Britian's poorest going hungry: Are we heading the same way?

smcgiff

steddyeddy wrote: »

Yes I help people in a volunteer capacity in getting people into science and engineering courses who may have missed a chance due to lack of opportunity.

That's a vocation, not a plan.

steddyeddy wrote: »

I also would love to change the way college entry system determines college entry.

Go on, the floor is yours.

steddyeddy

smcgiff wrote: »

That's a vocation, not a plan.



Go on, the floor is yours.

My vocation is part of the plan.

BBJBIG

Ya can't change anything when the place is run by a bunch of clowns, for a bunch of clowns. And always has been.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/the-year-of-big-hats-courage-cronyism-and-public-protest-30865434.html

dar100

Chinasea wrote: »

No it hasn't. Our welfare is generous, not to mention the numerous benefits. Food is cheap.

Sick of listening to this clap trap. The UK welfare payments are in no way near as high, nor is the social housing rental as incredibly low as our system and benefits.

Please supply some evidence, please

Owen_S

Well they clearly aren't going hungry, look at the obesity figures.

efb

UA is extremely low in the UK

Mahogany

Chinasea wrote: »

Food is cheap.

Agreed with everything except this. Food is expensive here, and following that, healthy food is unattainable for many.

Food is cheaper in the UK.

dar100

cousin_nigel wrote: »

not in ireland , the gap has narrowed in the past six years

admitting this would put many out of work and deny them a spot on vincent brownes panel

Apologies, it seems I quoted the wrong post. Again supply some evidence, please.

In times of financial hardship, the gap widens not narrows

sh1tstirrer

Capercaille wrote: »

Ireland's poorest are going hungry also, but they will still have the satellite TV, internet, flat screen TV etc. Poor devils

+ fags, alcohol I know a woman and her family are grown and have left the roost herself and her husband both work, she complains that she doesn't have money. They go out drinking 3 nights a week and both drink pints she can keep up with him 7-8 pints a night on average and she smokes 30 a day.

stateofflux

i have never seen a starving emaciated person in Ireland Ever. i have also never heard of anyone dying from Starvation here.

whether that is directly related to the efforts of some of the 8,000 charities in Ireland i cannot tell..

smcgiff

stateofflux wrote: »

i have never seen a starving emaciated person in Ireland Ever. i have also never heard of anyone dying from Starvation here.

whether that is directly related to the efforts of some of the 8,000 charities in Ireland i cannot tell..

In fairness, this is not what food poverty means. It would mean people not getting enough nutritious food and therefore may suffer health effects.

mikemac1

Tesco noodles are 19c and contain about 700 calories.

Eating these every day will most definitely not be healthy but it can tide you by for a while. Been there when I started a new job and had to wait 7 weeks for my salary

steddyeddy

stateofflux wrote: »

i have never seen a starving emaciated person in Ireland Ever. i have also never heard of anyone dying from Starvation here.

whether that is directly related to the efforts of some of the 8,000 charities in Ireland i cannot tell..

Look up scurvy or other diseases related to a deficiency in one or more nutrients. Look up the difference between total required calories VS why we need vitamins or minerals (they serve as co-factors for enzymes).

steddyeddy

mikemac1 wrote: »

Tesco noodles are 19c and contain about 700 calories.

Eating these every day will most definitely not be healthy but it can tide you by for a while. Been there when I started a new job and had to wait 7 weeks for my salary

I could eat 1000 calories all lacking a certain nutrient and die.

RDM_83 again

dar100 wrote: »

Please supply some evidence, please

Ok the irish social welfare system pays out in the region of 188 euro a week, you can knock of approximately 90/100 euro (say they are not getting rent allowance a lot don't but the lifers do) for accommodation and that still leaves around 30-50 euro a week to buy food.
I could live entirely off takeaway and spend about 50 a week or less, I would be eating terribly now but I would be getting more than enough calories per day.
In short I can understand how someone could have an extremely unhealthy diet if income deprived but without an significant factor like substance abuse or milder addiction taking priority (smoking gambling drinking etc*), I don;t understand how someone could lack calories here.

And if your getting to the point of suffering a major deficiency in vitamins or protein in these days of fortified foods (not talking about the more general unhealthyness but a real medical deficiency e,g scurvy) you need intervention!

smcgiff

steddyeddy wrote: »

Look up scurvy or other diseases related to a deficiency in one or more nutrients. Look up the difference between total required calories VS why we need vitamins or minerals (they serve as co-factors for enzymes).

Why do you think there are people in food poverty?

lulu1

Capercaille wrote: »

Ireland's poorest are going hungry also, but they will still have the satellite TV, internet, flat screen TV etc. Poor devils.

I agree 100% and dont forget the latest iphones

steddyeddy

smcgiff wrote: »

Why do you think there are people in food poverty?

