CITIZENS NEWS

Nonprofit warn: Brits' food bank dependency goes beyond cost-of-living crisis

By lauraharris // 2023-05-23

Britons' dependency on food banks just to eat each day goes beyond the U.K.'s ongoing cost-of-living crisis. According to the latest report by non-profit food bank operator Trussell Trust, it gave out nearly three million emergency food parcels across the U.K. between 2022 and 2023. From the 1.35 million parcels reported in 2017 to 2018, this increased by 121 percent to a record 2.99 million. Wales, North East and the East of England were the top three recipients of food parcels. The East Midlands, meanwhile, received the least number of food packages from Trussell Trust. ZeroHedge's Tyler Durden remarked that the nonprofit food bank operator's report "illustrates the scale and widespread nature of food insecurity in the U.K., with food banks being relied on in all regions." "The situation is likely considerably worse than these figures alone show since this data does not take into account the many people who are food insecure and do not receive support from food banks or the wide range of emergency food provisions that are relied on across the country from other sources," Durden wrote. Trussell Trust CEO Emma Revie noted that while recent food inflation is to blame for this dependency, its causes are more diverse and deep-rooted. "These new statistics are extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people are left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organization to get by. This is not right," she said. "The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing low levels of income and a social security system that isn't fit for [the] purpose that are forcing more people to access food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the [Wuhan coronavirus] COVID-19 pandemic."

Food banks already struggling with higher demand, lower donations

An October 2022 report by the British Parliament's House of Commons Library (HOCL) said the demand for food banks has reached alarming levels. In contrast, food donations have decreased due to higher cost of living and food inflation. The cost of essential commodities has been steadily rising, far outpacing wage growth. This has strained household budgets, leaving many with no choice but to seek assistance from food banks to meet their basic nutritional needs. Back in 2022, the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) conducted two surveys among its 550 members. The polls found that 93 percent of food banks experienced an increase in the demand for their services. Ninety-five percent of those banks said it was due to higher cost of living. Nearly 90 percent of these food banks witnessed an increase in demand between April and August 2022, while 72 percent experienced a drop in food donations and 87 percent faced supply issues since April 2022. Consequently, 19 percent of food banks were forced to reduce the size of their food parcels. Additionally, Trussel Trust observed that although the number of distributed food parcels decreased after the pandemic, it remained 50 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels. IFAN warned that if the growing demand persists, 68 percent of organizations may need help to support everyone in need or may have to further reduce the size of their food parcels. Visit FoodCollapse.com for more stories about the struggles of food banks during and after the pandemic. Watch Brannon Howse of "Worldview Report" explaining why food banks are bracing for a major spike in demand. This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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