Food Banks

[Frodo]

What are peoples opinions on Food Banks, why are they suddenly so prominent.

My local town, which is fairly prosperous albeit with the usual areas of deprivation, now has one. My instinct is that this is unnecessary and counter productive.

I live in an area with a substantial soft fruit sector, so unskilled seasonal work should not be hard to find, and is currently filled by hard working Eastern Europeans. I also have friends and neighbours who dumped tonnes of potatoes this summer. One friend who is donating it likes to buy the supermarkets 3 for 2 deals and donate the produce she doesn't want.

Surely the benefits that people receive should be enough to allow people to feed their families in the crisis moments until they return to the workforce. The above situation to me is an unnecessarily broken market.

Am I naive in thinking that we should allow the free market (with a basic government safety net) to feed us and that food banks are just away of satisfying middle class guilt.

 

[grumpy]

food banks are a cynical way to under mine the tory government by the snp.do you get them down south?

 

[HAM135]

Perfect world for a lot of the neds,free food leaves them to spend there benefits on more drink,cigs,drugs etc...along with writing off the poll tax debt this week,Salmonds view of Scotland is coming to fruition.

 

[grumpy]

Perfect world for a lot of the neds,free food leaves them to spend there benefits on more drink,cigs,drugs etc...along with writing off the poll tax debt this week,Salmonds view of Scotland is coming to fruition.

he promised the neds free glue and bucky but still lost

 

[shepherdess]

Good idea your friend has, better than binning the waste and feeding the increasing town foxes!

shocking that the likes of say Tescos etc, dont donate direct into them when food comes close to out of date, instead they deduct it by a few pence and then bin it if not sold, most still ok too.. such a waste if some would gladly take it. even if the wrong kind but maybe should watch what i write hear

instead they want us to pay for it and give it to these cases, greed comes to mind. have them in local stores hear too normally always full too.

 

[DRC]

I like the proposal by the Tory party, to issue vouchers to be spent on food etc, rather than money, which can be spent on non essential stuff.

 

[MF-ANDY]

Tories had right idea at conference. Vouchers instead of money for some benefits.

 

[IH 684]

I always laugh as the local church keep requesting tins,packets etc for the local food bank. I drive past the building the food bank is held in twice a week and chuckle at how many people are stood outside smoking then throw their fag ends down and then walk in

 

[Guy]

If you give anything away for free it will "grow in popularity"

Guy

 

[grumpy]

If you give anything away for free it will "grow in popularity"

Guy

i fancy a free front linkage?

 

[Paddington]

We get reject stuff from a fruit and veg. shop for the pigs, it's often better quality than the supermarket down the road is selling, we've probably had a couple of meals last week sourced from the pigs bin.

 

[grumpy]

We get reject stuff from a fruit and veg. shop for the pigs, it's often better quality than the supermarket down the road is selling, we've probably had a couple of meals last week sourced from the pigs bin.

@Forage Trader

 

[smcapstick]

They are not required at all. They are simply 'trendy'.

 

[Frodo]

So on the whole we agree they are not needed, but should they actually be allowed, should the government ban them?

 

[grumpy]

We get reject stuff from a fruit and veg. shop for the pigs, it's often better quality than the supermarket down the road is selling, we've probably had a couple of meals last week sourced from the pigs bin.

aye same here but after awhile you get sick of carrots

 

[Guy]

It seems the latest thing for the career benefit scrounges, now they can have 40 fags a day and a new TV every year as they are now getting their food for free! If you are on benefits and smoke you should not be allows any more handouts.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

They are not required at all. They are simply 'trendy'.

I'm not so sure there, smc. My social conscience tells me that they are needed but this then becomes difficult with a broad brush approach. I totally agree with the sentiment of NOT giving freebies to the wide-screen, fag addicted, lardy-chozzer brigade but social engineering is a difficult matter!
It's the quietly proud people or those who get overlooked that really need this service and I know there's a good number out there.
So in summary I'd be a supporter of food banks irrespective of where it went as some will filter through to those in REAL NEED!
SS.

 

[smcapstick]

So on the whole we agree they are not needed, but should they actually be allowed, should the government ban them?

Absolutely not. That would be needless meddling. If yoghurt weavers want to give dented tins of beans to aggressive, lazy idiots it's their business.

 

[smcapstick]

I'm not so sure there, smc. My social conscience tells me that they are needed but this then becomes difficult with a broad brush approach. I totally agree with the sentiment of NOT giving freebies to the wide-screen, fag addicted, lardy-chozzer brigade but social engineering is a difficult matter!
It's the quietly proud people or those who get overlooked that really need this service and I know there's a good number out there.
So in summary I'd be a supporter of food banks irrespective of where it went as some will filter through to those in REAL NEED!
SS.

It's a nice point you put forward but I still disagree. The Welfare State is geared in such a way that nobody need starve, negating the need for said food banks.

 

[bobk]

i fancy a free front linkage?

Less of your personal problems please .