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After Mail On Sunday 'Exposes' Food Bank Charity Operating As It Should, Donations Flood In

After Mail On Sunday 'Exposes' Food Bank Charity Operating As It Should, Donations Flood In
By 

Associate Editor of Impact, The Huffington Post

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 18: A volunteer distributes food at CAMBA's Beyond Hunger Emergency Food Pantry on February 18, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The non-profit agency assists low-income residents and those affected by food stamp cuts. Currently the food pantry sees up to 4,500 individuals per month with the numbers rising. As Congress prepares to cut billions of dollars more from the food stamp program, food pantries around the country are preparing for an influx of those needing their assistance. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 18: A volunteer distributes food at CAMBA's Beyond Hunger Emergency Food Pantry on February 18, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The non-profit agency assists low-income residents and those affected by food stamp cuts. Currently the food pantry sees up to 4,500 individuals per month with the numbers rising. As Congress prepares to cut billions of dollars more from the food stamp program, food pantries around the country are preparing for an influx of those needing their assistance. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The British publication, Mail on Sunday, is facing harsh criticism after running an article which claimed the U.K.'s largest food bank provider, The Trussell Trust, isn't abiding by the rules.

The article, which reported that volunteers "were filmed admitting that people could take free food without checks," and that "fraudsters routinely 'take advantage' of the handouts," was mocked on social media, as many Twitter users expressed outrage over the news source's attempt to defame an organization with a worthy cause.

Others were upset an undercover reporter took food away from those who need it in the name of investigative journalism, as reporter Ross Slater described how he obtained three days' worth of food without providing identification. Slater later addressed the criticism on Twitter, saying he returned all the food and made a small donation to the food bank.

Several users targeted The Daily Mail with their anger -- a separate publication, but one that's owned by the same company as Mail on Sunday:

However, the outrage sparked an element of good. According to a Buzzfeed report, The Trussell Trust's JustGiving page had received about 250 donations prior to the publication of the article -- that number has skyrocketed to almost 5,000 as of early Thursday afternoon. The donations to the charity totaled more than 60,000 British pounds.

An online petition, with more than 10,000 signatures, is also demanding Mail on Sunday apologize for the article that "grossly misrepresents" the charity's work.

In the U.S., families can obtain food assistance in several ways, including through charities, religious organizations and state-run food assistance programs. While charitable and religious programs have varied standards regarding proof of need, any government source verifies income as required by federal standards of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). But many states have lessened their requirements beyond that, such as Massachusetts which recommitted its ban on food banks requiring photo IDs in 2010.

Are you or someone you know struggling with hunger? Call the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-348-6479.

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Before You Go

1
Foodbanks only give out unhealthy food
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Not true, say The Trussell Trust. They work with dieticians to design a nutritionally balanced food parcel, but crucially using non-perishable items that can last, unlike American food banks that giver users any old near-dated surplus food.
2
Foodbanks are there because people like free things
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This was the argument used by millionaire Lord Freud in the House of Lords. But "people can’t just turn up asking for free food, they are referred by professionals"" says Chris Mould, executive chair of the Trust. If someone turns up without a voucher, food bank staff put them in touch with relevant local agencies who can assess whether they need a voucher and signpost them to the right services.
3
The number of people helped by foodbanks is only growing because more are opening
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This is the defence that Cameron has oft used in Prime Minister's Questions. The number of people receiving emergency food is disproportionate to the number of new foodbanks opening: last year numbers helped by foodbanks increased by 170% whilst there was only a 76% increase in new foodbanks opening.
4
Foodbanks are doing a great job, so we shouldn’t be worried about the growth in numbers needing them
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Again, this is a common Tory refrain, and one recently examined in the Spectator. Foodbanks obviously don't dispute the first part but they are ‘deeply concerned’ by the growing numbers who are needing them. And many politicians are horrified. "If you had told be at the beginning of my political career that I'd be addressing this kind of problem when I was coming to the end of my career, I'd have been gobsmacked," government poverty tsar Frank Field MP has said.
5
Foodbanks are used by people who are too lazy to work
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Over 50% of children living in poverty in the UK are from working households and many of the people helped by foodbanks are in work, with the rising cost of living combined with no rise in wages causing many to hit a crisis where they can’t afford to eat.
6
Supermarkets should give all their leftovers to food banks, including vegetables
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This was a refrain heard regularly last week as it emerged Tesco throws away two-thirds of its bagged salad. Firstly, small local food banks often cannot cope with storing perishables. And the Trussell Trust doesn't believe in giving people sub-standard, out-of-date food "simply because they are poor," Mould says. Charity FareShare does work to redistribute surplus food from supermarkets and manufacturers to local charities.
7
Foodbanks are just part of the welfare system
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The Trussell Trust receives no government funding and foodbanks are not part of the welfare state. In fact, their foodbanks are advised by head office against entering into contractual agreements with local authorities.
8
Foodbank usage is growing because Jobcentres can now refer to foodbanks
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This is the Department of Work and Pensions line. But this has been possible since 2011, so would not explain the latest drastic rise of foodbank use increasing by a third. And the Trussell Trust believes less than 3% of people visiting food banks are referred by Jobcentres.
9
Foodbanks are a bad idea because they create dependency and don’t address causes
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"If people come to a foodbank more than three times in six months our system automatically flags this so that the foodbank manager can contact their social worker or the service that referred them to make sure that there is a plan in place to help their client break out of poverty," Mould says,The Trust insists that the reality is that without foodbanks people go hungry, and they prevent people from turning to extreme measures such as shoplifting or rummaging through bins in order to eat.
10
Foodbanks are only growing because the media is obsessed with covering them
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The Trussell Trust is adamant that media coverage does not generate the need. Independent research shows that 1 in 5 mums regularly skip meals to feed their children in the UK today. Widespread evidence from a range of care professionals states that short term hunger is a deep and real problem in the UK. More foodbanks are opening because people are going hungry.
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