Money Moral Dilemma: Should someone who earns a decent wage use food banks?

MrsStepford

I thought that all people using food banks had to be referred, unless it's a food bank for staff at a hospital o members of a chuch. Citibank used to do outreach whereby they met with people in their homes, showed them how to budget, told them if they were eligible for benefits and how to get referred to food banks, school holiday schemes, local charitable stufff eg almshouses, help for Armed Forces veterans etc. 

elsien

Depends on the foodbank. There’s a couple near me, one set up by a schoolchild, which don’t require any referral. 

arnoldy

MrsStepford said:

I thought that all people using food banks had to be referred,

Fairly meaningless - the bar isn't high. Easy to get a "chit".

Longwalker

I cant believe the anger shown in some posts

I dont have a lot, NMW, 30 hrs a week - work out the take home yourselves , but I do have wriggle room, not a lot, but about £30 a month not accounted for, so if im not begging others to sponsor me in my latest charity run/hike/marathon, I can still contribute something . even if its a multi pack of baked beans to the food bank

Im not rich, we are not rich, we own a house and a couple of cars and thats it. No debt, no savings either. We pay our taxes, our pensions and we hope we dont live too long past retirement ( yes, seriously this is where we are in our lives , we couldn't forecast this downturn, no matter how many we at our age have lived through )

I can afford to help someone, I will do. I dont care where they are spending their money, nowt to do with me. If you cant donate then dont, donations dont come with crevates 

YoungBlueEyes

I don’t have a lot spare either, I can only donate sporadically. In my mind when I donate, I’m meaning it to go to these people in this kind of situation. Eg the ones who can’t afford beans this week because they had to put £20 instead of £10 on the electric. Not the family who would be doing fine if they stopped joining gyms they never go to, using food banks as free/extremely cheap supermarkets so they don’t have to downgrade their Sky Sports package. 

Yeah I know. I’ll get me coat. 

Langerhan

There are a wide range of organisations which supply food to people who might need or want it. A food bank is probably not the most ethical one for this particular woman to pick assuming your assessment of the situation is correct. However, telling her she's selfish is unlikely to do any good. People get defensive when they feel judged, especially if the rest of their life is stressful. If you're close enough to do so, maybe suggest help with budgeting from a place like CAP or StepChange.

The types of places that give out food, as I understand them:

Food bank: Trussell Trust, etc. Usually need a referral and will limit the number of times someone is allowed to visit. Give away set nutritionally complete packages to tide someone over for a set amount of time - usually three days to a week. Accept food donated by the general public. Usually have contacts with debt advisory services and provide financial signposting. It seems very unusual that the person you know would be able to visit a place like this on a weekly basis.

Food pantry: Anyone is allowed to visit. Food donated by supermarkets because it's not selling or is about to go off. Much more choice; people are allowed to take just specific things they want or need.

Community kitchen: Sikh temples, Food Not Bombs, etc. Everyone encouraged to visit as these are a way of sharing food with strangers. However, they give away meals rather than food to cook at home.

It sounds like the needs of the person you know might be better served by either a food pantry or a community kitchen. However, hopefully this is a one-off situation (the original post wasn't clear), she'll get help with her budgeting from the food bank she visits and will be able to donate back what she was given.

Finally, I've seen a couple of people surprised at food bank users driving cars. Obviously situations differ, but please remember that in 2020, 62% of people referred to food banks were disabled. The drivers we get at my food bank have their cars through Motability, the PIP car scheme.

TimSynths

PennyForThem_2 said:

There is a woman selling Big Issue outside my local Tesco Express - she has been doing this for years.  I watched a doc on Ch 4 where a war veteren went 'homeless' in various major cities across UK. 

Although he found genuine need, a lot were actually taking the p***.  There were those who had very modern well kitted coucil flats.  They just found begging more lucrative than getting a low paid job.  Others spent the money on their current addiction.
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-explore-uks-homelessness-epidemic-ex-soldier-ed-stafford

I 

Ed Stafford, he lives in my sisters village, really nice guy/family, he also took a homeless person in and they robbed him blind.

Great documentary- he put a stone on in a month living on the streets and it was very interesting to see the difference between the three cities he did it in (Glasgow, Manchester and London).