Food poverty-the way out

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Pendodave
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Pendodave »

pete75 wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:32pm
reohn2 wrote: 23 May 2022, 9:31am Do you find that an acceptable way for citizens of the fifth or is it the sixth richest country in the world to have to live in 2022?
Britain is nowhere near being the fifth or sixth richest country in the world, it's not even the fifth or sixth richest country in Europe.



Image
Thank goodness someone posted this.
It turns our that making up numbers is not unique to any particular side of the poliical spectrum . Ours has not been a wealthy country by European standards for a while. It does have lots of wealthy people in it, but that's not the same thing.
Ben@Forest
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Ben@Forest »

Yes, GDP has little to do with affordability of life for the average person either. Years ago l remember reading that in 1985 the UK was both the second highest financial contributer to what was then the EEC and the second least affordable EEC country for its citizens to live in.
Carlton green
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Carlton green »

pete75 wrote: 23 May 2022, 10:05pm
Carlton green wrote: 23 May 2022, 9:06pm There are certainly some surprises in that list. The ones towards the top might have very low rates of corporation tax or be places to launder corporate money? People justifiably comment about Banking practices in London but one really has to wonder about Luxembourg, Switzerland and Ireland too. Oh, and remember, when companies who trade in the UK don’t pay any UK tax then that’s a form of tax avoidance which suppresses the UK’s ability to fund its state and makes other states more wealthy at our expense. A good way out of food poverty would include closing tax loopholes.

Surprises? It's about what I expected, though the world's richest country based on GDP per head, Monaco, isn't there.
The City of London is the world's money laundering capital so if that's what makes a country wealthy then the UK would be at or near the top.
I do wonder where Greater London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London) would be in that chart or table.
Ours has not been a wealthy country by European standards for a while. It does have lots of wealthy people in it, but that's not the same thing.
Ain’t that the truth but we never seem to see the facts in that form.
Ben@Forest wrote: 24 May 2022, 8:17am Yes, GDP has little to do with affordability of life for the average person either. Years ago l remember reading that in 1985 the UK was both the second highest financial contributer to what was then the EEC and the second least affordable EEC country for its citizens to live in.
That’s a whole can of worms and then some …
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
Pebble
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Pebble »

Carlton green wrote: 23 May 2022, 4:21pm
Pebble wrote: 23 May 2022, 10:10am
reohn2 wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:23am

Do you find that an acceptable way for citizens of the fifth or is it the sixth richest country in the world to have to live in 2022?
Problems with food banks is people can squander all their money away on nonsense knowing there is a food bank to fall back to. Needing to use a food bank in many / most cases will be down to a total mismanagement of money rather than the lack of it. Should food vouches be an element of the benefit system. Eating well and healthily is not expensive,
I wonder what would cause anyone to be so judgemental, for want of a better explanation I’ll go for reading too many copies of the Daily Mail. We all hear about the dreadful poor - it sells newspapers and TV programs- but we hear very little about the dreadful rich who’s tax evasion and aggressive avoidance is what we really should be focussing our attention on.
I don't buy or read any newspapers, I go off what I hear and see in the real world and probably too much BBC news and R4 that heavily scews reality to the wokey far left. (the beeb simply get my attention for their lack of adverts otherwise I wouldn't give then the time of day)

you wouldn't happen to be a gaurdian devotee your self would you - LOL
pete75
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by pete75 »

Ben@Forest wrote: 24 May 2022, 8:17am Yes, GDP has little to do with affordability of life for the average person either. Years ago l remember reading that in 1985 the UK was both the second highest financial contributer to what was then the EEC and the second least affordable EEC country for its citizens to live in.
It wasn't the second highest contributor per person though.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
pete75
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by pete75 »

Pebble wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:10am
Carlton green wrote: 23 May 2022, 4:21pm
Pebble wrote: 23 May 2022, 10:10am

Problems with food banks is people can squander all their money away on nonsense knowing there is a food bank to fall back to. Needing to use a food bank in many / most cases will be down to a total mismanagement of money rather than the lack of it. Should food vouches be an element of the benefit system. Eating well and healthily is not expensive,
I wonder what would cause anyone to be so judgemental, for want of a better explanation I’ll go for reading too many copies of the Daily Mail. We all hear about the dreadful poor - it sells newspapers and TV programs- but we hear very little about the dreadful rich who’s tax evasion and aggressive avoidance is what we really should be focussing our attention on.
I don't buy or read any newspapers, I go off what I hear and see in the real world and probably too much BBC news and R4 that heavily scews reality to the wokey far left. (the beeb simply get my attention for their lack of adverts otherwise I wouldn't give then the time of day)

you wouldn't happen to be a gaurdian devotee your self would you - LOL
Associate with folks like yourself do you?
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Pebble
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Pebble »

pete75 wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:12am
Pebble wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:10am
Carlton green wrote: 23 May 2022, 4:21pm

I wonder what would cause anyone to be so judgemental, for want of a better explanation I’ll go for reading too many copies of the Daily Mail. We all hear about the dreadful poor - it sells newspapers and TV programs- but we hear very little about the dreadful rich who’s tax evasion and aggressive avoidance is what we really should be focussing our attention on.
I don't buy or read any newspapers, I go off what I hear and see in the real world and probably too much BBC news and R4 that heavily scews reality to the wokey far left. (the beeb simply get my attention for their lack of adverts otherwise I wouldn't give then the time of day)

you wouldn't happen to be a gaurdian devotee your self would you - LOL
Associate with folks like yourself do you?
not at all; a wide range including people who do use food banks, some of which are family.
Vorpal
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Vorpal »

al_yrpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:18am
Vorpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:09am
al_yrpal wrote: 22 May 2022, 8:07pm Inflation and fuel and other increases will no doubt work through into higher food prices but 'horrendous' seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Al
It's horrendous if your food budget is £25 per week for a family of 4.
Well of course it is. What are you implying? If that all you have you would no doubt be going to the food bank.

