Fat people at Foodbanks

MrAbyss

For some reason doing deliveries in the last month I have stumbled upon food banks and free kitchens around the country. I would say a good 80% of the 'starving' are obese people.

You hardly see anyone who looks malnourished. Lots of chain-smoking and sports clothes with named labels on them. I think for the vast majority of the 'clients' they are just parasites who want something else for free that's going and if they have no money for food it is because the spend it all on booze, fags and iPhones. Not to put down the folks who work in these places, but it's just another freebee for the knuckle-scrapers from what I can tell.

It seems to be more of a sense of further entitlement with many, than genuine want.

The Real Ramona

I presume, in a good few cases, anyone struggling financially is buying cheap, processed foods and therefore would be prone to being overweight.

Blackjack

Cant see this ending well.
I've not come across food banks myself, thankfully I'm not in a position to need their services.
However the type of people you describe do indeed exist and if they only put a fraction of time and effort into bettering themselves that they do in trying to game the system they might actually make a contribution to society.
I've no idea what proportion of these people are the main users of food banks, but I'd wager they are a minority.

sbsquarepants

The Real Ramona wrote: »

I presume, in a good few cases, anyone struggling financially is buying cheap, processed foods and therefore would be prone to being overweight.

Processed food is hugely more expensive than buying fresh vegetables.

CrankyHaus

Yeah vegetables are so expensive that anytime I hit the supermarket I only see the rich at the vegetable aisle, usually being carried around in Palanquin chairs.

Thelonious Monk

I find it hard to believe anyone can't afford food in Ireland tbh.

Sardonicat

Aren't you lucky that the only contact you have with food banks is through your work?

CrankyHaus

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I find it hard to believe anyone can't afford food in Ireland tbh.

The homeless and low-income families where a partner spends the money on an addiction (whether drugs, booze or gambling).

the beer revolu

MrAbyss wrote: »

For some reason doing deliveries in the last month I have stumbled upon food banks and free kitchens around the country. I would say a good 80% of the 'starving' are obese people.

You hardly see anyone who looks malnourished. Lots of chain-smoking and sports clothes with named labels on them. I think for the vast majority of the 'clients' they are just parasites who want something else for free that's going and if they have no money for food it is because the spend it all on booze, fags and iPhones. Not to put down the folks who work in these places, but it's just another freebee for the knuckle-scrapers from what I can tell.

It seems to be more of a sense of further entitlement with many, than genuine want.

You know the way people say stuff like, "I hope you never need to use a food bank".?

I'm going to say, it would be beautiful poetic justice if some day, you fall from grace and need the services of a food bank. I genuinely hope so.

I'm sure you would then enjoy the sneering, punching down arseholes looking down on you in judgement.

'Cheap'*, processed, easy/lazy option food is, generally, more full of salt, sugar and the bad fats than home-cooked fresh food. Shocking, I know. Couple that with a sedentary lifestyle and you get plenty of fat people. Doesn't mean they aren't poor, just unhealthy.

Looking down upon / judging people who use a soup kitchen or a food bank is pretty low, though.

*Cheap is in inverted commas as I'm 100% sure someone will be along now to say that "actually, batch cooking of fresh food is much more cost-effective than any......".......Yeah, I know. It's the under-educated, ill-informed, great lumbering piles of redundant protoplasm who live off nuggets and fishfingers who need to be informed of that.

Harry Palmr

39c for carrots, lettuce etc is a scandal. It's damning that in a land where food is practically given away as a loss leader some actually moan about the price of putting same on the table.

TwoMonthsOff

It's the methadone.

CrankyHaus

Deleted User wrote: »

*Cheap is in inverted commas as I'm 100% sure someone will be along now to say that "actually, batch cooking of fresh food is much more cost-effective than any......".......Yeah, I know. It's the under-educated, ill-informed, great lumbering piles of redundant protoplasm who live off nuggets and fishfingers who need to be informed of that.

This does raise the question as to whether some sort of free home cooking and basic home economics classes would be a better investment than a load of duplicated charity soup kitchens and food banks.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

*Cheap is in inverted commas as I'm 100% sure someone will be along now to say that "actually, batch cooking of fresh food is much more cost-effective than any......".......Yeah, I know. It's the under-educated, ill-informed, great lumbering piles of redundant protoplasm who live off nuggets and fishfingers who need to be informed of that.

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Yeah vegetables are so expensive that anytime I hit the supermarket I only see the rich at the vegetable aisle, usually being carried around in Palanquin chairs.

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Processed food is hugely more expensive than buying fresh vegetables.

While I was typing, we got two.

afkasurfjunkie

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Processed food is hugely more expensive than buying fresh vegetables.

Absolutely. Trying to save a few quid here after Christmas. Friday evening takeaway costs nearly €30. If I put it towards potatoes, bag of carrots, some frozen peas and a few chicken breasts I’d have enough for 3 days dinner and some change left over.

