Spike in demand for foodbanks

Last Updated: July 23, 2014By

I’ve got mixed feelings about this report as it’s the Salvation Army providing the food parcels and one is led to ask whether those doing the handing-out are being forced to do so under the rules of Workfare.
That being said, there’s no denying the validity of the message: With summer here, pressure on food banks will increase and those who have profited from the past few years have an obligation to help those who have suffered. Hopefully they’ll understand that – but I doubt it.

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12 Comments

  1. John July 23, 2014 at 5:37 pm - Reply

    What an utter disgrace in this day and age and in this country – one of the richest in the world and people living here are forced to beg for food for themselves and their families. The members of the coalition government should collectively hang their heads in shame instead of ranting on about the fecklessness of the poor.
    A news report on BBC Radio 4 just cited a French artist arguing that it was not true that we cannot afford the poor but that we cannot afford the rich. Good sentiments!
    Let us all hope a new Labour government will introduce new taxes on the rich and restore a level of welfare benefits in this country which will end the necessity for low-income families to have to beg and scrape for food and other essentials.

  2. Joanna July 24, 2014 at 7:46 am - Reply

    Unless the Salvation army can prove that they have changed their ways, I will Never make any donations to them, ever.

    Tesco are the same, they use workfare, boosting their profits (or not) but now they are advertising on TV for donations to their food bank drive, for a situation they are partly guilty of causing!

  3. John July 24, 2014 at 3:10 pm - Reply

    If individuals are truly concerned about starving people then they should set up food banks of their own, not just hand money over to ideologically motivated groups like the SA to dispense as they wish. In a growingly secular country, all these religious groups are welcoming these food bank opprtunities with open arms as potential avenues of recruitment and proselytisation for themselves. Don’t be fooled by it!

    • Mike Sivier July 24, 2014 at 3:16 pm - Reply

      Just one point: People are more likely to donate food than money to a food bank.
      Otherwise… well, that’s certainly a view that the likes of David Cameron would like to propagate.

      • John July 24, 2014 at 3:21 pm - Reply

        But the food (which represents money in another form) is used by religionists to pressurise (however lightly) the non-religious into swallowing their propaganda alongside the food they “charitably” dispense to the “needy” (who only have needs because a rich country headed up by greedy grasping individuals thinks it should not afford to support the families, social fabric and future nationals of this country).
        If you want to be an apologist for that situation, go to it.

        • Mike Sivier July 24, 2014 at 3:25 pm - Reply

          On the contrary. I am merely pointing out that you should be careful not to do Mr Cameron’s work for him.
          To be honest, I have my doubts about these claims of religious groups opening food banks in order to download their dogma on the needy.
          Has anybody actually come forward and said this is happening, other than Conservative MPs?

          • John July 24, 2014 at 3:42 pm

            Some months ago, I watched a TV programme about a food bank.
            Despite using non-religious names for them, they were all held in church-related premises and it was obvious watching the programme that the overall idea was to draw needy and hungry people in within the ambit of church-related activity, up to and including gentle encouragements to attend Sunday morning and other church services.
            Objectively speaking, why else would they involve themselves in the so-called “big” society project – unless there is something in it for them in the way of attracting further consumers of their religiously ideological “product”?
            It is not just a matter of saving “souls” as many newer churches have re-introduced the old practice of tithing, i.e. that their followers pay the churches ten per cent of their income on a regular basis. That way lie riches…….!!
            After failing on a number of occasions to establish successful businesses, L. Ron Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology, after having realised the only businesses that never fail are religious ones. Just ask the Pope.

          • Mike Sivier July 24, 2014 at 3:46 pm

            You are attributing something to these religious organisations that is inappropriate – part of their creed is helping other people who are in need. They don’t have a profit motive.

          • John July 24, 2014 at 4:37 pm

            Are you seriously naive – or being provocative?
            Of course religion is about power and money (which is another form of power).
            I am not talking about the ordinary ranks in the organisation, who are similarly duped along with the consumers. Just like any other business relationship.
            Have you never seen the accounts of church leaders in the USA and in the UK living in palatial mansions, with lavatories costing tens of thousands of pounds, using private jets and private ocean-going vessels to maintain contact with their “flocks”, i.e. those who they treat like sheep by fleecing them while alive and then preying on their corpses after they can no longer pay their tithing contributions.

          • Mike Sivier July 24, 2014 at 7:21 pm

            No. I never have.
            Nor have the “ordinary ranks in the organisation”. These are the people handing out the food – not the guys in the palaces. No matter how corrupt they may or may not be, it would be wrong to attribute their motives to the people who actually work in food banks. Sorry to burst your bubble but at ground level, churches are not about power, or being a profitable organisation; they’re about acting according to your beliefs, and not worrying about the response you get.
            Your argument is falling apart. For it to be viable, the members who work in food banks would need to hold the same corrupted beliefs you attribute to church leaders, and there’s no evidence for that. They would have to be demanding that people attending the food banks sign up to their religion, and there’s no evidence for that either.
            And it seems strange, if a church wants to “fleece” someone, for it to do so by finding people who have nothing and offering them free food.

            I think these people are sincere.
            Have YOU never heard the Trussell Trust’s rebuttal of Conservative Party criticisms? That, far from drumming up business – either for the food banks or the church – trust bosses would rather their service was not necessary at all?
            Doesn’t that cast just the tiniest bit of doubt on your claims?

          • John July 24, 2014 at 9:24 pm

            The Trussel Trust caved-in when they were threatened with closure by government.
            You are simply repeating what I already said about “the other ranks”, i.e. that they are completely deluded and therefore ignorantly sincere in their beliefs.
            However, the guys (not many gals!) at the top of these organisations know they are manipulating the suckers for dough.
            Have you ever seen what kind of lifestyle bishops enjoy in therir palaces?
            Even charitably minded middle-management characters treat the current situation as truly positive for their own career development needs.
            Activity expands to fill the space (virtually unlimited) available to it.
            All welfare changes carried out by the coalition government are designed to create ever-more customers for the charity industry.
            It is known as reciprocity.

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