the miners and their families, now society wants to bloody punish the poor.
I ate plenty of bread and sugar or hash that doesn't mean kids should still be doing that.
Some posters here (post in regular name, show your bias) should really have a rethink. No one is particularly safd, what when it's you?
For shame.

And yeah, sometimes I have porridge made with water. That’s my choice. I could also choose to make it with milk, or double cream, or fucking Gin if I wanted to. These people have no choices, and the sheer relentlessness of that must really grind you down.

I like porridge! So do a lot of people. It doesn’t make me weep! It’s healthy, nutrious and delicious. Not some sort of awful poverty. Now, if I have time I make it and add some frozen raspberries. It’s a lovely breakfast and very filling.

I think many people here have not been poor. I’ve been poor growing up and as an adult but can manage. Perhaps because I’ve lived in the developing world I have lower expectations.

For those who asked when I was on benefits, a few years ago (after 2010). As I said, some people of course face unexpected difficulties and sanctions (I was never sanctioned). But as a general rule you should be able to feed your kids on benefits. There are lots of things you will miss out on but food should not generally be one of them. And porridge is a nice breakfast!

You SHOULD be able to feed your child on benefits but then add in:

Debt

Addiction

Overspending

Sanctions

Financial abuse

And now you CAN’T feed your children on benefits.

So what’s your point?!

It’s different choosing to have porridge for breakfast because that’s what you want for breakfast, to having to have porridge made with water for breakfast every single day because all you have is a bag of oats and no money for milk. Surely people can see that?
I like pasta. If I had to eat pasta every day because it was all I could afford, I’d get sick of pasta pretty quickly.

@eldbeagle - I think that’s more a point about poverty, it brings a lack of choices. But my gran would turn in her grave if she saw me make porridge with milk so it’s not an option for me....

Luckily my grandma wouldn’t care less what I made my porridge with, but she’d be upset if I was making it with water purely because I couldn’t afford milk.

@Dogsdinner12 another namechanger. Post with your usual username if you have the courage of your convictions. If you'd watched more than two minutes of the programme you'd have seen a nutritionalist explain how children can be obese yet malnourished due to food insecurity.

@Passthecherrycoke - my point is that benefits are generally enough to feed your kids on contrary to many pp on this thread.

How are you suggesting the government addresses factors like overspending or parents spending money on addiction in the benefits system? I just don’t know if it’s possible and certainly not easy to do so. Free school meals and breakfast club perhaps.

But overspending or addiction are not really an issue with the benefits system.

My point was and still is, in the 80’s during the strikes we didn’t have enough food. We ate veg, bread very basic food , no meat, no frozen pizza. We were hungry and very thin.

Living in a mining community i remember the struggles, but we had communities. There were plenty of food banks, but they were informal community initiatives and they didn't have a name as such.

There were fat kids back then too, I know because I was one of them!

@Dogsdinner12 another namechanger. Post with your usual username if you have the courage of your convictions.

This with bells on

So weve had the poor bashers, the non believers, the name changers and now a sales person for Quaker Oats.

I dont mind porridge with full fat milk and a pinch of sugar, wouldn't say it's delicious