Food bank for Christmas

[Didicat]

In usual primary school style they have told us late yesterday they are collecting for a food bank items to be in school THIS Friday.

My brain is already spent, Christmas holidays break needed already.... so I have a tenner to spend in Aldi....

What would you buy?

I can't really discuss if you are going to insist on strawmanning what I'm saying. What do you think that term means?

I gave you a long repsonse. I thought about each point you made and explained why I disagreeed. I haven't deliberately misinterpreted anything you posted. Not even the bits I wholeheartedly agree with!

That's not 'strawmanning' - that's discussion!

People wont starve if you stop foodbanks

You said yourself that millions would end up in doctors surgeries ill if food banks were banned, why is that if it's not from a lack of food? You don't seem able to commit to a narrative here, what is the short term hardship you're referring to and how much of it is acceptable? Is people getting ill ok, people stealing food, people dying?

You keep repeating the same thing over and over but you haven't given any reasoning as to why you think this will work. You don't seem to have any knowledge of the variety and complexity of people who use food banks or the reasons why they do, which I'm not surprised about, but I'm amazed you think your opinion is an informed one when you don't seem to have any background knowledge and you can't even expand on it a tiny bit. You can repeat it as many times as you want but you can't expect people with lived experience of this to take you seriously until you can expand it beyond the depth of a click bait daily fail article.

I can't really discuss if you are going to insist on strawmanning what I'm saying.

Perhaps if you gave an actual argument as to why you think banning food banks will work we could address it, but all you've given is unrelated points and an assertion that it'll work.

Perhaps it'll help to tell us how you arrived at this conclusion, when did you first hear of the idea?

I buy a few bits each week and rotate
week 1 basics like tinned tomatoes, baked beans, tuna
week 2 toiletries
week 3 biscuits, jam etc
week 4 dairy or gluten free

I can't really discuss if you are going to insist on strawmanning what I'm saying.

I'm not entirely convinced you know what 'strawmanning' means, so I'll bear this in mind.

People wont starve if you stop foodbanks

Oh hahahahaha. Good one.

Yes. Yes they will.

www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/

I volunteer at a local foodbank and ask people to search as what their local foodbank needs the most.

@WankPuffins

People wont starve if you stop foodbanks

Oh hahahahaha. Good one.

Yes. Yes they will.

Shit, they do even with the existance of foodbanks. Here, this year, in the UK!

From 2018
www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/05/figures-show-rise-in-malnutrition-deaths-in-england-and-wales

Average of 6 people a fucking month..... in the UK, from the last ONS figures I looked at (2016)

Cash is what I'm sending. Out foodbank has a PayPal link on the website.

As a FB volunteer I really wish FBs didn't exist ... but they are needed at the moment.

But just another reminder to those who kindly want to make a Christmas donation. ..... at this time of year many FBs are overwhelmed with very generous donations, please, please check if your local FB actually needs anything at the moment, we have run out of storage space and are having to pay for extra space which uses up vital funds ... yet by the end February/March donations will probably be very low again.

@WankPuffins

People wont starve if you stop foodbanks

Oh hahahahaha. Good one.

Yes. Yes they will.

No they won't.

@FeminismIsForALLWomen

People wont starve if you stop foodbanks

You said yourself that millions would end up in doctors surgeries ill if food banks were banned, why is that if it's not from a lack of food? You don't seem able to commit to a narrative here, what is the short term hardship you're referring to and how much of it is acceptable? Is people getting ill ok, people stealing food, people dying?

You keep repeating the same thing over and over but you haven't given any reasoning as to why you think this will work. You don't seem to have any knowledge of the variety and complexity of people who use food banks or the reasons why they do, which I'm not surprised about, but I'm amazed you think your opinion is an informed one when you don't seem to have any background knowledge and you can't even expand on it a tiny bit. You can repeat it as many times as you want but you can't expect people with lived experience of this to take you seriously until you can expand it beyond the depth of a click bait daily fail article.

If people can't feed themselves and they become ill they visit a doctor, it is the the NHS problem, eventually they go to hospital if need be.

Hospitals won't discharge people with no adequate means to feed themselves. If enough people stand their ground the government need to act.

You don't solve the problem by allowing it to grow.

@Ragwort

As a FB volunteer I really wish FBs didn't exist ... but they are needed at the moment.