JohnnyFlash

Spend the dole money on booze and fags and let the Vinny De Paul lads deliver the food. Wouldn’t blame them to be honest.

Fr_Dougal

MrAbyss wrote: »

For some reason doing deliveries in the last month I have stumbled upon food banks and free kitchens around the country. I would say a good 80% of the 'starving' are obese people.

You hardly see anyone who looks malnourished. Lots of chain-smoking and sports clothes with named labels on them. I think for the vast majority of the 'clients' they are just parasites who want something else for free that's going and if they have no money for food it is because the spend it all on booze, fags and iPhones. Not to put down the folks who work in these places, but it's just another freebee for the knuckle-scrapers from what I can tell.

It seems to be more of a sense of further entitlement with many, than genuine want.

Some people just don’t like cooking.

MrAbyss

the beer revolu wrote: »

You know the way people say stuff like, "I hope you never need to use a food bank".?

I'm going to say, it would be beautiful poetic justice if some day, you fall from grace and need the services of a food bank. I genuinely hope so.

I'm sure you would then enjoy the sneering, punching down arseholes looking down on you in judgement.

Did I say there was anything wrong about food banks and welfare programs in general? I am just telling you that most of the people coming in and out of them are fatties with addictions and these are not starving people.

sbsquarepants

Deleted User wrote: »

While I was typing, we got two.

It's the truth though. There's a difference between poor and stupid.

If you can't look at the price of vegetables and the price of frozen ready meal shíte, or takeaway pizzas and cop that maybe there's a way you could save a few bob for yourself then you deserve to go fúcking hungry!

B.A._Baracus

On my way to work there is one of those places.
Last week there was a que outside one and they were giving out big 18 packs of manhattan popcorn. So you could spot who was just at it. Eg, person at the bus stop waiting. Woman pushing her pram etc.

So I am walking past the Apache Pizza and you see someone in there ordering a pizza :pac: Big popcorn bag (and other stuff they got) on display. Highly doubt they're given an apache voucher too lol.

Just the way it goes.

CrankyHaus

CrankyHaus wrote: »

This does raise the question as to whether some sort of free home cooking and basic home economics classes would be a better investment than a load of duplicated charity soup kitchens and food banks.

I've often thought about doing something like this. Just a basic cooking class type thing for those who've never had the privilege of being taught the basics. don't know where you'd start though, maybe tie it in to a Fás course type thing for the long term unemployed?

Also, it is not always the case that processed = more expensive. Have a look at the frozen stuff available in Iceland.

On their homepage alone we have a heap of stuff available for €1.25.
2 pizzas, 2 chips, 1 wedges, 1 goujons, 1 nuggets and 1 dessert would 'feed' a family of four for 3 or 4 nights for about €12.50. The meat alone would cost more than that for 4 x 4 dinners.

Cheap, easy, quick, the kids love it, no need for any other herbs/spices/cooking equipment etc, Iceland is smack bang in the middle of Talbot street / Northside shopping centre........if you're a single mother of three on the labour, who cares if it's not the best for them, nutrition wise?

lawred2

Anyone incapable of preparing basic food from some simple ingredients is a fool. <<snipped>>

Ted_YNWA

MrAbyss wrote: »

Did I say there was anything wrong about food banks and welfare programs in general? I am just telling you that most of the people coming in and out of them are fatties with addictions and these are not starving people.

Mod

Did you ask them about their circumstances?

This is not the place to have a go at anyone, even more so people who need to avail of food banks.

Have some respect and empathy.

partyguinness

It hit the headlines in England a few months back people hitting food banks because of sheer laziness- the food bank was closer than the supermarket. They had jobs money, car etc and we are not talking about the working poor. Just stingy bastards.

In fact there was a lady busted walking home from the train station after work on her way home and just popping in for a box.

sbsquarepants

sbsquarepants wrote: »

It's the truth though. There's a difference between poor and stupid.

Calling people stupid because they've never known or been shown an alternative is, well, stupid.

Can you change your own oil / replace brake pads / realign the steering in your car? What would your reaction be if someone who grew up watching their Da fix the family car every time something needed to be done called you stupid for paying someone else to do it for you?

the beer revolu

MrAbyss wrote: »

Did I say there was anything wrong about food banks and welfare programs in general? I am just telling you that most of the people coming in and out of them are fatties with addictions and these are not starving people.

I didn't question anything you said.

I merely stated that I, genuinely, hope that you end up destitute on the dole and in need of food banks.
I don't often wish ill on people.

sbsquarepants

Deleted User wrote: »

Calling people stupid because they've never known or been shown an alternative is, well, stupid.

