Too poor to eat properly

In 'I Daniel Blake' there were fresh vegetables (don't know about fruit) at the food bank, probably donated by supermarkets. A lot of 'wonky' and surplus fruit and veg is donated to Shelter, Crisis, soup kitchens and food banks in London, that I do know.
Yes, you're right.
I was thinking of the items we can donate ie tins, packets. Our local Tesco make it easier to donate now, there is a huge wire crate by the tills where donations can be placed and they say they top it up by 20%.

Ready please give a link about that IQ level. I would be interested to read it.

If everyone could manage their budget properly, probably everyone could be accountants, and we know that's not possible. I read that the minimum IQ needed to comfortably manage clerical work (ie office work, writing, arithmetic, adding up columns of money) is 110. The average IQ of our people is 100. The average person therefore will have some degree of challenge doing a predictive budget so that they always have money left for bills. It's all very well saying "we pay monthly so people learn to budget" but you don't learn during the test! You're meant to be taught first and then be tested. What exactly do the universal credit teams do to ensure people changing onto UC have the skills needed to manage their budgets before they get into debt?

I'm glad that now some rents will be paid directly.

Which rents will be paid directly?

I am very much against rents being paid directly, unless the person has shown themselves incapable of managing money.

A relative of mine had rent payments missed by the DWP, in error, but did not know about it right away as the rent was going straight to the landlord.
As a result, the landlord then regarded my relative as unreliable even though the rent was paid right away, as soon as the landlord brought it to her attention.

So many comments on here that I agree with, on all sides of the argument. Some seem to have experience and some clearly have no clue what poverty is about.

I'll make a few observations:

1) I can't remember ever living near a market.
2) Some people do abuse the system, how do we know which they are?
3) If you have the facilities it is cheaper and healthier to cook from scratch.
4) In my DS lessons we learnt to make nice things like cake, never anything basic.
5) UC is a good idea in principle, it should be better to be in work. It is administered badly and I'm glad that now some rents will be paid directly.
6) Does the nanny state make it harder for people to learn to do things for themselves? I'm in a quandary about this because, for example, there is a move to stop companies renewing insurance policies or fuel deals which are more expensive than shopping around. Most people are quite capable of shopping around but some are too lazy to do so. Of course some are not able to do it for themselves. The result will inevitably be to make these things dearer for those who have always shopped around and I wonder if such rules make people less likely to think for themselves.
7) I think convenience foods have reduced people's ability to prepare and cook for themselves.
8) How do we help those in food poverty?

I could go on.................

The teaching of 'Food Technology' in schools has a lot to answer for. When my DD was at school she was making spaghetti bolognese one week. She was told to take in the minced beef and anything else she wanted to add but not the tomato sauce base which was provided. When she brought it home I asked what was in the tomato sauce base. She hadn't been told! She was just given a portion to add to her mince and mushrooms. This is teaching people to go to the supermarket and buy a jar of pasta sauce, not to cook from scratch. Next time I made spag bol she was in the kitchen with me learning how to make the sauce using onions, herbs and tinned tomatoes and all the other things I add to make it healthy from scratch - grated carrot and celery etc. She cooks a lot from scratch now, but sadly learnt very little at school.
My mother was a cookery teacher and was horrified to find me using packaged crumble mix (I find 'rubbing in' for crumble or pastry particularly difficult so I buy ready done) so she set to and made a huge plastic box full for me which lasted weeks! She retired long before the changes to the curriculum that have resulted in so many young people knowing how to design a product but not how to cook a meal!
As for people falling on hard times, I lost my job a few years ago when 2 students in the school where I worked falsely accused me of assault. I was suspended on full pay but eventually decided to leave as I didn't know if I would be able to clear my name and didn't actually want to go back there. I was out of work for a few months so signed on for job seekers allowance. After a week and a half I signed off because the hoops I had to jump through to get the benefit, which was a fraction of what I needed to get by, were just too great. I realised I'd never have time to apply for a job I wanted or could get, as I had to apply for so many unsuitable jobs they sent to me which I didn't want and probably couldn't have got anyway. I was lucky that I had savings and decided to live on those instead. Had I not been in that position I'd have had to stay on benefits, and may have ended up using a food bank myself. It could happen to anyone. The small amount I was entitled to would have only covered my mortgage and council tax, if that!
I'm one of the lucky ones. I got another job although I now work longer hours for less money! I manage on a very low income mainly as I don't have as much to buy as younger people. I have all the household equipment I'll ever need, including things that make cooking from scratch economically possible for me. I only recently upgraded to a smart phone when my DD gave me her old one because she has a newer one. I can afford some treats as I am careful most of the time, and I still have some of my savings left which I use to top up my income if I have an expensive month. I retire in about 18 months and estimate my income will be higher then!

Sarah quite possibly but I can assure you that the biggest food manufacturer did not make own label products when I worked for them.

Jalima1108

fresh fruit, vegetables are not allowed to be donated
In 'I Daniel Blake' there were fresh vegetables (don't know about fruit) at the food bank, probably donated by supermarkets. A lot of 'wonky' and surplus fruit and veg is donated to Shelter, Crisis, soup kitchens and food banks in London, that I do know.

