Food Banks: Buy none, get tons free?

Food For Thought

Shannon Johnson explores the rise of food banks being set up nationally in the UK.

Did you know that according to Oxfam there are 13 million people who live below the poverty line in the UK? Everyday hundreds of children go to bed at night without having anything to eat. This appalling figure has catapulted an increase in demand for emergency food banks being set up across the whole country. In fact, there’s been a huge rise in the number of local food banks being set up in our local area. These are not for profit organizations that rely solely on the generosity of the public for donations and volunteers. Without your support, many people face the prospect of going hungry each night.

The Trussel Trust, the UK’s largest food bank service, helped feed hundreds of thousands of people last year and said the number of people asking for free food has tripled since 2012. They believe that the most common reasons for this immense increase are the rising cost of living, static incomes, changes to benefits and high unemployment rates.

There’s no denying the shocking fact that in 21st century Britain people are too poor to eat. The huge growth in food banks should be a wakeup call to the nation that something is not right. Whether or not food banks are a long term solution, nobody knows. But they offer people more than a meal. They offer them a lifeline, reassurance and chance of hope.

To help support your nearest food bank, look out for collection boxes in local supermarkets or visit www.trusseltrust.org.uk for more information.

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