Food banks do not help!

@destry (2572)
Kirkwall, Scotland
October 7, 2015 9:27am CST
Just read a post about foodbanks by @Suggar and thought I would give my views on food banks. When I was a lad in school, Domestic Science was a compulsory subject we had to take, but, this has long since been abolished. In domestic science, youngsters would be taught how to cook numerous healthy nutritious meals on a budget. We were taught how to bake bread, how to cook offal, and how to feed a family using proper raw ingredients. A key aspect was budgeting and costing the meals, including how to pad out meals and how to reduce food waste. The abolishment of domestic science in schools has, in my view, had an adverse knock on effect on a national level. We are seeing more and more people in the UK, and across the world going to food banks - why? Because these people who rely on the foodbanks have become addicted to processed convenience food, they do not know how to prepare food from scratch. Lets look at a simple example - our daily bread. One loaf here in the UK costs between £0.45 and £1.00, yet 1kg of flour costs £0.45 and can make 6 loaves of bread. Surely, if people are so desperate for food, a bag of flour would be far better to donate to a food bank than one loaf of bread. However, we have to dumb down our thinking to the lowest common denominator - what if people lack the knowledge to bake their own bread? Hmmm, well, libraries are free to all, and they could easily borrow a book full of bread recipes, couldn’t they? One would like to think so, but it is far easier for these people to go to a food bank and collect their processed ready meals then to put the effort in to learn how to cook. Cooking cheap and nutritious meals is easy - I am sure that those on Jobseekers and disability allowance could learn a few skills - after all, they are not holding down jobs and have plenty of time on their hands. Food banks have taken away the need for people to look after themselves!
We had never had this thing before in Bulgaria. And now they show in our news the people who started working on such project. They already have tons of food...
2 people like this
3 responses
• United States
7 Oct 15
I have to disagree with you. Not everybody has the time, space, equipment or ability to bake bread, for example. Yes, it is easier to buy a loaf of bread than to make one. It is also cheaper in the short-term, especially for people that would need to go out and get all the stuff to be able to make it. In addition, there are people that are not physically able to cook ... or cook in large quantities ... for various reasons. I do think that Domestic Science (or Home Economics or whatever other countries call it) should be mandatory in schools again, though. I think that it is a great tool for people that do not possess the skillsets that these classes teach.
1 person likes this
@destry (2572)
• Kirkwall, Scotland
7 Oct 15
As for people not having the time - food banks are aimed at the unemployed - So what do they do with their time?
1 person likes this
• United States
7 Oct 15
@destry Maybe things have changed or maybe things are different in your country. Here, food banks are aimed at low-income people and/or households. I know of several people that have gotten food at food banks from time to time. Some were single parents that worked. Some were two income families that still could not make ends meet. Most were not unemployed, and all had children, so they really did not have the time to do that sort of cooking and/or baking. If you are talking about unemployed people, though, then I can more easily understand where you were going with this. Not all unemployed people have the time or ability ... just because a person is not employed does not mean that he or she is just sitting around all day doing nothing ... but I am sure there are more people in this category that could take advantage of cooking more meals from scratch and freezing the extras for another meal.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
7 Oct 15
There would also be fewer obese adfults if pupils learnt something about nutrition.
1 person likes this
@destry (2572)
• Kirkwall, Scotland
7 Oct 15
There would indeed - I can't believe some young adults can't even make a soup!
@marlina (154183)
• Canada
7 Oct 15
Some people are too lazy to take care of themselves.
1 person likes this
• United States
7 Oct 15
I agree that some people are too lazy to take care of themselves, but I am not entirely sure what that has to do with food pantries, which are aimed at the poor and needy. Being poor does not necessarily translate into being lazy nor does being lazy necessarily translate into being poor. Also, food pantries help in disaster relief areas where people have lost their homes from tornadoes, hurricanes, wild fires, etc.