Can you change your own oil / replace brake pads / realign the steering in your car? What would your reaction be if someone who grew up watching their Da fix the family car every time something needed to be done called you stupid for paying someone else to do it for you?

That's a piss poor comparison. Every person on this planet eats - we have all been exposed to food our whole lives. We're not talking about splitting atoms here - peel a spud, throw it in a pot.

Don't make excuses for stupidity and laziness!

partyguinness

OP,

You should hang around outside the District Court on any given day- you should see the fat lazy skangers waiting around for their criminal case. Family day out.

B.A._Baracus

the beer revolu wrote: »

I didn't question anything you said.

I merely stated that I, genuinely, hope that you end up destitute on the dole and in need of food banks.
I don't often wish ill on people.

I don't know if it's just boards. I don't know if its just people.
But wishing badness on someone simply because they said something you disagree with really shows how this world works.

topper75

the beer revolu wrote: »

I didn't question anything you said.

I merely stated that I, genuinely, hope that you end up destitute on the dole and in need of food banks.
I don't often wish ill on people.

You won't get him that way. He will probably be sneaky and spend his dole on food and thus not need the food bank.

oceanman

I work beside one of these foodbanks and they do great work, all run by volunteers. many people depend on them.

Feisar

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

Mod

Did you ask them about their circumstances?

This is not the place to have a go at anyone, even more so people who need to avail of food banks.

Have some respect and empathy.

Respect is earned and faux empathy is part of the reason these people are in the position they are in. Social welfare is paid to keep people sedated.

sbsquarepants

sbsquarepants wrote: »

That's a piss poor comparison. Every person on this planet eats - we have all been exposed to food our whole lives. We're not talking about splitting atoms here - peel a spud, throw it in a pot.

Don't make excuses for stupidity and laziness!

I agree with the laziness angle, to a degree, but can't say I agree with calling people stupid. Everyone is stupid about something until they learn. If you grew up in a household where dinner consisted of chips/wedges plus something else out of the oven or chip pan and you didn't know any different, then of course that's what you're gonna feed your own kids. And it's not just those on the breadline, for example.

We weren't exactly rich growing up, but neither were we dirt poor. But a large family plus at least one parent always working meant dinner almost always consisted of Mash or chips, some form of meat and a load of veg. The veg was, 99% of the time, boiled. Until I grew up and started cooking my own dinners, I always hated broccoli and cauliflower because they tasted like water which had just been used to boil broccoli or cauliflower. I love both, now, but if I'd refused to eat it as a kid unless my Ma made cauliflower cheese, I'd have gotten the slaps. I didn't know any different, though, as I'd never been exposed to anything different so always hated them.

Edgware

oceanman wrote: »

I work beside one of these foodbanks and they do great work, all run by volunteers. many people depend on them.

Especially the fat *****

riclad

Most homeless people do not have a cooker, or an oven,
people staying in a hostel or a hotel, may have a kettle to make tea or coffee .
Just because someone is homeless does not mean they use drugs,
there are simply not enough rental units avaidable in dublin,
Many landlords do not accept hap payments .
i think most of the people who go to foodbanks have children .
i do,nt think most students are taught to cook ,unless they opt to take on
that subject.
We need a lesson on basic real life economic,s , eg how interest work,s ,loans, tax rates, mortgages ,etc

Chalk McHugh

Interesting. I happened to be in Smithfield about 6 months ago and was walking past Brother Crowleys Cappuchin monks place where he feeds hundreds (maybe thousands) of people twice daily. I was with my mother and we couldn't believe the amount of people pulling up around the corner in nice cars and vans and the passenger (nearly always a woman) heading in and coming out with a big food parcel. Seemed to be a lot of travellers and Roma gypsies.

I know a Philipino social worker who told me personally that she had to leave working there for her own mind as the amount of people who were not obviously poor or hungry and were just using the place and taking advantage of Bro Crowleys and the staffs great work made her so disillusioned she decided to leave.

Slightly off topic apologies but another example of the 'what can you get for nothing, self entitled' generation of wasters taking the piss bigtime and nobody saying anythingabout it.

SusieBlue

Feisar wrote: »

Respect is earned and faux empathy is part of the reason these people are in the position they are in. Social welfare is paid to keep people sedated.

I think that's a very simplistic answer to what is a very complex problem. You can be damn sure that the ones milking the system, claiming left right and centre are not the ones needing to use food banks to feed their children.

I know personally of a family in Cork where both parents were working but due to high rents, an unexpected illness & debt issues they couldn't even afford food. The dad used to go to Penny dinners every day to collect meals for the children's dinner, he wouldn't bring the kids as they didn't want them to know how bad things were.
I think that's heartbreaking.

Disclaimer: I think social welfare is underregulated & hate spongers as much as the next person.