I work with highly intelligent people who were in food poverty so I don't think it's down to selecting the wrong calories or spending your money in drugs or alcohol (I include cigarettes in drugs of course). In most cases it's a matter of not being able to afford enough food to cover nutritional needs.

steddyeddy

lulu1 wrote: »

Capercaille wrote: »

Ireland's poorest are going hungry also, but they will still have the satellite TV, internet, flat screen TV etc. Poor devils.

I agree 100% and dont forget the latest iphones

My daddy says that if they stopped spending their money on heroin they could afford to send their kids to Gonzaga college!

shruikan2553

There are a lot of people working and unemployed who can't budget to save their lives. You can live off of quite little.

steddyeddy

Guys I picked scurvy as an illustrative example to highlight the fallacy of confusing calorific intake with adequate nutritional intake. It's an extreme and rare example but bad diets do lead to other less acute illnesses and possible epigenetic modifications leading to trans-generational deficiencies.

smcgiff

steddyeddy wrote: »

In most cases it's a matter of not being able to afford enough food to cover nutritional needs.

How is that possible? Are they claiming social welfare/rent allowance/FIS?

steddyeddy

shruikan2553 wrote: »

There are a lot of people working and unemployed who can't budget to save their lives. You can live off of quite little.

I remember living off around 23 a week when I was an undergraduate and thinking that was very little. Little did I know that there are people who are far worse.

steddyeddy

smcgiff wrote: »

How is that possible? Are they claiming social welfare/rent allowance/FIS?

Depends on the case to be honest. The people I come into contact with in my vocation have zero parental support and are financing themselves through grants through their undergraduate degree. They pay for rent, food, printing and travel through grants which doesn't leave a lot left for food.

Some people may not get rent allowance because a landlord won't accept it and will be paying rent, travel, food ect out of 188 a week.

smcgiff

steddyeddy wrote: »

Guys I picked scurvy as an illustrative example to highlight the fallacy of confusing calorific intake with adequate nutritional intake. It's an extreme and rare example but bad diets do lead to other less acute illnesses and possible epigenetic modifications leading to trans-generational deficiencies.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you that 10% of people are not eating healthy enough.

The reasons as to why possibly differ.

There are also wealthy people not eating healthy.

What to do?

RDM_83 again

steddyeddy wrote: »

I work with highly intelligent people who were in food poverty so I don't think it's down to selecting the wrong calories or spending your money in drugs or alcohol (I include cigarettes in drugs of course). In most cases it's a matter of not being able to afford enough food to cover nutritional needs.

Really? Are they non habitual residents or have they fallen through the gaps some other way because I am unable to understand how somebody with resonable habits could not be able to afford enough food.
The income deprived have enough issues facing them but glossing over the impacts of behavior is pointless and creates a boy who cried wolf situation.

How can someone in receipt of JSA or JSB paying 90 euro a week or under in accommodation costs suffer from food deprivation if they have good practice.
I would like it explained.

ps if somebody sacrifices food to a dangerous degree as you are suggesting to keep a car or stay living in a certain area thats not a sign of being highly intelligent.

There is people in in food poverty in Ireland but we can help them without pretending its not an issue only caused by finances.

smcgiff

steddyeddy wrote: »

Depends on the case to be honest. The people I come into contact with in my vocation have zero parental support and are financing themselves through grants through their undergraduate degree. They pay for rent, food, printing and travel through grants which doesn't leave a lot left for food.

Some people may not get rent allowance because a landlord won't accept it and will be paying rent, travel, food ect out of 188 a week.

That subset would definitely get my sympathy and I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable as to whether they are missing out on any social welfare.

I also know of people that put themselves through college on a grant and minimum wage part time work.

But, the subset of people you highlight would only be a tiny minority of the 10%.

RDM_83 again

steddyeddy wrote: »

Depends on the case to be honest. The people I come into contact with in my vocation have zero parental support and are financing themselves through grants through their undergraduate degree. They pay for rent, food, printing and travel through grants which doesn't leave a lot left for food.

Some people may not get rent allowance because a landlord won't accept it and will be paying rent, travel, food ect out of 188 a week.

Thats an interesting point , if they were highly rational they would be sitting on the dole (allowing for periods of employment) for a year after finishing leaving cert , obtaining BTEA and living a decent life throughout there time in college.

Edit its a very harsh thing to say but that path is their choice and i presume that they are sticking with it in terms of future rewards. We should have better support for students in this country but the type of student your talking about (even for grant holders) is a tiny tiny minority

The Backwards Man

I'm sorry, there's very few reasons for anyone not getting enough nutrition in either the UK or Ireland, and the vast majority of them boil down to poor decision making on the part of the person themselves. Personal responsibility and poor lifestyle choices are tough things for a government to legislate for.

Richard Hillman

steddyeddy wrote: »

Guys I'm saying Britain is a lot less progressive than Ireland. I'm asking could we get to this stage.

No because our welfare system is a million miles away from theirs and our politicians are afraid of their lives to touch it. Even though the welfare classes rarely ever vote to keep a government in power in Ireland