Fat people at Foodbanks

MrAbyss · 13-01-2020 02:02PM #1

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 · 13-01-2020 02:07PM

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

Blackjack · 13-01-2020 02:08PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:10PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:10PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:10PM

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

Sardonicat · 13-01-2020 02:11PM

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

CrankyHaus · 13-01-2020 02:12PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:13PM

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.

13-01-2020 02:13PM

'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 · 13-01-2020 02:13PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:15PM

It's the methadone.

CrankyHaus · 13-01-2020 02:17PM

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.

13-01-2020 02:17PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:18PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:19PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:20PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:22PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:22PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:25PM

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.

13-01-2020 02:25PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:26PM

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

Ted_YNWA · 13-01-2020 02:26PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:27PM

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.

13-01-2020 02:31PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:32PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:35PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:37PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:40PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:41PM

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 · 13-01-2020 02:42PM

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

Fat people at Foodbanks

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