{"id":47094,"date":"2021-12-04T06:22:23","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T06:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47094"},"modified":"2021-12-04T06:22:23","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T06:22:23","slug":"the-future-is-bleak-why-more-brits-are-turning-to-food-banks-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47094","title":{"rendered":"‘The future is bleak.’ Why more Brits are turning to food banks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volunteer Tania Nedvetsky helps arrange donations at Dad\u2019s House, a food bank in London.<\/p>\n

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In an upmarket neighborhood in west London, a growing number of people are visiting a storefront tucked between a bicycle shop and a coffee house that charges no money and caters exclusively to the less fortunate.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dad\u2019s House is one of 2,200 food banks in the United Kingdom that serve Britons who are struggling to afford basic necessities. Billy McGranaghan, its founder, told CNN Business that “the future is bleak” for the people who frequent his shop.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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London\u2019s food banks were busy before the pandemic. But now, as the United Kingdom braces for a second winter with coronavirus, rising food prices, higher energy costs and cuts to government benefits are putting huge pressure on household budgets and forcing legions of people to turn to charity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Food banks in the capital city have reported a surge of visits in recent weeks, with more and more working professionals seeking help with groceries following the end of a government program that subsidized millions of jobs during the pandemic and a reduction in welfare payments to those with lower incomes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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McGranaghan, 58, estimates that he’s added 70 recipients to his food bank since mid-September, on top of the 300 to 400 already being served each week. The demographics of the new customers are broader than ever before, he said. Roughly 70 people were expected on the day CNN Business visited Dad’s House.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been an eye-opener, where you would never have thought that person would ever use a food bank,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve never been in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
Dad\u2019s House founder Billy McGranaghan, center, carries in a food delivery from the Felix Project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Dad\u2019s House volunteer Luke Tydeman, left, helps a customer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hundreds of people are served at Dad\u2019s House each week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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McGranaghan said that Dad’s House has served teachers, graphic designers and journalists during the pandemic. People tend to come to the food bank via referrals from the local government, or after searching online for support.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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But now, new clients tend to be younger and single. And despite relatively low unemployment and a record number of job vacancies across the country, McGranaghan anticipates a \u201chuge surge\u201d in attendees over the next few months.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a rise again \u2026 because of the electricity prices, because of the gas, because of the end of furlough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Marie, 63, who declined to provide her surname, first came to Dad\u2019s House four months ago and is already worried about her next quarterly heating bill. Her husband has problems with his blood circulation, she said, so maintaining a warm house is essential.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cFood-wise we don\u2019t eat a lot because we don’t indulge in luxurious food, it\u2019s just basic,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the energy prices that’s never come down, never come down, so that is the worry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Seven miles to the east, at another London food bank, up to 100 customers were expected at an evening meal service attended by CNN Business. Staffers prepared pumpkin soup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Robert Hunningher, 42, turned part of his catering business, Humdingers, into a food bank in May last year, serving up to 1,000 people a week during the lockdown.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
Robert Hunningher, owner of Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen, stands with his 6-year-old son, James, and greets customers lined up outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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He said the number of visitors has \u201cskyrocketed\u201d by up to 250 per week since late September. A wide range of people are now turning up, he said, including young professionals, schoolteachers and a semi-pro tennis player.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cEven if you have a job, there\u2019s no hope because you can’t afford to live here,\u201d Hunningher said. \u201cEverything is out of arm’s reach and then the prices are going up so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Gary Lemon, director of policy and research at The Trussell Trust, which distributes groceries to about two thirds of UK food banks \u2014 although not Dad’s House or Humdingers \u2014 told CNN Business that many of its members are \u201cvery busy with more people needing to come to them for emergency food.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cThey expect this to continue in the weeks leading up to Christmas,” Lemon added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Bills through the roof<\/h3>\n
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Rising fuel and food costs have pushed up household bills for millions of Britons. Since January, wholesale gas prices have soared 423%, according to data from industry group Oil & Gas UK. A mix of factors explain the rise, including higher demand from Asia and lower-than-expected Russian gas exports.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In response, the UK energy regulator increased its consumer price cap \u2014 the maximum suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy \u2014 by up to 13% starting October 1, affecting 15 million people.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
A volunteer helps Guke Dainkeh select produce at Dad\u2019s House.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Jameson Keane, 49, an artist who cares for his mother, started coming to Dad\u2019s House during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m on a limited budget, about \u00a3100 ($138) a week,\u201d he told CNN Business. \u201cMy money gets eaten up very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Keane said his energy costs are higher than ever before, despite using similar amounts of fuel. He estimates that the money in his energy meter is being spent about \u201ca third faster in the last two weeks \u2014 especially the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Higher energy prices are a problem across Europe, but Britain’s relatively low levels of stored gas make it particularly exposed to volatile energy markets.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Many Brits are bracing for higher bills in April when the energy regulator next adjusts its consumer price cap.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018Heating or eating\u2019<\/h3>\n
