To think food banks aren’t fit for purpose

[ForFirmBiscuit]

I don’t need to use a food bank but when I did they gave me tins of soup, a small tin of meat pie, a litre of UHT and a small bag of oats, nothing fresh. I didn’t get much and I was really hungry as there wasn’t enough calories and it was insubstantial. It gave me loads of anxiety to be so hungry. It’s always been like that.
I think food banks should be supplied by the council and given proper budgets for good food, even if they made batches of soup themselves to give out it would be more filling than a tin of soup

It’s sad how much abuse I get on the phone at the Foodbank when users don’t get their food parcel within a couple of hours of the voucher being issued.

So we can look forward to things magically improving immediately under Labour can we??

Thought not. We don’t have a fucking bottomless pit of money! No country does! It’s nothing to do with the conservatives and ‘austerity’ you are years out of date! People seriously need to get with the programme.

No one is entitled to anything in life
You are responsible for yourself
Thr country is not super rich and can pay for people to live handsomely never doing a days work
Things are likely to get worse financially under Labour not better! Jesus!

everyone is entitled to expect certain things from their state. Enough to eat is one of them. Life saving medical treatment in an emergency is another. i don't expect I would see you turn down life saving medical treatment in an emergency saying "no , no, I am responsible for myself"

We are a society. We can't function as individuals. None of us

This made me laugh. 🤣

It isn't going to get better immediately. Of course not but it is the Tories who got us into this state

As a volunteer , comments like this make me a bit frustrated. Do you not understand that we can only give out what people donate ? Do you think we deliberately give people stuff they won’t like ? We cater as best we can for GF, vegetarian etc but if we don’t have stuff what do we do ?
Fortunately most people are delighted with a packet of pasta , a jar of sauce , box of cereal , UHT milk , tins etc plus soap , nappies etc as required .
It’s an emergency for 3 days !
I am going a shift today . We have tea/ coffee plus a hot roll and biscuits for our service users while they wait . Guess who is supplying the biscuits today ? Me.

You need to wake up. You are being lied to. There is no solution here, people need to accept labour are not the golden saviours. We live well beyond our means country wide and people need to seriously understand our fiscal position. We are not Saudi Arabia or similar!!! Labour are shit with money and the food banks will still be here in five years time, and quite possibly we will ALL be using them by then!

This is one of the best responses I’ve ever seen on MN and 100% true.

I'd be worried if we all ended up relying on foodbanks as they'll be nobody to donate.

But I agree the country is living well beyond its means. More people need to be paying into the system than taking out the system.

Exactly. And the sheer entitlement and grasping has reached endemic proportions. It’s going to end very badly.

What is needed is a reality check and some. Not false hope and lies that are peddled by a dishonest Labour Party.

There should not be food banks.... very victorian!

The explosion of food banks under tory Rule is horrible.

YABVU.
food banks are for an emergency. For those I. Immediate need. If you are hungry they will give you food. To complain it’s not the food you want is awful.
and just to say, not everyone using them needs them. I have seen people queuing that I know full well don’t need them. In many cases they are used properly, in other cases people are getting something for free and abusing that fact.

I don't recall labour saying they have a magic wand to fix everything. The tories have left the country in a terrible state and if labour win they will have a monumental job ahead. And they know it.

It was church boxes before. It’s not new. It’s been in existence for centuries.

This. There are a lot of Tory bots on this thread. I'm not going to engage with them.

You are easily pleased.

That is simply not true. The conservatives spent ten years paying off the labour debts. Another two years dealing with the pandemic and now the Ukraine war.

Labour are peddling lies that it can ever be fixed. We live well beyond our means and we have been for decades. People are so badly educated they have no idea seemingly.

Whenever I’ve donated to foodbanks, these are the only sorts of things you are allowed to donate. Yes, it would be great to have the things you describe but I’m not sure it’s possible.

I say this as gently as possible but, if you’re using a food bank, then you’ll have to take what they’re offering. Glad things are better for you now though.

A bit harsh.

I want to know where they live. Five houses and it’s not in the hundreds of thousands. Bargain basement deals.

Trying to think where I could even get a house for 50k…. Nope.

How could we ALL be using food banks?? Who would be donating to them? Your statement is illogical and just hyperbole.

Not at the current level.

We have a brilliant 'Community Fridge' run by the YMCA with support from various funders and volunteer run. The purpose is to save food from landfill. Plenty of fresh veg and salad and bakery goods. Anyone can go and grab something. Set your own up locally.
Self help is empowering and fighting food waste can only be a good thing.
Something's wrong when society needs foodbanks - create a more empathetic future.

You're right, the welfare state isn't fit for purpose. We have people choosing to not work, have kids with no stable partners, come here from overseas having never contributed a penny, and on the flip side employers choosing to pay minimum wage because successive governments have not only allowed that, but encouraged it by topping up with benefits. While all that is going on, we've got a generation of entitled kids who think taking a job is below them, who expect to be nursed from cradle to grave, and politicians from all colours who won't make any changes. The whole country is not fit for purpose!

Food banks can only do so much! There are soup kitchens in some places where they hand out cooked food and hot meals for those who can’t afford it but that is different.

By and large food banks prefer non perishable items as they are easy to store, have long sell by dates and in case the people collecting them don’t have a fridge etc. they can still keep it without it spoiling and going off. I feel sad to think you were still so hungry but the items you mention are pretty standard. Porridge if made properly is a good a filling meal.