Former Tory health minister Edwina Currie has warned that "pernicious" food banks can
put local shops out of business and make users poorer. Writing for the Spectator's Coffee House
blog, Currie argues that food banks end up making people poorer rather than
helping them.
"Free
food subsidises low wages; it helps support the black economy. It pauperises
those it seeks to help. Like giving money to ‘homeless’ beggars on London
streets, it encourages more of what it seeks to relieve."The
food banks can have pernicious effects on the local economy. Some Liverpool
streets where I grew up have betting shops and pawnbrokers, but no food store.
There’s no need for one, if enough local residents get their groceries free. But
the closure of a corner shop affects everyone, including those who don’t qualify
for the food bank."recent figures suggesting the use of food banks
has tripled in a year, is not a sign of greater poverty.
She
suggested that the spread of food banks, with"Free
food subsidises low wages; it helps support the black economy. It pauperises
those it seeks to help. Like giving money to ‘homeless’ beggars on London
streets, it encourages more of what it seeks to relieve."The
food banks can have pernicious effects on the local economy. Some Liverpool
streets where I grew up have betting shops and pawnbrokers, but no food store.
There’s no need for one, if enough local residents get their groceries free. But
the closure of a corner shop affects everyone, including those who don’t qualify
for the food bank."recent figures suggesting the use of food banks
has tripled in a year, is not a sign of greater poverty.
"The
data are being used as a stick to beat the government, often by well-meaning
groups who want to ‘do something’ to help. In reality, they may be perpetuating
the problems that brought people to their doorstep in the first place," she
wrote.