But just another reminder to those who kindly want to make a Christmas donation. ..... at this time of year many FBs are overwhelmed with very generous donations, please, please check if your local FB actually needs anything at the moment, we have run out of storage space and are having to pay for extra space which uses up vital funds ... yet by the end February/March donations will probably be very low again.

This is why I tend to donate money via the PayPal link on their site. We had a collection at work one year and the food sat in the back of someone's car until March when they'd finally accept it.

I did send some DS into school with a bag for the harvest festival but for the most part I think monetary donations can be used year round.

We normally send in those multipack tins of tuna

I always buy sanitary products

As a FB volunteer I really wish FBs didn't exist

Me too, it's been soul destroying this year. I can't even imagine what would have happened without them.

Hospitals won't discharge people with no adequate means to feed themselves. If enough people stand their ground the government need to act.

You seem to be thinking of this as some sort of massive, forced hunger strike, and you still haven't told us how you think it'll work, let alone why you think it's acceptable to allow people to become ill or die in pursuit of a goal you don't know you'll reach.

You don't solve the problem by allowing it to grow.

No, you don't. But again it's not food banks who are allowing the problem to grow, it's the government.

@FeminismIsForALLWomen

As a FB volunteer I really wish FBs didn't exist

Me too, it's been soul destroying this year. I can't even imagine what would have happened without them.

Hospitals won't discharge people with no adequate means to feed themselves. If enough people stand their ground the government need to act.

You seem to be thinking of this as some sort of massive, forced hunger strike, and you still haven't told us how you think it'll work, let alone why you think it's acceptable to allow people to become ill or die in pursuit of a goal you don't know you'll reach.

You don't solve the problem by allowing it to grow.

No, you don't. But again it's not food banks who are allowing the problem to grow, it's the government.

I have told you what to do but you just refuse to acknowledge it.

I don't expect you to agree but if what I'm saying isn't registering then there is little I can do.

I always try to put in sauces, stock cubes, jam, honey, marmite, risotto rice and chocolate biscuits. I know basics are needed but people also need store cupboard stuff to add flavour to things. People tend to forget those and it ends up a lot of tuna, pasta, tinned tomatoes and baked beans.

Hospitals won't discharge people with no adequate means to feed themselves

If course they do. A&Es do it all over the UK every night, every day - thousands of people daily.

Hospital wards do it.

Psychiatric wards and units do it.

You seem very naive, tbh.

@Birdsandbeez - you’re not in a position to criticise foodbanks if you haven’t volunteered at one and seen the help they give those who need it.

Without foodbanks people (including children) would go hungry. GP’s and hospitals are not in a position to help hungry people. It is wrong that we need foodbanks but they aren’t going to go away whilst they are needed. If you don’t want to donate - your decision.

I have told you what to do but you just refuse to acknowledge it.

I don't expect you to agree but if what I'm saying isn't registering then there is little I can do.

For goodness' sake, you haven't explained why you think your theory will work, given anything to back it up or answered any of the points I or other posters have made.

I'm not going to keep asking you to justify your opinion but please think about why you aren't able to come up with a coherent argument other than "do this, it'll work".

It's like Owen Jones has wandered into the thread ...

For those who work or volunteer at food banks, can I please ask a question that's come up before but I haven't yet seen answered, and its about Over-The-Counter medicines.

I mean things that you can pick up on the shelves of supermarkets, like E45 cream, Sudocreme, Vaseline, throat lozenges, paracetamol, ibuprofen etc.

I have psoriasis and PsA arthritis and if I ever found myself in dire straits between homes, GPs and payments (e.g. escaping abuse), I'd be desperate and grateful for some OTC stuff to tide me over for a few days.

I'd be interested to know what's acceptable? Thanks.

Sorry, I should have said it's a question I've seen on other threads ^^

@JamieLeeCurtains

Hospitals won't discharge people with no adequate means to feed themselves

If course they do. A&Es do it all over the UK every night, every day - thousands of people daily.

Hospital wards do it.

Psychiatric wards and units do it.

You seem very naive, tbh.

I can assure you I have far more experience of this than may first appear.

I'm not going to tell me life story here but I can assure you if you handle the situation properly and are prepared to stand your ground you will get the help needed. You will not be allowed to starve.

People won't starve - the media or the foodbanks may tell you that but I can assure that won't happen.

People won't act and I can't force them, but without action the situation will worsen.

It's no good just saying the government are the ones causing the problem - we all know that. They won't change their stance until people organise themselves and fight back.

Do nothing and see where we are in 10 - 20yrs.