Nick Palmer wrote:
Can anyone tell me what these food banks actually are for? In
England there are "soup kitchens" but these are solely for the "down
and outs" and the homeless.
A food bank is also for the down and out, of which we have many. More
than usual thanks to the "sub prime lending" crisis. A food bank is a
take-out soup kitchen. ("Take-out" = "take-away" in British English.)
A "soup kitchen" sounds like something from the 1930s.
These banks sound like they are used by lots of ordinary people...
Ordinary people at their wit's end.
Recently, Mark Winne, a pioneer in developing food banks, wrote a
controversial article in the Washington Post criticizing the whole
idea. He now considers food banks as band-aids that hide the problem
rather than getting at the source of poverty. See:
"When Handouts Keep Coming, the Food Line Never Ends"
By Mark Winne
Sunday, November 18, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601213.html
- Jed
