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

Precisely.

I'm sure people have said, but if you make fresh soup and deliver it to someone and they have any kind of issue going on that makes it hard for them to eat it within a day or two and they aren't able to freeze it, it will provide 0 calories because it will go in the bin. Whereas a can of soup keeps forever and can be eaten whenever.

They do give out dried goods which people can make soup with themselves if they want to. I am sure people have explained the issue with keeping stock of fresh foods.

It isn't true that the Conservative governments pay off debts run up by Labour.

Over 75 years from 1946 to 2021, Conservative governments borrowed more per year, whether you judge it in cash terms or adjusting for inflation.

This holds true even if you ignore everything after 2008, to avoid the argument that "we were only clearing up the mess left by the global financial crisis Gordon Brown's Labour government".

On the other hand, Labour governments repay debt more often and repay more both in total and on average per year when repayments are made.

The Tories have always borrowed more than Labour, and always repaid less: they are the party of big deficit spending (taxresearch.org.uk)

I do not ever remember church boxes.
I have vague memories of collections for miners during the 1980s strike. And memories of once a year harvest thanks giving collection which went to elderly parishioners.
I do not ever remember the church collecting outside those events.

Harvest Festival boxes for old people and collections for miners is all I remember. The Victorians did it but I don't think we should be going back to that.

It was better than the alternative, though, surely, @ForFirmBiscuit - which was nothing!

I think you've nailed it.

I remember arguments against NMW because it interferes with natural economics. And now I absolutely see it.

If employers were setting their own wages people would move for 50p an hour more. Which in turn drives wages up (the cheaper employers need to match it) Instead the only people pulling wages up are the supermarkets.

I just don't know how we get away from top-up benefits, because it clearly doesn't work.

It would help if the use of offshore accounts to avoid taxes was better regulated or better still stopped altogether, also the cronyism? is it called, whereby friends of politicians benefit from gov contracts and pay handsome handouts back for the favours.. especially for those contracts that almost always seem to cost billions of taxpayers money yet never actually get completed or used..

I think if food banks claim to provide 3 days food then the parcel should contain enough calories (I.e. 2000 a day for a woman, 2500 for a man, 1500-2500 for children) or more if feasible. It sounds like you only got 1 main meal - were you expecting 3 days food? I know our local food bank gives a lot more and there's a choice for which breakfast cereal you want, rice or pasta and if you need toiletries so it doesn't sound like you were well served by the one you visited.

This! I’m sick to death of seeing this lie trotted out election after election. Tories historically borrow more than Labour, and repay less debt.

The Food Bank I volunteer at did trial making and distributing home made soup ... there was very little interest and the volunteers ended up having to take it home (& it was very good soup!).

We will also accept donations of fresh vegetables, fruit etc but, as everyone else has pointed out, what do we do with it at the end of the session when there is loads left over? One do gooder did suggest to me 'why don't you take the apples home and make a batch of apple pies to give out?'.

I sincerely hope that the OP is willing to volunteer at her local FB and get more of an understanding about the challenges FBs experience.

I think it really depends on your area.

I actually once took a service user to a food bank. Everything she was given was in a tin without a ring pull. I had to stop on the way home to buy her a tin opener. She was actually very appreciative.

Remember they are charities they can only give out what they have. And they don't know who else is going to walk in the door.

Sure, but there will usually be local supporters who follow them on social media or other groups such as churches who would be prepared to donate a bit extra if stocks are getting low. I know ours put out a couple of appeals during the pandemic when demand was high. Plus they could have explained that to the OP if they were giving less than usual.

Donations fall off a cliff in the school holidays unfortunately. Which makes things much tougher feeding children. I wonder whether Asda etc will do their free lunches again.

Im sorry you experienced this.
As my elderly Mum used to tell us " Beggars can't be choosers"

They can't give what they don't have. What makes you think people who attend church will have the money to offer up more food?
A huge percentage of church goers are pensioners ie on low fixed income themselves.

I work for a foodbank and the amount we can give out entirely depends on how many donations we get. We don't have the funding to buy top up food or fresh stuff. There's also the issue of storage for fresh food and as someone else has said what do we do with the stuff no one takes?

@UnbeatenMum

They do put out appeals when stocks are low but that doesn't always instantly raise exactly what they need. They probably did speak to OP but at the end of the day, they're not in control of their supply or the demand, so all they can do is try to fairly distribute what they are given.
Unless OP is suggesting that the FB volunteers are hoarding all the good stuff & deliberately giving measly parcels, how can the FB be criticised?

What OP is really criticising when she criticises the FB is the people donating to the food bank. The volunteers can only distribute what they have as fairly as possible (unless OP is suggesting she should have more + more choice than the other service users?). which is ludicrous.

This is kind of tangential but according to the ONS only 29% of adults who identified as Christian were over 65 in the 2021 census. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/articles/religionbyageandsexenglandandwales/census2021#religion-by-age www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/articles/religionbyageandsexenglandandwales/census2021#religion-by-age]]]]

I know for a fact there are also churchgoers with 6 figure salaries because we fall into that category as a family.

I do agree that foodbanks can't magic food out of thin air, but I don't think her experience of getting less than 1 day's food is usual across the country. We would need more information to know why she was given so little in comparison to the norm.

My DS at 16 got a job working in a theme park. Pretty much all the seasonal staff are teens and they work really hard. So not recognising this 'generation of entitled kids who think taking a job is below them'. Maybe your DC are like that, but many aren't!

Maybe they're dolls houses.

Quite often weekly food banks provide cooked lunches too. But as you say not the emergency ones.

Yes, Harvest Festival tended to be the only time churches gave out food.