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It is time to end food banks ?


kingofsurrey

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It’s time to end the need for food banks’ says UBC prof

 

A UBC professor emeritus has written an open letter to Premier John Horgan asking for food to become a basic right, in the same manner as healthcare.

 

Graham Riches, who is the former director of the university’s school of social work, says food banks were created in the 1980s as something temporary, but have now been incorporated into th system and are serving as a “Band-Aid solution.”“Really it’s shameful that in a country as wealthy as Canada and as [a province as] wealthy as B.C. that we have charitable food banks feeding hungry people,” said Riches.

“A very basic human need is actually food, and people’s access to it, it’s something that actually should be a collective responsibility.”

 

 

Riches said the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey found 485,000 British Columbians were in a state of food insecurity.

“These are the people who worry about not being able to feed themselves and their families, had to change the amount and kind of food they were buying and also those who were worried and running out of food,” said Riches.

 

 

He said out of those 485,000, more than 100,000 British Columbians were accessing food banks, which he said showcases the scale of the problem.

“Of course no one wants to pay more taxes, but on the other hand, if a basic human need is actually being unaddressed then I think we have a very serious issue.”

 

He said Premier Horgan needs to show leadership and take action on the matter, adding that food banks are not capable of solving the problem.

He said only one in four people who are food insecure will actually use a food bank.

 
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The title of your thread and that of the article are quite different. What exactly is the proposed replacement? The amount of food waste generated on our planet is disgusting. If the Canadian government wants to do something about it they can start by subsidizing the costs associated with corporations like grocery chains donating food to places where the needy can access it. That, of course, isn't happening right now because it's simply cheaper to throw it in the trash than it is to organize the delivery of it to anywhere.

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19 minutes ago, Green Building said:

The title of your thread and that of the article are quite different. What exactly is the proposed replacement? The amount of food waste generated on our planet is disgusting. If the Canadian government wants to do something about it they can start by subsidizing the costs associated with corporations like grocery chains donating food to places where the needy can access it. That, of course, isn't happening right now because it's simply cheaper to throw it in the trash than it is to organize the delivery of it to anywhere.

actually save on foods does a very good job at supporting the local food bank here any ways , but prince Rupert is a very reliant on  pattison ie   pattison owned,  bc packers which has been hard hit in recent years so I'm sure theres some sympathy from pattison.

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Just now, chon derry said:

actually save on foods does a very good job at supporting the local food bank here any ways , but prince Rupert is a very reliant on  pattison ie   pattison ownedn,bc packers which has been hard hit in recent years so I'm sure theres some sympathy from pattison.

I can't comment on what all chains do, but Save On has $5-$10-$25 available for purchase to donate at Christmas, that's their most obvious and in plain sight food driving that I see them do. I'm sure each chain does something similar to that, and if the one in Rupert goes above and beyond that I'd be curios to know in which way. Grocery chains simply don't donate much food, especially when it comes to fresh stuff. I don't really blame them as food is expensive and they're in the business of making money, but tossing dumpsters of bananas and day old bread out because it's cheaper than giving it away is simply not sustainable in a global sense.

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Aren't food drives good though, in a sense? I mean was back in Vancouver for Christmas and visited my niece's school and saw the amount of food they had collected. Maybe it's a good thing for the kids to do to make them reflect on their own lives and that doing something like that for the community makes it better for everyone? 

 

I agree though that food and water should be a basic right, honestly don't know how that gets implemented.

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3 minutes ago, Green Building said:

I can't comment on what all chains do, but Save On has $5-$10-$25 available for purchase to donate at Christmas, that's their most obvious and in plain sight food driving that I see them do. I'm sure each chain does something similar to that, and if the one in Rupert goes above and beyond that I'd be curios to know in which way. Grocery chains simply don't donate much food, especially when it comes to fresh stuff. I don't really blame them as food is expensive and they're in the business of making money, but tossing dumpsters of bananas and day old bread out because it's cheaper than giving it away is simply not sustainable in a global sense.

lots of canned goods , and the fruit and vegtables  DONT  go to waste   everybody gets a turkey at Christmas. , ruperts not big that so i'm sure other stores aren't going to do it on the same scale.   its done in concert with salvation army and the local toy run society which is a big thing here.

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2 minutes ago, chon derry said:

lots of canned goods , and the fruit and vegtables  DONT  go to waste   everybody gets a turkey at Christmas. , ruperts not big that so i'm sure other stores aren't going to do it on the same scale.   its done in concert with salvation army and the local toy run society which is a big thing here.