Al
I'm not implying anything. I know people who end up with that as their food budget. No one in the UK should need to use a food bank.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Pebble
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Pebble »

Vorpal wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:39am
al_yrpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:18am
Vorpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:09am

It's horrendous if your food budget is £25 per week for a family of 4.
Well of course it is. What are you implying? If that all you have you would no doubt be going to the food bank.

Al
I'm not implying anything. I know people who end up with that as their food budget. No one in the UK should need to use a food bank.
I would love to see a breakdown of this family of 4s budget to see how they only have £25 left for food. I have heard people on the radio who are working as Nurses teachers and police officers who are some of the best paid people in society, (well above the average incomes) claiming they need to use food banks - would love to understand where their money has gone.
thirdcrank
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by thirdcrank »

For anybody believing that poverty in general is caused by a lack of budgeting skills, a few minutes watching daytime telly ads might be informative.

Among all the get-rich-quick gambling adverts and all the rest, there's some sort of children's bank card - Go Henry - which aims to teach young people about handling money.

It probably says something about my age when I wince at the monthly fee of a fiver for a debit card. (I'm still stuck in a form of Capstick comes home ) I'd still have thought that the main lesson with this is from Matthew 13:12, loosely rendered as "a fool and their money are soon parted."
Carlton green
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by Carlton green »

Pebble wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:10am
Carlton green wrote: 23 May 2022, 4:21pm
Pebble wrote: 23 May 2022, 10:10am

Problems with food banks is people can squander all their money away on nonsense knowing there is a food bank to fall back to. Needing to use a food bank in many / most cases will be down to a total mismanagement of money rather than the lack of it. Should food vouches be an element of the benefit system. Eating well and healthily is not expensive,
I wonder what would cause anyone to be so judgemental, for want of a better explanation I’ll go for reading too many copies of the Daily Mail. We all hear about the dreadful poor - it sells newspapers and TV programs- but we hear very little about the dreadful rich who’s tax evasion and aggressive avoidance is what we really should be focussing our attention on.
I don't buy or read any newspapers, I go off what I hear and see in the real world and probably too much BBC news and R4 that heavily scews reality to the wokey far left. (the beeb simply get my attention for their lack of adverts otherwise I wouldn't give then the time of day)

you wouldn't happen to be a gaurdian devotee your self would you - LOL
I’m not a Guardian reader. Political bias in the media - whether it be intentional or unintentional - is difficult to avoid and I find that some papers are particularly bad in that respect. When I buy a paper or hear news I want it to be as impartial and objective as possible, for me that’s the BBC and The Times but even information from those sources is mentally questioned by me.

The real world is where I form opinions from too, or rather those parts of the real world with which I overlap. The vast bulk of the poor and distressed people I’ve met over the years are far from undeserving and I think it too easy, simplistic and convenient to dismiss their needs via victim blaming.

I’ve had some good and some bad luck in life and am very aware that each of us could very easily find ourselves in difficult circumstances. A successful small business man I once knew comes to mind. Back in the 1980’s things were tough, the Bank foreclosed on him, they both and sold his home and liquidated his business, circumstances broke that man overnight and he ended up in a council house. Life trips many people up and there are very many ways in which it does it.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by al_yrpal »

Vorpal wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:39am
al_yrpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:18am
Vorpal wrote: 23 May 2022, 8:09am

It's horrendous if your food budget is £25 per week for a family of 4.
Well of course it is. What are you implying? If that all you have you would no doubt be going to the food bank.

Al
I'm not implying anything. I know people who end up with that as their food budget. No one in the UK should need to use a food bank.
Well, perhaps they should move to another energy rich country and live very comfortably whilst holding everyone else to ransom with huge unjustified energy price hikes?

Throughout history a minority of folk have fallen on hard times and comparitively lately food banks have been their last resort. But...18% using them is far too high. Crippling rents caused by far too few houses and too many people is not helping at all.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
pete75
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by pete75 »

Pebble wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:22am
pete75 wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:12am
Pebble wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:10am
I don't buy or read any newspapers, I go off what I hear and see in the real world and probably too much BBC news and R4 that heavily scews reality to the wokey far left. (the beeb simply get my attention for their lack of adverts otherwise I wouldn't give then the time of day)

you wouldn't happen to be a gaurdian devotee your self would you - LOL
Associate with folks like yourself do you?
not at all; a wide range including people who do use food banks, some of which are family.
If that really was the case I doubt you'd have such narrow, bigoted views.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
pete75
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by pete75 »

Carlton green wrote: 24 May 2022, 9:57am [

I’m not a Guardian reader. Political bias in the media - whether it be intentional or unintentional - is difficult to avoid and I find that some papers are particularly bad in that respect. When I buy a paper or hear news I want it to be as impartial and objective as possible, for me that’s the BBC and The Times but even information from those sources is mentally questioned by me.

The Times is one of the Murdoch family's mouthpieces. You damn well need to question information from such a source.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
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simonineaston
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Re: Food poverty-the way out

Post by simonineaston »

would love to understand where their money has gone.
I would be fascinated too to explore the family budgets of other households. What some people regard as essential, others would see as unnecessary and entirely avoidable. What we refer to as "life-style choices".
For example, as a society, we appear to be perfectly happy to leave others alone to suffer addictions to drugs like alcohol and tobacco to the extent that they cost us all very dearly indeed, in terms of criminal activity, treatment and personal relationships.
Funnily enough, we often appear quite ready to get on the case of "the undeserving poor".
Last edited by simonineaston on 24 May 2022, 1:27pm, edited 1 time in total.
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