Food Banks Whats Going On?

[JeepJeep]

Nowt wrong with help & assistance being given when it's needed...

It's the serial thumb up their bum do nothings that boil my pee. You remember them from being a kid they did nothing then and do nothing now sorts....

 

[Oldmacdonald]

Only humane way out of this is chemical sterilisation

No its not.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

unemployment, is running at 4%, a very low figure indeed.

education has a lot to answer for, they don't really prepare kids, for life in the real world, it's not easy, it can be very hard. And the 'drop outs' from school, are largely forgotten.

But wages also come into it, the min wage, doesn't go far in these days. But wages are also based on selling price, they have to be a viable product. Guvs want cheap items, to keep the public happy, which means they have to compete with imports.

With tin hat on, l would say, there are 2 types or poor, in this country, the genuine, and the ones that simply cannot manage their money. The former need, and should be helped, the latter need education, that's not to slag them off, education probably let them down.

food banks, are a really good practical idea, in my mind, it's better to give food, rather than money, to some. A voucher system could work, better than cash perhaps, although no system is perfect, against fraud, or abuse. No system will ever be perfect.

With food banks, charity etc, they are subject to abuse, and the more they are used, the greater the need, and political clout.

While much of this post, sounds condescending, it isn't meant to be. It s not PC to say these things, just as guvs have their hands tied, any attempt to reform, gets a hysterical outburst, and is politically a non starter.

And yet, as the NHS, it really does need remodelling, the systems are from the past, they would work better, if they were brought up to date. Again, it's politically impossible to achieve.

Govt doesn't know what it wants.
It wants a "high wage economy" but doesn't want the inflation or strikes.

 

[Werzle]

Folks are too pampered these days and always get the softly softly treatment, i agree people need to be fed but they ought to be given abit of a bollocking (when needed) along with the food and told to get priorities in order.

 

[Courier]

And to think that a Hartlepool “red wall” voter was praising the Tories for introducing a food bank to the area because they didn’t have (need) one under the previous government.
Yes you are right, some people are as thick as pig sh1t.

 

[kiwi pom]

Am I out of touch
But. Are you suggesting a family on £60 k a year, requires, financial assistance, ?

They could be if they're trying to pay a mortgage, childcare all the bills, maybe student debt and then get huge increases in power bills and interest rates on the mortgage.
Everyone's situation is different.
They might not be great at budgeting or have bought a more expensive house than they need but it could easily happen.

 

[Courier]

They could be if they're trying to pay a mortgage, childcare all the bills, maybe student debt and then get huge increases in power bills and interest rates on the mortgage.
Everyone's situation is different.
They might not be great at budgeting or have bought a more expensive house than they need but it could easily happen.

Plenty of folk lulled into a false sense of security with a 5 year fixed rate mortgage based on 0.5% base rates.
Base rate had halved since then but now has risen by 600% to 3.5% - As someone who recalls fixing an AMC Loan (on our now ex-accountant’s advice) when the AMC rate dropped by a third from 15% to 10% I can only suggest that the good times are over for the best part of a generation.

A £100 k house is not going to devalue as quickly or as much as a £350 k house (the developers current favourites)

A house price crash (some would call it a correction) is inevitable and paying ever higher high monthly mortgages whilst in increasing negative equity is not a place I would want to be …

 

[Estate fencing.]

I am classed as disabled, and am entitled to a payment, l have to really fight to get it, and it's not a lot, all the forms, and assessments, are designed to fail you.

Don't take this the wrong way but don't you have a farming business probably worth 7 figures?
If someone on a council estate was saying that they needed benefits but had a massive asset would we be slating them and saying they should sell the business?

 

[Courier]

Don't take this the wrong way but don't you have a farming business probably worth 7 figures?
If someone on a council estate was saying that they needed benefits but had a massive asset would we be slating them and saying they should sell the business?

DLA and PIP are no more “benefits” than is the State pension…

 

[snipe]

No its not.

If you had 2 cows. one that was a good mother and looked after it’s calf which grew into a good animal. The other cow produced a calf every month that ate more then it’s share of food but was fit for sale but started to produce more calves. Which one would you breed from and what would you do with the other one.
I know I have simplified the problem but that is the basics Of it. I am involved with a lot of deprived families in my area and been on benefits has become a career for many.

 

[grainboy]

They could be if they're trying to pay a mortgage, childcare all the bills, maybe student debt and then get huge increases in power bills and interest rates on the mortgage.
Everyone's situation is different.
They might not be great at budgeting or have bought a more expensive house than they need but it could easily happen.

I’m not that naive, but people should get a hold on reality,
yes, Money recently has been too easy to borrow, and at very little cost, the opposite to when we had our first mortgage, 1982,

we struggled at times, with 3 daughters, ( our choice ) helping put them through uni, now all qualified, and property owners, with a mortgage,
Our only advice to them, as we did, only buy what you can afford, and priorities your expenditure, this what the generations of today fail to do, expecting someone else to bail them out,

 

[som farmer]

Some pretty appalling generalisations going on here.
I am Heavily involved with a major project in partnership with FareShare, a major player in the re-distribution of surplus food.
FACT: Food bank demand is up massively YoY, and increasing.
FACT: surplus food availability is not increasing.
FACT: Most of the above growth is coming from working families.