I think a lot of the trouble here is with young mothers who do not know how to cook a meal. I worked with young single mums for years, and most of their meals consisted of frozen food or 'ready meals'. (The course I ran was not about nutrition, but on self-confidence, intending to get these young people back into work.) But I would set them challenges. One of them was to cook a meal for them and their children, from scratch. (Weekend 'homework'!) I was amazed at how thrilled they were, come Monday morning, at swapping their experiences (and recipes).
"I made a roast dinner - with chicken and vegetables!"
"I did spaghetti bolognese - it was great!"
They were all so pleased with themselves! (And rightly so!)
More education with food preparation and cooking is badly needed. These girls didn't learn anything from their own mothers.
My only worry here, is the expense of some fresh food. It's an fact that a shop-bought, frozen pie, is half the price of a home-made one! You can buy a freshly-made, family-sized apple crumble for £1. (Morrisons) It would cost you far more, to buy the cooking apples, flour, margarine, etc.
It's a weird change in circumstances over the years ... my mum used to knit all of our jumpers, cardigans, etc., because she couldn't afford to buy these items - but nowadays home-knitting is vastly more expensive than shop-bought knitwear.
But that we need food banks, here in the UK, is appalling!

I might try charred 1/4rd romaine lettuce too.
Carrots sliced with a Y shaped veg peeler seasoned and baked with something weighty (or a baking sheet) on top to keep them flat, taste like bacon and are crisp when slightly cooled. I have 2 or 3 pieces on top of chilli scrambled eggs on a toasted muffin. Mad? Probably.

That sounds nice and easy, I may well try that.

I have a gas hob and electric fan oven but when it's just me (which is most of the time) I use my Samsung Combi oven/micro/grill which is more economical.

Oops, thumb not working properly. Yes I limited my family to what I could afford. Albeit there are those who no fault of their own land up without financial support and food banks help them out. In my area, people using food banks have to be referred by eg social worker, community nurse. It is not an open door to all and sundry and there can be limits on the number of times help is given. If there is no food to cook doesnt't matter if they are good at making meals or not, the essential ingredients are needed in the first place.

It's an idea from the internet. Millions...ok, thousands of great ideas and recipes. I have a griddle pan but have ysed an ordinary cast iron pan to char quartered cauli in a knob of butter after cutting out the hard stalk. Half a lemon (sliced or quartered) thrown in after a couple of minutes. I sometimes add a few chilli flakes.
I buy the fish on Fridays as Waitrose have 1/3 off.

Today has seen a change to how UC is to be administered and rolled out. Hopefully this will help those who depend on this complicated benefit. Food banks are used by people from all walks of life, workers, single parents,pensioners, homeless and not all are mis managing their finances, they are caught out with low wages, high travel costs and all the other costs that even those who do not use Foodbanks complain about. One thing I feel the government has wrongly guven way on is child benefit for more than two children. I would have enjoyed more children but knew I could not afford them, not only the day to day costs but the housing and car just to mention two so I took steps to ensure I limited ny family to my means.that

lemon charred cauliflower
That sounds nice - do you have a recipe or just bake a cauliflower with lemon juice squeeze on it?

I make a big pot of vegetable soup (I'm vegetarian) , omelettes filled with spinach, peppers, mushrooms, peas or cheese etc. Mac n cheese. Pasta with various fillings or sauce. Roasted veg with couscous. Fish with lemon charred cauliflower and baked potato. Yogurt and a piece of fruit for pudding.
Home-made quiche. Lasagne. I have modest tastes in food regardless of retired income.

My offering Christmas greetings, does not mean that I agree with laziness or profligacy. I doubt many people would jump at the chance to help someone without food, male or female with a 50" tv, Netflix subscription, iphone and no job, if they themselves were scrupulously dedicated to cutting their own coat according to the cloth they had.
I'm all for giving people a helping hand up the ladder but not if they have no motivation to help themselves.
Peer to peer lending was one avenue in which I've bridged the gap for some families who have been in uncomfortable situations.
There are many who are in a parlous state financially through no fault of their own and I agree, help is needed in those cases.
Not so, people who have a house full of gadgets and no idea where their priorities should lie.

This probably already exists on these boards but I would love to know what inexpensive and nutritious meals our retired contributors make regularly to make their pensions stretch.

I remember GG posting on Christmas day Christmas wishes and goodwill to all, seems her goodwill is selective.

GG your right wing ‘as they sow, so shall they reap’ and ‘they’ve made their bed so they must lie on it’ view is straight out of Dickens.

Yes, we get your gist.

Lioness did I say the whole of Bootle and Litherland were sink estates? I think if you read my post you will find that I said there were sink estates there....Bootle is where Jamie Bulger was kidnapped and beaten to death. Yes, of course there are ‘nice parts’ but there are also those areas I defy you to walk alone at night. Same as when I worked in Kirby.

I do wish people would read posts properly ???

I'm not religious at all, however, I did go to church on a weekly basis for 11 years throughout my childhood.
I'm minded by this thread, to remember the parable of the sower.
Broadly speaking, some will spend whatever they have about without tempering their wants over their needs. Some will carefully look after the little that they have been alloted and others will be spend unwisely knowing that more will be forthcoming, not earned by their own hand but from others who saved and multiplied their small amount by using it judiciously. Not exactly an analogy but you get the gist.

Posting receipes on Facebook easy soups and advising of shops showing good deals, nothing with lots of ingredients,
But simply healthy wholesome food, saying swap to porridge for breakfast. I know this is widely available information but it may start to encourage someone.
Making sure our MPs and Councillors are doing their upmost to change the curriculum for all children, so that the old DOmestic Science is revived.
Most of all tell the government, enough is enough, this austerity must stop, and keep on saying it.

I started this thread because I was incensed by the notion that in this affluent 21st century country there are many families who cannot afford to eat properly.

I wasn't being judgemental. I am only too aware how big a part luck plays in what life throws at you.

It seems to me that on the whole the views of most of us on this thread are in accord. We condemn the current situation whereby those who are disadvantaged either through poverty, mental and/or physical health, age, lack of support and/or education are suffering.

Surely the answer is that we need to take responsibility for developing more support within our communities.....help each other, especially the less fortunate.

Or do we just pay lip service on this forum and ignore it?