Britain’s food crisis: what is to be done?

The Conservative MP Lee Anderson attracted a lot of comment when he told the Commons last week that “ there isn ’ t a massive need for food banks in the UK.” Rather, “people cannot cook properly or budget.”  The chairman of Tesco , John Allen , was quoted as saying that shoppers were asking cashiers to “ stop when they get to £40” because of the rising costs of food and fuel.  Both these statements seem to be missing a core point.

During lockdown I worked as a supermarket delivery driver . One regular delivery is a good example of the things I saw.  Two single men, Tom and Bill, living in sheltered accommodation in the same town, had a regular slot. They were both on the NHS “ vulnerable” list and so got free deliveries, with a wide time window. Both were pleasant and articulate when receiving their delivery. I believe both were living on state benefits.

Generally, delivery drivers do not care what you have ordered, but in these two —  so similar —  orders on the same night I noticed the contrast.

Tom ordered eight ready meals for one, always from the “ value” range along with bars of chocolate and a six-pack of beer.

Bill ordered a small chicken, and pack of bacon, some vegetables, and a bar of chocolate. When I spoke to him, he told me how when his wife was alive, they would cook a bigger joint on Sunday and then turn it into several meals during the week. Now, on his own with a diminished appetite, he kept her memory alive by doing the same on a reduced budget.

Most delivery customers were instantly forgettable, but these two stayed with me. If anything, I ’ m more like Tom. I can cook, but I ’ m also very fond of a ready meal. I would like to think that if money were tight, I would be more like Bill.

There has been a lot of comment on Lee Anderson ’ s remarks , some of it hostile but also of the “ someone should do something” kind. Both responses are less than constructive. Many say that education is the answer.

I was not taught cooking at my (all boys) school. Now there is more resource available in recipes and videos than ever before. Neither Tom nor Bill seems to be in full time work, so they have a lot of spare time. Why can Bill cook and Tom cannot?

Cooking and budgeting are not difficult. Even the least educated people I know seem to manage it.

Asking a supermarket cashier to “ stop when you get to £40” is a very poor way to prioritise your weekly shop. A brief poll among my former colleagues could find no one who had heard of this ever happening. My wife went through a period being very short of money when she was younger. She could tell you — to the penny — the value of her supermarket trolley at all times. Mind you, she ’ s very good at mental arithmetic.

I did not make one delivery where it was difficult to see how money could be saved. I also saw that every house I went to during the winter months was overheated and the residents underdressed.

I quite appreciate that I was dealing with a selected group, but Tom and Bill could afford online delivery and yet were extremely short of money, like many other customers. Neither could afford to run a car, for example, so a free home delivery was the only option.

Jack Monroe , the Bootstrap Cook, comments that the problem lies in a lack of funding for social care. She knows a thing or two about cooking on a budget.

There are plenty of do-gooders who claim they know what “ the poor” need, but from my perspective they are all wrong. There is no one issue and to lump them all together is both reductive and insulting. The schools, local councils, NHS and the Government are not going to fix this with one policy or additional payment. Something better needs to be done. Better, not bigger. Something joined up, driven by experts, not by bloated parliamentarians grasping at a quick fix.

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