Zero hours contracts

No but this is an interesting article, showing that 22% are due to low income, which presumably includes those on zero hours contracts.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/almost-50-of-referrals-to-food-banks-in-the-uk-are-due-to-issues-with-the-welfare-system-9910973.html

I have not been online for a week and have read your comments. Some are a bit cynical but zero hours works for me. I only have myself to cater for and if I have less hours I just spend less and 'cut my coat according to my cloth' to use an old fashioned expression.

Someone mentioned putting food on the table, well, if a family has the breadwinner on zero hours they would get benefits if there was no work. They would probably get tax credits too, I did when my DD was small.

No one should have problems with food shopping. The trouble is that today 'poverty' is taken to mean that many consider themselves poor when they cannot afford a 50inch tv. There are no kids running barefoot or with elbows out of jumpers nowadays, no one goes without cigarettes/booze these days. Look at the obesity epidemic, how does that match with food banks. During WW2 on rationing few people were fat. Having seen the rubbish food that foodbanks give to people I wonder where their brains are. They seem to give out pot noodles and other dried stuff. Why can they give out greens and fresh meat etc.

Finally how come those not working for whatever reason don't seem to spend time cooking. When I was on benefit I made good dinners for my DD because I had the time. I see many kids running into the garden with a piece of pizza in their hands. What wrong with a good family meal at the table.

I have certainly heard a lot of people express those views too ethel!

1) Obesity and poverty go together. When I was 5 we moved from London to Carlisle. In the area we lived in, a main road divided an area of comfortable owner-occupied houses from tiny terraces, mostly rented. This was the first time I had seen really fate women. At some point I asked my mother why we saw so many fat women when we went to the shops. Her answer was: 'When money is tight, first the men get fed, then the children and the women live on bread, marge and sugar. This makes them fat.

Families living in poverty buy a lot of very cheap very poor quality take-away food. Lots of chips and buns because they are cheapest and filling, lots of very poor quality protein cooked in indeterminate cooking oil. No wonder they are fat. The further up the social scale you move the smaller the proportion of overweight people.

2) Many of those going to Food Banks should be on benefits, have applied for benefits but for a range of reasons there application has been disappeared into the maw of the DWP and failed to be properly processed so the applicants are left without funds so have no money to buy food.

3) I understand that many on zero hours contracts are among those loss in this morass as it the DWP and the benefit system is institutionally incapable of dealing with any circumstance where income is uncertain and variable. It can only deal with steady state incomes, but the poorer you are the more likely you are to have an uncertain and variable income.

We all have a tendency to rationalise unpleasant facts out of existence when the problem does not affect us. Many people would rather rationalise the existence of Food Banks by saying that recipients are cheating, or spending their money on other (less worthy, possible decadent and disapproved items) or just incompetent rather than admit that in this country now there are many families and individuals who despite their best efforts and proper efforts are so poor they cannot feed themselves or their families. This is why I donate to my local food bank every week.

Our local food bank has an online list of items required.

Apparently they don't want any more tinned soup or tuna!

They want disposable nappies, toilet rolls, tissues and washing powder, plus things like stewed steak, tinned potatoes, jam and biscuits.

I think that it is safe to assume that there are both sorts of people who use foodbanks.
1 million is a huge number.

I should imagine that greens and meat are not given out due to storage issues at a foodbank.

soon

It is possibly the figure is not as at first perceived.

The problem in question is the food bank records show the foot fall, number of food parcels given out. The number would change if there was a strict record kept of the actual individual user and how many repeat visits they make but that does not happen so the figures are subjective.

I was surprised to see The Trussel Trust asks for a donation of £1.500 to an organisation wanting you to set up a Trussel Trust Food Bank. I appreciate there are many aspects that need paying for but I found that a bit strange for a charity to do, I know some won't.

The 1st food bank was established a the US in 1967. Obviously food banks are known to be in existence worldwide with France being the 1st European country to establish one. Even the likes of Germany has seen a rise in their numbers since the 2007/2008 financial crash.

Ah. I didnt read to the very end of The Trussel Trust link. My mistake.

FlicketyB I totally agree with you.

fullfact.org/article/zero_hour_contracts-38391

fullfact.org/factcheck/economy/food_bank_number-40853