Government should fund scheme to recycle retail food waste
Foodbanks should be funded by the government, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Justin Welby has lent his name to a report by a UK parliament inquiry calling for government backing to set up a new network called Feeding Britain, to co-ordinate the work of foodbanks and other voluntary organisations and charities.
The report, which was released today, said the set-up would cost around £150m a year to implement.
Part of the plan would be to cut down on food waste, reintroducing it back into the food chain via these government funded foodbanks.
Welby said: “At least some of the food being sent to the incinerator should be used as a force for good to help [the poor] out of the rut in which they find themselves.
“The big names in the food business have a moral obligation to communities. We need to make sure that the financial incentives in their industry don’t act against their moral instincts.”
He added that the poverty he had witnessed in the UK had shocked him more than the suffering he had seen in African refugee camps because it was so unexpected.
Titled Feeding Britain, the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK is scathing about the inefficiency of the Department for Work and Pensions.
“Our evidence shows that the present system is cumbersome, complicated and fails to respond effectively,” it states.
At least some of the food being sent to the incinerator should be used as a force for good - Justin Welby
“We heard that personal documents including birth certificates and medical records sent as part of an application for benefit had gone missing within the department.”
The inquiry team also criticises the way sanctions are imposed for some claimants who unintentionally fail to follow the rules.
The report also criticises the way the poor are made to pay more for other basic necessities, such as electricity because they cannot afford the direct debit payments that the better-off use to reduce their bills.
The increase in the number of foodbanks across Britain has proved politically divisive.
Last December David Cameron turned down an estimated £22m in European Union funds to support UK food banks.
The suggestions in the parliamentary inquiry, which is due to be released tomorrow, could cost an estimated £150m a year to implement.
