Understanding disparity around us

John464

Millyonare said:

UK today in 2022 has full employment, record household disposable income, and the 11th highest level of net wealth on planet Earth.

Figures can be misleading
That takes no account of inequality.
And much of the 'wealth' is inflated property prices.
My house may have quadrupled in value - but I'm no better off.
And I'm one of the lucky ones who has never paid rent ....

John464

MACKEM99 sai

carrots 40p for 1kg. Spuds 30p per pound - shall I go on?

People at food banks turn them down because they can't afford the fuel to cook them
or the refrigeration for fresh food.
(leading to ignorant people saying they are being choosy)

zagfles

The_Green_Hornet said:

arnoldy said:

The_Green_Hornet said:

Shouldn't this discussion be moved to the Daily Mail and the Guardian?

Is that another way of saying shut down the debate? Plenty of differing and opposing views here - nothing wrong with that - good to be able to hear different views without the threat of the cancel culture or thought police.

No it means the discussion is more suitable for those two publications as it has very little to do with money saving.

But nice try at shutting down my view by mentioning cancel culture and thought police. Definitely something out of the Daily Mail and Guardian playbooks.

Well given that MSE Towers themselves posted a very similar thread (on foodbanks, linked earlier), plus there's been plenty of discussion on moneysaving here, I'd suggest it's OK. Particularly as the solution to many people struggling is money saving.

zagfles

John464 said:

MACKEM99 sai

carrots 40p for 1kg. Spuds 30p per pound - shall I go on?

People at food banks turn them down because they can't afford the fuel to cook them
or the refrigeration for fresh food.
(leading to ignorant people saying they are being choosy)

Seriously? Carrots can be eaten raw, I do it all the time. How much do you think it costs to zap a potato in a microwave? Of course maybe the microwave is broken and they can't afford to fix it...

Albermarle

John464 said:

MACKEM99 sai

carrots 40p for 1kg. Spuds 30p per pound - shall I go on?

People at food banks turn them down because they can't afford the fuel to cook them
or the refrigeration for fresh food.
(leading to ignorant people saying they are being choosy)

Normally I am erring on the sympathy side in this debate, but I find that people claiming that they can not afford to pay for the gas to boil a pan of water is hard to swallow when  it is summer, and current gas bills will be small.

As mentioned in a previous post, the media  jump on the ones who say these things as it makes a good story.

Maybe by Q2 2023, it will be more of a real problem though.

arnoldy

zagfles said:

John464 said:

MACKEM99 sai

carrots 40p for 1kg. Spuds 30p per pound - shall I go on?

People at food banks turn them down because they can't afford the fuel to cook them
or the refrigeration for fresh food.
(leading to ignorant people saying they are being choosy)

Seriously? Carrots can be eaten raw, I do it all the time. How much do you think it costs to zap a potato in a microwave? Of course maybe the microwave is broken and they can't afford to fix it...

Yup people claiming they "cant afford to cook hot food" is usually a red herring. For example 8 hours in a 6 litre slow cooker  1.3kWh (*8+ portions) will cost 20p - 2.5p a portion. Ditto a hob for 20 minutes. OR microwave for 10 minutes. And if people have not got a slow cooker maybe that's a better thing for the foodbanks to hand out rather than pot noodles, breakfast bars etc. So unhealthy.

Whats actually needed is a bit of MSE meal planning, batch cooking, positivity and taking control/responsibility for one self, yes with help (not handouts) if needed.

phillw

arnoldy said:
And if people have not got a slow cooker maybe that's a better thing for the foodbanks to hand out rather than pot noodles, breakfast bars etc.

Who is going to donate slow cookers to food banks?

Expotter

phillw said:

arnoldy said:
And if people have not got a slow cooker maybe that's a better thing for the foodbanks to hand out rather than pot noodles, breakfast bars etc.

Who is going to donate slow cookers to food banks?

Businesses could donate some, councils could also give some, or how about energy companies offer a subsidised one to their customers. I've seen some decent ones for £20. The point is practical help is what's required, not just finger wagging at the government or demands for even more benefits that would be spent in who knows what, if it is food it'd probably be McDonalds.

Millyonare

A few weeks of shouty press headlines in Oct-Nov about shivering families with icicles on their windows and cooking a tin of baked beans over a candle, and the govt will soon bailout the bottom 50% with several billion pounds of free energy cash before Xmas 2022. An election is coming up in a year or so. The politicians will want a free handout.

maisie_cat

phillw said:

arnoldy said:
And if people have not got a slow cooker maybe that's a better thing for the foodbanks to hand out rather than pot noodles, breakfast bars etc.

Who is going to donate slow cookers to food banks?

I've often thought that if I won the lottery I would donate lots of instant pot type multi cookers and recipe books to go with them.
They take up little room compared to a cooker and I barely use the oven or hob now.
Batch cooking is cheap to do, pressure cooking is very efficient and you can make a huge variety of nutritious food.