A recipe for disaster?
Food Poverty? Oh yes, nice sterile description that we all understand is it? And anyway there are always benefits, aren't there? And all those lovely food banks?
We take a moment to move across and leave the Blog keyboard to our blind friend Charlotte, ably assisted by her guide dog Layla
Hello There Beanies Blog Readers.
Its me again, Charlotte.
Today I want to talk to you all about a topic
that everyone understands…
FOOD!!
Everyone needs to eat. Your favorite food can
make you emotional. That cake Grandma always bakes when you go to stay. Your
mums Christmas turkey…
The smell of baked bread or hot soup on a cold
day… The sweet smell of a cake shop...
We all eat. It is one of the most important
things in our lives.
Food…
It gives us energy.
It can warm us up.
Some foods can activate the pleasure centers in
our brains. (CHOCOLATE!)
But for some people it is not so easy to get
food.
Food poverty is what the media calls this. But
what does that really mean?
It means you don't have enough money for food
after paying bills.
It means a stark choice… rent or food? Which one do you pay for this week?
It means not knowing the next time you will eat.
For many people these choices are what they have
to think about, not just every month, every week… but every DAY.
Tell me, which do you chose?
When I was a student I could not afford rent and
food. I chose rent. I was starving. I
couldn’t keep that up.
So I had to leave. Student Loans in my area only
covered rent.
So the studies had to go. I had to find a job… Any job!
In a hostel now I can eat so long as I keep my job.
If I lose my job there will be weeks where I am
not entitled to benefits. That’s not any
money… At ALL.
No money no food.
What do you do?
This happens to someone every day. We are a first
world country with a third world problem.
Costs go up wages stay the same or go down. Benefits
go down. Benefit waiting times get longer.
Benefits are more difficult to qualify for. Benefits cease to exist.
On top of that, of course, getting a stable job
is hard.
This is what a lot of people have to face.
See that gaunt face?
Society assumes they are starving them selves as
a choice.
But what do you do if you can't afford food?
Do you stop paying rent?
What then? On the streets food is no more available.
If you have no income, then you have no food.
Food banks you say? You need to give two reasons why you
have no money for food, and then the food bank is a limited resource. You can't use them as a long-term solution.
So people starve.
And, you know what?
No one notices.
Charlotte
Food for thought there from Charlotte.
And you know, may people are only alive because of food that is made available by people like our outreach Partners and the Street Kitchens who work so hard. It shouldn't be like that.
And what is worse, having made the agonising decision to give up the roof over your head in order to eat… your money and food run out, and you are left homeless and destitute.
This blog is run by the volunteers of @beanies_masato on Twitter. We work to provide information, as well as fund warm winter scarves and hats, plus duffle bags for our homeless friends.
You can find our webpage here:
Our winter campaign distributes mainly through our six Partners on Twitter.
These are
@YorkRoadProject - Woking
@onebigfamilyHTH - London and Medway
@llamauUK - Wales
@SimonCommNI - Northern Ireland
@Wolveshomeless - Wolverhampton
@simonotstreets - Leeds
No comments:
Post a Comment