LirW

If people grew up in a household with an unhealthy diet, the chance is very high they won't ever change it. If in your formative first few years of life people are fed unhealthily and their whole environment doesn't value a balanced diet, this can screw kids for life. Bad habits are formed, the taste buds are underdeveloped, often no routine is established and no introduction to different textures happened.

A narrow diet is an uphill battle even if you want to get out of it. So many unconscious associations happen that there can be a genuine disgust.
As someone with very unhealthy eating habits instilled as a child (overeating and not eating at all in a constant change), I still struggle with it and it just takes a little stress to fall back into old patterns.

Basically nutrition should be taught in schools now to have healthier generations down the line, information is already available but there's no need for people to actually learn anything about it.

oceanman

Edgware wrote: »

Especially the fat *****

mind you don't fall off that high horse.....the ground might be closer than you think..

wiggle16

Should they have to live off their accumulated blubber until they're thin enough to merit feeding, like a walrus?

Being hungry and poor isn't enough, is it not?

Sardonicat

wiggle16 wrote: »

Should they have to live off their accumulated blubber until they're thin enough to merit feeding, like a walrus?

Indeed. OP seems genuinely disappointed he hasn't encountered starving people.

rdwight

partyguinness wrote: »

OP,

You should hang around outside the District Court on any given day- you should see the fat lazy skangers waiting around for their criminal case. Family day out.

Let's leave the legal profession out of this

corner of hells

Chalk McHugh wrote: »

Interesting. I happened to be in Smithfield about 6 months ago and was walking past Brother Crowleys Cappuchin monks place where he feeds hundreds (maybe thousands) of people twice daily. I was with my mother and we couldn't believe the amount of people pulling up around the corner in nice cars and vans and the passenger (nearly always a woman) heading in and coming out with a big food parcel. Seemed to be a lot of travellers and Roma gypsies.

I know a Philipino social worker who told me personally that she had to leave working there for her own mind as the amount of people who were not obviously poor or hungry and were just using the place and taking advantage of Bro Crowleys and the staffs great work made her so disillusioned she decided to leave.

Slightly off topic apologies but another example of the 'what can you get for nothing, self entitled' generation of wasters taking the piss bigtime and nobody saying anythingabout it.

Probably best to close it down.

wiggle16

LirW wrote: »

If people grew up in a household with an unhealthy diet, the chance is very high they won't ever change it. If in your formative first few years of life people are fed unhealthily and their whole environment doesn't value a balanced diet, this can screw kids for life. Bad habits are formed, the taste buds are underdeveloped, often no routine is established and no introduction to different textures happened.

A narrow diet is an uphill battle even if you want to get out of it. So many unconscious associations happen that there can be a genuine disgust.

This is very true.

As put by Quentin Crisp, though he meant it faceitiously: "I take it to be axiomatic that people are revolted by witnessing the shameless gratification of an appetite they do not share."

James Brown

It's wasting their money on frivolous lawsuits. I saw Maria down there getting spuds the other day.

partyguinness

rdwight wrote: »

Let's leave the legal profession out of this

Do you know what? I saw that coming and I purposefully left it out of parenthesis when I wrote it.

spurious

sbsquarepants wrote: »

That's a piss poor comparison. Every person on this planet eats - we have all been exposed to food our whole lives. We're not talking about splitting atoms here - peel a spud, throw it in a pot.

Don't make excuses for stupidity and laziness!

I was once asked (by a person with a Science degree) whether I peeled potatoes before cooking them for mash.
Some people have never seen/watched anyone cook.

Feisar

spurious wrote: »

I was once asked (by a person with a Science degree) whether I peeled potatoes before cooking them for mash.
Some people have never seen/watched anyone cook.

I find if you leave them "jackets" on you get a creamier mash.

Also my brother-in-law's Mum left instructions with his sister once to boil cabbage. She came home to the full head of cabbage sitting in the pot boiling.

the beer revolu

spurious wrote: »

I was once asked (by a person with a Science degree) whether I peeled potatoes before cooking them for mash.
Some people have never seen/watched anyone cook.

That's a completely reasonable question to ask.

When I worked as veg/starter chef in a high end restaurant, many moons ago, we had to boil the potatoes unpeeled, peel them while still hot and put them through a ricer, beat them with cream, butter and egg yolk and then pipe them, still while hot.

Edgware

oceanman wrote: »

mind you don't fall off that high horse.....the ground might be closer than you think..

As long as we have fools available to subsdise me I will be alright

Sardonicat

the beer revolu wrote: »

That's a completely reasonable question to ask.

When I worked as veg/starter chef in a high end restaurant, many moons ago, we had to boil the potatoes unpeeled, peel them while still hot and put them through a ricer, beat them with cream, butter and egg yolk and then pipe them, still while hot.

How the he'll do they stay warm? And frankly, most people just mash with butter. What you describe is hardly the standard mashed spuds