3rd December 2022
Food banks – on the increase across Britain
As the Winter begins to bite, energy bills continue to soar and the cost of living crisis takes a grip on many working class families, the realities of Tory generated rampant inflation are being exposed. As part of a recent report consumer magazine, Which?, and researchers from the Consumer Research Data Centre at the University of Leeds, have created a Priority Places for Food Index.
The index shows where people need extra support to find healthy and affordable food. It found factors such as low income, a lack of online shopping deliveries and circumstances such as not having access to a car, can make it hard for people to put food on the table.
The index shows almost half (45%) of local areas in the North East of England are in ‘dire’ need of extra support due to poor access to online shopping deliveries, being further away from supermarkets and the need for support such as food banks and free school meals.
Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands and the North West of England all have about a third of local areas in the region in need of extra help. Birmingham Hodge Hill is considered the worst, as 100% of its local areas are in need of extra support.
The research behind the index shows that many people are changing their behaviour by trading down, buying cheaper products or shopping around. Some are having to take more drastic action, such as missing meals, with the impact being especially high on those who are struggling financially, for whom it is becoming much more difficult to eat healthily.
The report outlines a ten-point plan aimed at supermarkets, encouraging them to do more to help those struggling on low incomes to make healthier choices. The plan includes asking supermarkets to make pricing more transparent so that shoppers can more easily compare best value; offer straightforward price reductions rather than multi-buy offers, which require higher initial outlay; and making more promotions available on healthier foods.
Such suggestions help to raise the issue but whether they can impact upon supermarket strategies is another matter. While retailers have an interest in retaining their customer base they are also driven by the need to generate a profit. The latter is certainly the bottom line as far as shareholders are concerned and just how magnanimous local managers can be, faced with the pressure to turn a profit, is likely to be limited.
There is no doubt however that food poverty is on the increase. In May 2022, the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) surveyed 101 of its organisations representing 194 independent food banks across 94 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. At that stage 93% of organisations reported an increase or significant increase in the need for their services since the start of 2022. It is likely that demand will only increase as the start of 2023 looms.
It is estimated that there are over 2,500 food banks across Britain. In 2019-20, pre-pandemic, it is estimated that 700,000 or 2.5% of British households used a food bank. In February 2022, the Food Standards Agency published data on food bank usage in England, Wales and Northern Ireland gathered by IPSOS Mori between April 2020 and October 2021 showing that 8% of respondents had used a food bank or a food charity in April. This rose to 11% by October 2021. Once again, this data is only likely to be heading in one direction.
At the other end of the spectrum Britain’s super rich have grown their combined fortunes by 8 per cent to a record £710 billion in just 12 months, according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List. A record 177 UK billionaires are identified in the 34th edition of the annual rankings, six more than in 2021. This year’s top 250 now have more wealth than the entire 1,000 entries of the 2017 Rich List.
Millions of households may be facing the sharpest rise in the cost of living for 40 years, but it is clear that a golden era for the super rich is continuing unchecked. Is it any wonder that rail workers, postal workers, teachers, nurses and many others on low wages are taking, or threatening to take, strike action just to make ends meet, just to pay for the rising cost of energy, just to put food on the table?
This is the reality of capitalism in the twenty first century, in many ways no different to the twentieth century, but even worse. More poverty, more struggle for the working class but more billionaires and a boom time for the super rich. A system which cannot address the basic needs of its people has clearly outworn its usefulness, overstayed its welcome and needs to exit the historical stage.
Planning for people, not for profit, in the context of a socialist economy is the only way forward. The present strike wave must be encouraged and supported but must be linked to the wider struggle for a change in the system, otherwise the rich will only continue to get richer, while the rest continue to suffer.
Avanti Populo 