FOOD BAGS

I have just given a bag of food to a lady calling at the Vicarage.  It's a few weeks since we had a similar call, though in the weeks leading up to Christmas we had many such callers.

In the last 15 years it has become quite a frequent occurrence.  People call and ask for food for many reasons, though it's not my place to ask for those reasons.  Some say they are waiting for their benefit to arrive.  This may be a fact or a con but unless individuals come too often we always give them something.  Some say they have just moved.  Some are very apologetic. And some are alcoholics, but they still need to eat.  Almost all who come are embarrassed to be asking for something as basic as food.

It's a sad fact of modern life that we get callers like this.  But I have personal experience of living on the breadline and family experience of staggering financially from one day to the next on benefits, and I know how it can be just too much to make the money stretch to buy everything you need. 

I have only ever turned two people away and both times it was because the individuals had come too frequently.  Once a week and we will help.  More often and they're taking advantage.  

Of course, we never give money.  If we did, the news would soon reach the ears of every con artist in town so we give food which we know cannot be turned into drugs or alcohol but only a meal.

WHAT'S IN EACH BAG?

Bearing in mind that callers may only have a kettle and no oven (we have had one caller who lived in a derelict building with no facilities at all) we put a bag of basics together.  

bread

margarine

teabags                                                         

milk

instant soups

pot noodles (in case they only have a kettle)

canned food such as beans, soup, ravioli etc

jam

At a pinch the canned stuff can be eaten cold.

It's a difficult balancing act to give enough for a couple of days whilst not making folk dependent on handouts.  In rare cases we know the people well and so can tailor what's in the bag to their family needs.

In one parish we had a family of failed asylum seekers.  Although we felt that the family should return to their homeland because there didn't seem to be a good reason not to, nevertheless we couldn't let them go hungry.  As failed asylum seekers they were not entitled to benefits and so had no income at all.  How many more are there in that position?  

We read in the press how food banks are becoming increasingly needed.  How sad in this day and age.

We live in an affluent country but in times of austerity and ever more stringent cuts in central and local government budgets how many more folk will arrive on our doorstep asking for food?