FOOD BANKS have benefited from harvest festivals across the
country, as congregations donated produce to them.
Tuesday was World Food Day. Chris Mould, the executive chairman
of the Trussell Trust, which is responsible for 201 food banks
nationwide, said: "Communities across the country are pulling out
the stops to start new food banks, and people are donating more
food to help those in crisis on their doorsteps."
He warned, however, that many low-income working families were
living "on a knife edge". "This rise in food prices could be enough
to tip them into poverty, especially as winter approaches and
heating costs increase."
The trust reported that almost 110,000 people had received
emergency food from UK food banks since April, compared with
128,697 people in total during the 2011-12 financial year.
The trust estimates that three food banks are opening every
week. On Sunday, St Pancras New Church in London became a
collection point for the Camden food bank. Among the offerings were
honeycombs produced by the 10,000 bees housed on the church
roof.
In Rochdale, St Andrew's, Dearnley, has joined other churches
and faith groups and plans to open a food bank in November. In
Leicester, many churches are donating their harvest gifts to the
Welcome Project, a diocesan voluntary group that offers emergency
food supplies and advice to asylum-seekers.
In the past year, North Liverpool Food Bank has fed 3000 people,
just under half of them children, collecting 27 tonnes of food,
mainly from local churches and schools.
The Vicar of Clubmore, Liverpool, Canon Steve McGanity, said:
"Harvest is a time to remember God's abund-ant generosity, yet in
21st-century Britain we are faced with the shocking reality of
starving families unable to provide for themselves."