Johndoe Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Whatever happened to baked beans on toast, scrambled egg on toast, welsh rarebit, lentil soup etc?.....................not ideal, but in the past I've had to live on that kind of diet for months and it looks like I might be heading that way again after Xmas Nothing to do with UK foodbanks but every year the news here shows charities handing out food at Xmas............................and in every queue there are those "dripping" with jewellery...............I know that some may hold sentimental value on these items but needs must, and there are many in the queues who, from the way they dress and their jewellery, are hardly (desperately) in need of those handouts..................how to vet who is needy and who is not is the problem.............those folk not deperate are clearly depleting the resources and taking from those more in need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon4017 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 We're not talking about Australia. We are talking about the rise of food banks in the UK. All of my prices are taken directly from the Tesco website and calculated exactly, so they bear up to scrutiny 100%. I can easily detail it if you persist in throwing doubt on these facts. The cheapest cheese I can find on the site is 5GBP per kilo. 50g of that comes to 25p. Can you really get 2 slices of bread and a tomato for 5p? Because if you can, why not leave out the cheese and stuff yourself on tomato sandwiches at half the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Could the rise in food banks also be related to the rise in costs of Alcohol and Cigarettes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I have to agree that I think the rise of food banks is at least party attributable to people not planning and cooking enough. There are a load of cheap ways to eat and eat well. Before re we moved to oz, our weekly food budget was £25. Admittedly that was 6 years ago, and I know prices have gone up. But we could eat VERY well on that. It just takes some thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 The cheapest cheese I can find on the site is 5GBP per kilo. 50g of that comes to 25p. Can you really get 2 slices of bread and a tomato for 5p? Because if you can, why not leave out the cheese and stuff yourself on tomato sandwiches at half the cost. I saw 900 grams for £5 (2 for 1). This is £2.50 per block. I can easily get 50 slices off a block of cheese, often many more. 2.50 / 50 = 5p. It was a matter of pride for me at uni that I could live healthily on so little - my grandmother used to cut cheese quite thin and it's the best way for health and economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest241083 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Maybe. At the end of the day the cheapest stuff in a British supermarket - not an Australian one, mind you - are fruit and vegetables, then rice, legumes and beans is also very cheap. All of this is good food for young kids growing up. Meat can be expensive, but it should be eaten sparingly even by kids. On top of that all of this can be made even cheaper by buying wholesale. It's not ideal, but possible, and my fear is that many people simply are totally ignorant about how to cook and so go to banks. ........and perhaps then it's time tobringcooking skills back as a priority in schools..... ........too much convenience food has spoiled a generation......... ........a healthy balanced diet.....is imperative to a healthy mind and body..... ........a shift in focus perhaps........? .......to how to.......rather than here you are.....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Could the rise in food banks also be related to the rise in costs of Alcohol and Cigarettes? Spending on alcohol increased in the UK during the GFC 2009 - 2012 for household consumption. Smoking is about the same. But the costs of both have shot up and many people prioritize cigarettes and alcohol over food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 ........and perhaps then it's time tobringcooking skills back as a priority in schools.............too much convenience food has spoiled a generation......... ........a healthy balanced diet.....is imperative to a healthy mind and body..... ........a shift in focus perhaps........? .......to how to.......rather than here you are.....! I totally agree this is the answer. People are exposed to a lot of junk food, which is very expensive, and also a lot of very "fancy" food on TV shows and they're unaccustomed to cooking old-fashioned simple food from scratch. It is very cheap in the UK, though not Australia so much due to the cost of fresh fruit & veggies here. Here it could be a problem to get hold of a lot of cheap stuff if you were in dire straits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon4017 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I saw 900 grams for £5 (2 for 1). This is £2.50 per block. I can easily get 50 slices off a block of cheese, often many more. . So, 10g per slice. What are you using, a plane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 So, 10g per slice. What are you using, a plane? If it means not going to a food bank, yes. As it happens, I have often used a simple cheese grater to get a thin slice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest241083 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 So, 10g per slice. What are you using, a plane? If it means not going to a food bank, yes. As it happens, I have often used a simple cheese grater to get a thin slice. .......I'm sorry.......but......lol....! .......this has reminded me if an incident at boarding school....! .......walking past the kitchen......on one of my.....excursions...! .......I overheard cook telling one of the other kitchen staff to slice the cheese thinner...... .......she needed to see through it..... .........if it was to last the week.........for those wee.....****** 's ........we had cookery lessons btw.... ........and healthy ,cost effective and simple......were the key elements....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I have just had a look online at Asda and worked out a good menu for two people (would probably do a kid as well) that would be good eating for about £30 for a week main meals included pinacalty - easily get two meals plus a lunches roast mince with dumplings, cabbage and mash califlower bake - I made this this week and it gave two of us 3 meals. Roast chicken with Yorkshire pud, roasts pots, broccoli and carrots chicken and leak pie chicken soup (for lunches) toad in the hole with steamed veg there would be enough left overs for the best part of another week from this. Then an if you have a good market such as we had in leicester, the savings can be huge. I know you can still go down there at the end of the day and get a carry bag of veg for a £1. Get one of mushrooms and that is enough soup for a week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Shouldn't this thread be brought back on topic. While interesting it has nothing to do with the fire service, who as far as i know don't run food banks. Like all businesses in the private sector there is an expectation that they run as efficiently as possible. Government departments need to examine the way do things and look for efficiencies.. Usually these can be had in the back office and don't impact front line services. But no business or public service should be exempt from making efficiency savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benthomas010 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 My food, gas, electricity & water bills for me, my wife & 1yr old daughter comes to £350 per month. (Including baby formula & nappies). Show me someone on benefits with a child that doesn't receive £350 cash per month.... (child allowance alone is £80) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 My food, gas, electricity & water bills for me, my wife & 1yr old daughter comes to £350 per month. (Including baby formula & nappies). Show me someone on benefits with a child that doesn't receive £350 cash per month.... (child allowance alone is £80) Because Fags, Booze and McDonalds probably take up a big chunk of their cash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benthomas010 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Because Fags, Booze and McDonalds probably take up a big chunk of their cash Exactly... and why does food bank use increase around Christmas? Because they have spunked all their money on playstations and party food and drink.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benthomas010 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Shouldn't this thread be brought back on topic.While interesting it has nothing to do with the fire service, who as far as i know don't run food banks. Like all businesses in the private sector there is an expectation that they run as efficiently as possible. Government departments need to examine the way do things and look for efficiencies.. Usually these can be had in the back office and don't impact front line services. But no business or public service should be exempt from making efficiency savings. Precisely. We should never reach a point in any business or public service where we stop looking for savings.. I cannot imagine the Merseyside fire service are being punished alone - perhaps their expenditure was just so out of line with other regions that they are simply being bought back in line. people's lives will not be put at risk. (Of course the fire brigade and unions won't say this..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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