Say you have a tractor-driver and a nurse with 3 kids and no accommodation with his job. Each earning c. £30k; have saved hard for a house deposit, enjoyed good interest rate for first 2 years, come to end of term; re-mortgaging,
Like for like, the following monthly Increase in outgoings could be quite realistic:
mortgage + £390
energy + £200
car fuel + £100 (they live close to farm, wife has a long commute)
Food bill + £120
other costs + £100

12 months ago, they might have felt relatively well off with £500\m (£6kPa) disposable income.
Inflation and interest rates have eaten this up and more….
In the cold light of day, not everybody is a sponging halfwit milking the system.… This crisis is real, and much, much closer to home than you think.

l don't think anybody on here, doubts that there are genuine cases, that merit, and deserve help.
On the other hand there are cases where people end up there because they cannot manage their money.
and there are those that are scroungers.

education could help the second, bit late now, should have been at school, but they do need help, might not take much to sort them out.

the last, are the problem, they overshadow the rest, they become the 'headlines', which judge the rest.

I to have to deal with the 'system', and can assure you, it is designed to 'fail' people, the figures quoted by our CAB, for independance payment, are 90% fail the assessment, you are allowed an 'appeal', 90% fail that, then you can go to a tribunal, which could be 100's of miles away, pal lives in Dorset, his appeal in Scotland, 90%pass

the result of policy is simple, genuine people, who both need and deserve the help, get 'left-out', because of the red tape to get there.

we are currently doing the 'attendance allowance' form, for a relative, 85 going blind, and early dementia, we simply cannot do it, honestly. As our friend has said, you need to know the RIGHT way to fill it in, the RIGHT sentences to put down.

the whole system needs reforming, desperately, but politically it cannot be done.

the NHS, l have been an inpatient, many times, the nursing is fantastic, the management is awful, it needs a total reform, again politically impossible.
and there are those that know how to play the system

 

[Exfarmer]

I’m not that naive, but people should get a hold on reality,
yes, Money recently has been too easy to borrow, and at very little cost, the opposite to when we had our first mortgage, 1982, View attachment 1087566we struggled at times, with 3 daughters, ( our choice ) helping put them through uni, now all qualified, and property owners, with a mortgage,
Our only advice to them, as we did, only buy what you can afford, and priorities your expenditure, this what the generations of today fail to do, expecting someone else to bail them out,

in 1986 we sold a farm to buy another, sadly the seller of the farm we were going to dropped out and we spent a year looking for another. In that year the money on deposit made us more than we had ever dreamed of while farming. What I was doing taking on a vast mortgage to purchase another with rates up to 15% I must have been mad!

 

[yin ewe]

Helped out at a food bank before Christmas. Some people were very great full, some were less so. Some peoples bins were full of take away boxes. Non of the people offered to help carry the bags from the car. All the people were at home that day, non of them offered to help at the food bank which offered free food and drink to the helpers. If nothing is done the country will be bankrupt. Only humane way out of this is chemical sterilisation

Probably not many underweight either.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Well said, living ain’t cheap, but most farmers don’t understand this as they don’t pay themselves a realistic wage then live out of it, most cost go through the business and are unnoticed.

i think education has a lot to answer for, in my secondary school days (2000-2005) we didn’t learn life basics. I left having little to no idea about VAT, tax rates, council tax, mortgages, finance, all very important in life but they wasted 5 years trying to teach us all algebra and pie!
food technology was also limited, yes we did learn some stuff but I luckily learnt more from my parents, also it’s the most accessible information on the internet but some people won’t have all the cooking equipment and they are hungry NOW hence takeaways and food banks

I think it's very hard to try to teach in school, the food culture that we somehow absorb in the family home growing up, there are many things that shock me, such as throwing away the crust of the bread, or after eating a roast chicken, throwing away the carcass, with the meat still on it.

I don't know, how to teach that food culture, but school is obviously not managing it.

 

[Oldmacdonald]

If you had 2 cows. one that was a good mother and looked after it’s calf which grew into a good animal. The other cow produced a calf every month that ate more then it’s share of food but was fit for sale but started to produce more calves. Which one would you breed from and what would you do with the other one.
I know I have simplified the problem but that is the basics Of it. I am involved with a lot of deprived families in my area and been on benefits has become a career for many.

Ah, eugenics.

There are a few people in history that advocated for that. They had views on other demographics too.

 

[glasshouse]

What chance has a child got when born into that sort of family ?
Zero

 

[snipe]

What chance has a child got when born into that sort of family ?
Zero

exactly. It’s the children who suffer

 

[Ffermer Bach]

What chance has a child got when born into that sort of family ?
Zero

I am a strong believer that our efforts should be put into helping mother and pre school children, as if children enter school behind their development stages, it is too late and they never catch up. The thing is, that type of intervention is expensive and the results come to fruition years later, so is not a priority.

 

[snipe]

Ah, eugenics.

There are a few people in history that advocated for that. They had views on other demographics too.

What would be your solution ??? People are quick to criticise but don’t put forward how they would deal with the problem.
As we are seeing now the NHS is at breaking point, how can the country carry on when it is spending more than it earns.