Foodbank tatties

[sonofagun]

What surprises me more than anything, is the tolerance of so many people who are unemployed or sick and for no particulier reason whatsoever have had their benefits suspended by this Government, they use this method to massage the unemployment figures and these unfortunate people are used as cannon fodder as a means to an end.
It seems that this coalition Government can do as they like and those at the bottom of society are treated by them like lepers, they are unable to challenge their decision even at the ballot box because usually they do not vote, perhaps the people of your county should challenge your elected member of parliament regarding their human rights, rather than see his loyal constituents treated like the dregs of a rich man's society.

[orkneycadian]

I would also suspect that it costs a fair bit to install and run fridges etc to keep fresh food for longer.

Has the modern consumer really evolved to the point where they don't know how to store vegetables? Have they ceased to become aware that you don't keep things like tatties in the fridge, and that properly stored, they will keep for 6 months or more, without need for electricity? Is the modern consumer incapable of preparing any food that doesn't have a picture on the front of the packet, instructions on the back, and a best before date at the top?

[squidge]

Food bank users are not consumers they have no choice about where they get their food and little choice about what they eat. I think oddquine was talking about fridges and the like for food bank providers rather than users. Most food banks are in small or borrowed premises and don't have the choice of a place big enough or suitable enough to store tatties. Many are in church halls or a wee office where they have shelves from floor to ceiling on which they can store tins and packets but not much else. If you are providing food for fifty people a day like Glasgow City mission, and giving three days worth of food, that's probably quite a bit of tatties you need to store.

[Phill]

Has the modern consumer really evolved to the point where they don't know how to store vegetables? Have they ceased to become aware that you don't keep things like tatties in the fridge, and that properly stored, they will keep for 6 months or more, without need for electricity? Is the modern consumer incapable of preparing any food that doesn't have a picture on the front of the packet, instructions on the back, and a best before date at the top?

Yes.

We've been nannied by successive govts in every aspect of our lives, had education eroded so the output from school & universities recently have been retarded automatons reliant of the states teat, this in turn retains the 2 party system in the UK.

Being self responsible and self sufficient has been removed from our daily lives.

[Oddquine]

Food bank users are not consumers they have no choice about where they get their food and little choice about what they eat. I think oddquine was talking about fridges and the like for food bank providers rather than users. Most food banks are in small or borrowed premises and don't have the choice of a place big enough or suitable enough to store tatties. Many are in church halls or a wee office where they have shelves from floor to ceiling on which they can store tins and packets but not much else. If you are providing food for fifty people a day like Glasgow City mission, and giving three days worth of food, that's probably quite a bit of tatties you need to store.

That is exactly what I meant, squidge....... cost of purchase, cost of running and, in places where space is at a premium, the waste of space which could store more at less cost.

Have to say I keep my tatties in the bottom drawer of the fridge, as it is the darkest, coolest place in a small flat with very few cupboards in a narrow galley kitchen. You can only store vegetables in the way approved by those who know all, if there is somewhere appropriate in which to do that.

[squidge]

Being self responsible and self sufficient has been removed from our daily lives.

You are right. And yet so many of us expect the poorest, those with least power, least resources, least money, least influence to be able, in the midst of their often chaotic, often broken, personal difficulties to have thought ahead far enough to have planted tatties and a whole range of fruit and veg to ensure they are able to feed themselves six months hence. And when they haven't our politicians and media often deride them as feckless spendthrifts who of course choose to queue at food banks for noodles and smash than eat tasty, healthy fresh meat and veg whilst they tuck into their Sunday roast and eat out when they choose. Changes need to happen to address food security across society so no one needs to use a food bank, especially because they have been left without benefits unfairly.

[samanthaflax02]

Nice information. Thanks for sharing!