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More than a decade of government austerity in the United Kingdom has eaten away at budgets for health care, housing and welfare. A blistering 2019 report by the United Nations\u2019 Human Rights Council blamed spending cuts for the \u201csystematic immiseration of millions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Before the pandemic, about 14.5 million Britons, or 22%, were living in poverty, according to the government’s own measure. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a think tank, expects even more people to fall into poverty as pandemic benefits taper off.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kadriye Ali stands outside Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen. She has noticed food becoming more expensive and started going to the food bank 10 months ago.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Fruits and vegetables are on display at Dad\u2019s House. Food banks in London have reported a surge of visits in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In early October, the government cut Universal Credit \u2014 a benefit claimed by those out-of-work or earning low incomes \u2014 back to its pre-pandemic level. More than 5.8 million people lost \u00a320 ($28) a week, adding up to \u00a31,040 ($1,431) a year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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McGranaghan said the cuts have forced some of his clients to make difficult choices.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201c(They will) have a salad on a cold October night instead of actually having something that they could have put in the oven,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s the reality of losing \u00a320 a week \u2014 it\u2019s heating or eating.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Amina, a food bank client who declined to give her full name, said the temporary benefit hike had been a lifeline for her family of five.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cFor me it\u2019s very helpful, \u00a320, maybe for another, someone else it’s nothing, but for me it\u2019s money, especially for family, if you\u2019ve got kids,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen you\u2019re used to having something and they take it away, you can feel the difference,\u201d she added. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how to manage, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The UK government has also wrapped up its \u00a369 billion ($95 billion) pandemic furlough program. In August, it reduced payments to employers from 70% of a worker’s monthly salary to 60%, before stopping them altogether at the end of September.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Sabine Goodwin, coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network, an organization representing more than 500 food banks, including Dad’s House, told CNN Business that \u201cthere\u2019s a real danger that demand will outstrip food banks’ capacity to support people\u201d this winter.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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She added that the government’s reliance on charities to feed its people was \u201cneither morally acceptable nor sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
People line up for hot meals outside of Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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A spokesperson for the UK Department for Work and Pensions, which administers benefit payments, told CNN Business that \u201cUniversal Credit continues to provide a vital safety net for millions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The spokesperson said that the government was committed to eradicating poverty and had created a new \u00a3500 million ($688 million) fund to help \u201cthe most vulnerable with essential costs through this winter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A \u2018Catch-22\u2019 for strained food banks<\/h3>\n
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Food banks are not a new phenomenon in modern Britain \u2014 between 2010 and 2019, the number of emergency food parcels distributed by The Trussell Trust rose 2,543%, driven in part by cuts to the country\u2019s social security system.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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But supply chain bottlenecks, inflating food prices and shortages in supermarkets have limited their ability to feed struggling households as the economy emerges from its pandemic slump.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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McGranaghan told CNN Business that this puts Dad’s House in a \u201cCatch-22.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re relying on the public to donate food, but they haven\u2019t got enough food on the shelves for their families,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s when the donations decrease and that’s a huge, huge worry for all independent food banks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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In east London, Hunningher said that supermarkets no longer let him buy in bulk as they are short of stock.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m having to go to more expensive places,\u201d he said. \u201cThe 20 (pence) pasta at Tesco\u2019s (supermarket) is fantastic and I need seven boxes a week \u2014 I\u2019m not allowed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
Gerald Stevens delivers food to Dad\u2019s House from the Felix Project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Mai Pedersen receives a hot meal from Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen. Like many others, she was working up until the pandemic, and then fell upon hard times and started accessing free meals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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A father arrives at Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen with his children. A wide range of people are now turning up, says Robert Hunningher.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Supermarkets are having trouble keeping their shelves stocked because the United Kingdom is short 100,000 truck drivers, due in part to an exodus of EU workers following Brexit. The pandemic also limited the number of certification tests for new commercial truck drivers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Shortages were made even worse in September when service stations across the country ran out of fuel following a spate of panic buying.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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FareShare, a charity which redistributes surplus supermarket food to charities and community groups, including food banks, told CNN Business that all of its 30 regional centers had been affected by shortages.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lindsay Boswell, FareShare’s CEO, said that it normally receives up to 160 metric tons of groceries a day, but the fuel shortage cut deliveries to under 100 metric tons.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cUp to 30% of the food we would normally expect to receive into our warehouses on an average day is at risk of not reaching us,\u201d Boswell said. \u201cAnd (is) therefore at risk of not reaching the vulnerable people we support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018We\u2019re going back in time\u2019<\/h3>\n
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Some economists have warned that rising inflation in the United Kingdom, combined with weak economic growth, could lead to a period of \u201cstagflation\u201d reminiscent of the 1970s, when wages failed to keep pace with the rocketing cost of living.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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As higher grocery prices erode Britons\u2019 purchasing power, food banks are preparing for more visitors, and to spend more themselves.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rajesh Makwana, the director of Sufra, a food bank in north-west London, told CNN Business that he is \u201cbracing for increased demand as the cost of living continues to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cOur food costs are already unsustainably high, so even a small increase would be painful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"https:\/\/cnn.it\/\"<\/picture>
Michael Mercury, center, talks with Humdinger’s Soup Kitchen owner Robert Hunningher while lining up for a meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Inflation was up 3.1% in September, according to official data. That’s above the central bank\u2019s target rate of 2% but far short of the 5% pace that could be reached early next year, according to Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The government plans to increase the minimum wage from \u00a38.91 ($12.27) to \u00a39.50 ($13.09) an hour in April, but the mounting cost of living will temper the boost to Britons’ spending power.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Geraldine Hurley, 62, a retiree from east London, passed by Humdingers as it opened its evening meal service, and stopped to talk to CNN Business.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cMy coffee, it\u2019s always been \u00a35 ($6.88) a jar, it\u2019s now in Tesco\u2019s for \u00a35.75 ($7.91),\u201d she said. \u201cWhat sort of increase is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Although Hurley applauds food banks like Humdingers for stepping up to support her community, she is frustrated by their necessity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe really shouldn’t be doing it nowadays,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re going back in time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volunteer Tania Nedvetsky helps arrange donations at Dad\u2019s House, a food bank in London. In an upmarket neighborhood in west London, a growing number of people are visiting a storefront tucked between a bicycle shop and a coffee house that charges no money and caters exclusively to the less fortunate. Dad\u2019s House is one of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}