Food banks are struggling to support those in need due to increasing prices and the cost of living crisis.
Jeremy Hunt revealed on 17 November that the nation has officially entered recession. The chancellor said: “The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast the UK’s inflation rate to be 9.1 per cent this year and 7.4 per cent next year … They also judge that the UK, like other countries, is now in recession.”
The OBR has forecast our flatlining economy to reach pre-Covid levels towards the end of 2024.
The fiscal watchdog confirmed living standards would fall by 7 per cent in the next two years. Therefore, it is no surprise that more people are struggling to make ends meet and relying on food banks to eat.
While the number of those turning to food banks is increasing, the numbers of donations are on the decline. As a result, people cannot provide for themselves, let alone help others.
Brighton and Hove Food Partnership’s Emergency Food Network Survey reports approximately seventy per cent of food banks, charities, and social supermarkets have seen a fall in food donations this year compared to 2021.
Helen Starr-Keddle, project manager of community food projects at Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, says: “All of our organisations are already struggling. By that, I mean they already have higher costs due to the food prices going up, and fuel has gone up, too.”
“The main issue at the moment is that there is less surplus food in the system. All of the organisations that are feeding people are reliant on food that would otherwise go to waste. That amount has decreased because supermarkets and other organisations have gotten much better with not wasting food.”
Though this is better for the environment and businesses aren’t wasting money on food thrown away, she explains: “The knock-on-effect means that all the different organisations who rely on the surplus now have less food to give away. Bearing in mind, this is at a time where more and more people are coming to them for help.”
She continues: “What they’re having to do is buy-in food to meet the needs of the people they’re feeding, but that food has gone up in price.”
While it is a working alternative for food banks and organisations to buy-in food, it is not sustainable, especially with the rising costs.
Painting a picture of just how huge the crisis has gotten, she says: “We had around six food banks in 2013, feeding around a couple of hundred people. Now we have about forty-six emergency food providers feeding over six thousand people weekly in Brighton.”
“The trajectory has been going up. It went up loads at the start of the pandemic, then it went back down a little, and now it’s going back up again with the cost of living crisis.”
On this year’s numbers, she states: “By the middle of the year, the food bank was looking at an eighteen per cent increase from last year’s figures, in terms of people needing support.”
Ms Starr-Keddle believes: “The income people are getting from benefits isn’t enough to cover their living costs. Unless that changes, we will not see any large reduction in the number of people seeking support.”
She clarifies: “We’re only putting a bandage on a much bigger problem.”
The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership is currently focussing on a project to assist the food banks as demand increases and donations decline.
The Food SOS campaign will drive donations to those experiencing hardships, share helpful information and include community-led activities to create positive news stories.
Brighton Food Bank, an independent Christian food bank established in 2000, has seen a thirty per cent increase this year in clients needing their help.
Mike Jourdain, the food bank team leader, has been working at the Brighton Food Bank for four and a half years.
He says: “We’ve seen a steady increase in the numbers of those needing help year on year, so it’s not just the last twelve months. We’re probably up about twenty-five per cent this year.”
Speaking on the effect of the recession on food banks, he says: “We’re at the sharp end, so we have seen the decline and it going down for some time.”
“I don’t think we’ve seen the full effect of the increase in energy costs in our city yet, nor have we seen the full effect of increased rents which are probably going to come about because of higher interest rates. So it’s going to get worse.”
Mr Jourdain expresses his concerns: “The level of donations may go down because people are in less position to do so, and yet the demand is increasing. So you can see it going only one way.”
“This year already, we have distributed about seventy-five tonnes of food. But it’s not sustainable to maintain that level of food going out.”
He continues: “Right now, we are using historical reserves, which is not sustainable going forward. We do need to find a solution for it. A majority of food banks are now having to buy-in food which they’ve never done before. We’ve always bought a little bit but not as much as we are now.”
On the upcoming festive season, he says: “Clearly, there’s more pressure on people to provide for their families at Christmas time. We try to ask for different things at Christmas and give out gifts, but even that ultimately depends on the donations.”
“However, I don’t necessarily think that Christmas will see an increase in numbers. We are just as busy all year round as we are during Christmas.”
With the looming effects of the recession only starting to creep up on the nation, many will rely on the support of the food banks.
For help, information, or to donate to Brighton’s food banks, visit:
http://www.brightonfoodbank.org.uk/