Well then kudos to them for leading by example. In general, I'd say that the smaller the store the more giving it tends to be. It sounds like a generalization, but it feels right due to the closer relationship said places have with the community. 

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2 minutes ago, Green Building said:

Well then kudos to them for leading by example. In general, I'd say that the smaller the store the more giving it tends to be. It sounds like a generalization, but it feels right due to the closer relationship said places have with the community. 

P.R. is a micro Vancouver with the new container port and some VERY wealthy  ppl  right down to the home less just before Christmas the city allowed a tent city on city hall lawn  and then it just simply got to cold and they opened up a shut down store for them..apperantly   theres close to 100  homeless people here  I was shocked to hear this because of how well the town seems to be doing.   one doesn't have to look very far to feel fortunate..

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Totally agree with the basic premises of the profs. pitch. Food Banks are unwanted institutions in towns and cities across Canada. They seem to feed on themselves. Unfortunately Food banks are now solid members of the local business community. Instead their mission in life should be to do everything possible to put themselves out of business. Food is a basic need for survival, and it is time we consider another way to eliminate Food Banks as they are known today.

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Food banks are for rich people.

As a single guy, if you "need something to eat" they'll fill up a bag with a couple rolls of toilet paper, some granola bars, a few cans of soup or beans, and send you on your way.

Single mom? Oh hell.... you're wheeling out of there with an entire shopping cart heaping over with everything you can imagine. And I know women who own their own business and pretend to be poor spending 20 minutes outside loading all that %$# into their SUV.

You can get better, and much fresher food, dumpster diving. And I am verifying that as a fact. 

So screw Hogan or Horgan or whatever his name is... and screw some university professor who's probably licked off a silver spoon his entire life.... trying to tell me what they think of "poverty" 







 

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9 hours ago, darkpoet said:

Food banks are for rich people.

As a single guy, if you "need something to eat" they'll fill up a bag with a couple rolls of toilet paper, some granola bars, a few cans of soup or beans, and send you on your way.

Single mom? Oh hell.... you're wheeling out of there with an entire shopping cart heaping over with everything you can imagine. And I know women who own their own business and pretend to be poor spending 20 minutes outside loading all that %$# into their SUV.

You can get better, and much fresher food, dumpster diving. And I am verifying that as a fact. 

So screw Hogan or Horgan or whatever his name is... and screw some university professor who's probably licked off a silver spoon his entire life.... trying to tell me what they think of "poverty" 







 

You ever been to a food bank? Ever had to deal with homeless people? Or addicts? Or mentally ill? Or even been to social service office on cheque day?

There's always going to be scammers. Don't see anyone getting up in arms when money is being laundered through our casinos and real estate, and the owners of million dollar homes are collecting welfare, and proclaiming to be poor. 

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Criticizing the current system in place but offering no replacement solution. Classic...

 

No thanks, don't need more of my money skimmed off my paycheck because of the laziness of others. Access to food is a right, being able to afford it is not. 

 

I have family members who use food banks... I went with them one time and they walked away with food for 2 weeks...they were asking us to take more.

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Food is not basic right. No one owes you anything for being born. 

 

The problem with ideas like this is that don’t take into context economics.  Nothing in the world is free. There’s not such things as a free meal. Someone is footing the bill and ideas like this just assume because they don’t see the person footing the bill they don’t exist therefore it’s free. 

 

With that said I’d be completed up for food waste going to the needy rather than garbage. To my understanding a few organization tried this but ran into some legal issues with potentially getting sued if the food made a person sick.  

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15 hours ago, redhdlois said:

I recently watched a documentary filmed in Vancouver about food waste and a program called Quest Food Exchange that has several outlets/stores in the lower mainland.

I wasn't even aware of this program until I watched the documentary.  

Food waste, especially produce and bread, at grocery stores is ridiculous. 

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14 minutes ago, Gnarcore said:

Food waste, especially produce and bread, at grocery stores is ridiculous. 

I can't say all safeways do this but the local safeway manager who is a family friend, has told us numerous times how safeway donates all the leftover bread, buns and certain produce to the local foodbank.

 

Can't say thats all of them though. also I agree with we should make throwing food away illegal. especially fruits and vegetables. So many people have health issues and eating some more fruits and vegetables can only help them in the long term.  

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14 hours ago, Jester13 said:

Do what France did and legislate that grocery stores cannot throw out or destroy food. Instead, the old food gets picked up in a matter of hours and goes to those in need. 

There's a good solution, I think Cobs bread donates all the food they don't sell.

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