An alternative to food banks?

.trisher how does the big society rest homes sound ?

Signed. Thanks. George is probably looking at workhouses right now, he just needs to think of a name that will make them more acceptable.

I agree, trisher. It'll be workhouses next, except that the one in this village has been turned into very nice flats.

By the way, the Avaaz link is a petition to sign to make it law here.

I would agree with that supermarket law. I think at the moment it is up to the supermarket itself. food should never be wasted.

www.feedbackglobal.org/stopdumping

France has just passed a law to make supermarkets pass on food that would be wasted. Perhaps we need one here.

secure.avaaz.org/en/food_waste_loc/?bkHcnjb&v=61604

We were not allowed to go every day, I think it was 3 times a week.

I was one of those children Trisher. Had to walk a mile and half there, and back again, it was very regimented when you got there and stern faced adults supervising.I would have preferred not to go and hated it, but yes, it did feed children in the school holidays.

When i was growing up schools opened their kitchens and fed children right through the holidays. I remember asking why I couldn't go for a school dinner with some of the other children from my council estate and being told by my mum that they hadn't got a dad who was working. There was an idea then that everyone deserved to be properly fed and supported and it was the duty of local authorities and the government to do so. I think the present system feels like the Victorian era and the deserving and undeserving poor (now known as benefit scroungers).

But does quoting the number of food banks in other countries make the need for so many here make them more acceptable

Absent

I have found some figures re food banks in Australia and Tasmania , it looks worse than here if you rely on the internet for figures. No idea if that is true or not.

I am however interested to know ' how many ' food banks there are in Australia and Tasmania but I cannot find the answer , do you know please.

You can get stuff that does not need cooking from a food bank. You can only get stuff there if you get a voucher from soc servs or CAB etc. It will give you food for 3 days and the amount depends on how many in the family. You can get up to 3 vouchers.

The most common reason for needing the food bank is a delay in benefits payments due to a change of circumstances or benefits office maladministration.

Failing pubs are often turned around by offering a small choice of menu, since food is the mainstay of pubs these days.so that is a good idea Eloethan.
perhaps a chain of cafes a bit like the old Lyons corner houses would be a good idea.
There were always good pie shops in Yorkshire years ago, not shops as such, even though they were called that, but really small cafes, with just pie and peas on the menu, they were very good too, yum.kept lots of people going.

Yes, Eloethan trying to provide a vast choice is bound to lead to over-production and food waste. The amount of food thrown away from restaurants and cafes is another national disgrace. More limited choice means that what is prepared is more likely to be eaten, and prices would not need to cover the wastage. The menu could change weekly, so that regular customers had a change of dish.

One of the challenges on Alan Sugar's series was an eatery. One of the teams did a pie shop - the choice was from several really good pies, with mashed potato and a vegetable. All the "tasting committee" enjoyed their meal, so did the general public. Wastage was minimal.

National canteens not during wartime might be a national disgrace, but food banks seem an even worse national disgrace.

I was thinking the other day about the number of cafes and restaurants which, when they first open, start off very well with tasty food at reasonable prices but then go downhill. It seems that very often they are unable to maintain the standard for very long because they provide far too much choice and the consequent high level of food wastage becomes unsustainable.

I would welcome going somewhere where there is a choice of perhaps only two soups, main meals and puddings traditionally prepared from natural ingredients. Because only limited ingredients would be needed, there would be far less wastage and therefore far less expense. It would not be necessary to use processed sauces or microwaves and in my view these simple menus at much more reasonable prices would appeal to all sorts of people.

No one's saying it's right, durhamjen.

Just because it happens in other countries does not make it right.

Soup kitchens used to be for the homeless, not for families whose benefits have been sanctioned.

rosesarered , I help run a drop in centre for people with mental health illnesses, we give a few food, I make hot broth etc through the winter months , but some are there with severe depression because the poverty they live in has dragged them down, the nuns at the local convent give homeless a cooked lunch every day . Poverty is becoming a more serious problem not one which is easing. It will get worse when the tax credit cut backs come into force. I wish the government would do less to support employers and more to support the low paid , yes giving employers three thousand off their NIC contribution helps them but if this means they can employ one more worker it often is with a zero contract, down comes unemployment figures up goes poverty

As an aside, for those who shop with Ocado - you can donate to food banks when you place an order.

Whatever sum you donate they double that sum - sending goods from lists provided by the food banks.

And let's not forget (as I keep pointing out) that it isn't just in the UK that the provision and use of food banks has risen over the past decade or so. It's happening all over Europe and in the USA.

It's not just 'this government' and its policies that have caused the problem, it's worldwide.

Just some of them A B, the unfortunate ones that my friend deals with week in and week out, giving church food parcels. All sorts of people use food banks, not just unemployed , I think the food banks do have a place in our society, some say there shouldn't be any ( meaning everyone should have enough money) and I get that, but there are some people that will always need help and cannot manage things.

Cafes in crypts and local pop-ups organized by community groups are one thing but national canteens, not during wartime, would be a national disgrace.

I do accept some cannot manage their money but this is not the case of the majority. This troubles me, so like all unemployed have become work shy scroungers ,and there are people who believe this