And now we have food banks . . .

[longwayoff]

Just saw Lenny Henry reminiscing 30 years of Comic Relief. And, as he said,if you'd told him then he'd be here years later raising money for food banks in the UK he would have refused to believe it. Quite rightly, me too. We're still one if the wealthiest countries in the world. Why aren't we more ashamed of this disgraceful development?

We've always had food banks
We've always had soup kitchens
We've always had down and outs
we've always had hostels
We've always had charity for poverty

Is it right ? no
Is it a new innovation? no

YBVU to watch Lenny Henry though

I think the need for food banks has always been there, tbh.
I lived in a very poor area of my city when I was a student, and became friendly with some of the families there. All lovely people.
But there were issues. Cigs and booze took preference over the kids at times. Not cos they were selfish fuckers but because they were stressed, depressed, dependent on them, stuck in a vicious cycle.
At least food banks give them a chance to have some decent food that otherwise would not be available?
I think there was a time when too much was given to folks and that caused a massive swing the other way, leaving too many with too
little. We need to find the middle ground.
People on the lowest rungs need more support structures to help them up out of poverty.

You’re right, we should be thoroughly ashamed of needing food banks in the 21st century. It’s an absolute scandal.

We have not always had food banks who were expected to pick up the gap because the British state lets people starve.

We did akwayszhave charities that feexthe homeless etc but not on this scale.

I remain appalled and horrified at how quickly food banks have become a normal and accepted part of our society and not an anomaly for the very hardest to reach in society.

It’s a bloody disgrace on all of us.

Things will not improve, I think the UK has had its hay day.

For people now, this is as good as life gets.

We only had food banks for those that fell through the cracks.

The Food banks that we have today, are the direct result of Austerity.

This is the first time that we've had a general need for food banks. For those in employment amd who should be covered by Welfare benefits, who aren't addicts.

I don't know why people are in denial about this.

We have not always had food banks. Food banks are feeding the families of working people, as well as the destitute. They have been gifted to us by the austerity policy of this government.

Food banks have always been needed

As a society we have become more sympathetic about poverty and practical in our response to it.

Hence food banks.

It’s a positive development

"I think there was a time when too much was given to folks and that caused a massive swing the other way, leaving too many with too
little"

When was that? Who were the people with too much amd too little?

History grad here

Final two years Britain focussed.

Trust me, there has always been some British people that would have benefited from food banks.

We have not always had food banks who were expected to pick up the gap because the British state lets people starve.

^^This. Not since before the invention of the welfare state.

But, never fear, as long as the royal family ooze wealth, sportsfolks and celebrities get grotesque salaries, fat cats get nice bonuses and companies avoid taxation and get bailouts, we plebs will be ok with our food banks, ever rising cost of living and council tax hikes.

Mmmmbrekkie, its a positive development that if it wasn't for Charities working in the UK, children would be suffering from malnutrition?

YANBU. There has always been food banks etc but they have grown exponentially since 2010.

We’ve always had homelessness but not to the extent it is now, where there are hoards of people living in vans and tents in major cities and where there are so many families in temporary accomodation for so long, whilst so many properties lay empty.

We are meant to progress as a society, but we are going backwards when it comes to ensuring our own citizens have a decent quality of life.

And Lenny Henry is great.

Modern food banks were introduced by Tony Blair - and I'm afraid I can remember 'poor' families going to the church for food parcels way back in the '60's and 70's - 3 day week ring any bells ?

A quick history of the European food bank phenomenon - they started significantly rising in the UK in 2004, which I believe was Tony Blair.

www.ibtimes.co.uk/short-history-food-banks-modern-phenomenon-1445071

@Birdsgottafly

It’s a positive and practical response to an age-old problem. Poverty.

A woman who had fled a DV situation with her children posted yesterday about her gratitude to donors

We shouldn't need them and it's shocking that we do, but I'm relieved for women like that poster they exist

Were they nurses working full time, though brekkie?
www.independent.co.uk/voices/nurse-strike-pay-nhs-crisis-why-i-voted-for-industrail-action-a7736896.html

There weren’t always food banks. There certainly weren’t any when I was a child or a young adult. I’d never even heard of them until about ten years ago. We used to have a decent benefits system so they weren’t needed.

It us not a positive development, it's a retrograde step allowing the government to save tax at the expense of those who can't afford it. If you think that's a sympathetic and practical response to poverty I hope you never need to seek help yourself. You'll be in for a sore disappointment.

Mmmmbrekkie, I agree it's a positive development but it shouldn't be needed in 21st century affluent UK. The British State should not be sending people to food banks when it is the responsibility of the State through taxation to provide for the poor. This is in light of the fact that the State allows minimum wage jobs to flourish rather than insisting companies pay an actual liveable wage to staff in line with the cost of living.

A positive development? Has Jacob Rees Mogg joined MN?

The minimum a nurse can be paid in this country is £22,000, £27,000 in inner London. That assumes they do no night shifts or antisocial hours, which in practice most of them will.

"The average pay for nurses is £31,000, which is more than the national average."

Food banks were certainly around in the 1970’s.

He should stick to doing hotel adverts

I agree. Of course food banks shouldn’t be needed.

However the poverty problem has always existed. In every single country on earth. Always has done. And does today.

Food banks represent a relatively new approach and I think that as an approach to the problem - it’s a good one insofar as it is practical and dealing with malnutrition.

Between 2010 and 2017, use of Trussell Trust food banks rose from 41,000 to 1.2 million fullfact.org/economy/how-many-people-use-food-banks/.

Many of the users of food banks are in work!

It's a disgrace and a return to the Victorian era with the poor being reliant on charity.

Doubtless we will soon have some posters saying it's much better than under the Labour government because they knew someone in 2008 who was on benefits and had a satellite dish.