Food Bank Drive as Tynwald get the sun loungers out!

Nothing typifies how out of touch this Tynwald is than the fact that as they were getting the sun loungers out for their extended vacation an appeal was being made for food.

Last week the food bank indicated that stocks were low ahead of a very likely increase in demand during the school holiday period,

A story on Manx Radio today indicates that there has been a public response to this and a substantial value in donated goods given. However this is simply a reprieve and with the article suggesting as many as 1000 people are now in receipt of food aid annually the problem seems to have grown (link):

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/foodbank-drive-raises-5k/

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/foodbank-appeals-for-hel...

I often wonder however if we are seeing the tip of an iceberg here as many people will put of seeking aid unless really pressed.

Recipients of food aid are also often working people with families who need a short term assistance to overcome a crisis. It says something for the failure of government policies that a problem like this can perpetuate with nothing done to address it by officialdom and in addition to food pressure over utility payments and general taxes exacerbate the problems for the working poor.

Of course it's not all doom and gloom and some folk are doing very nicely. Thankfully some folk still have a balance of disposable income after expenses and can enjoy what the Island has to offer. It's sad therefore that for others the year of our Island is actually ‘a year of crisis’. We are encouraged to participate as this is a ‘community’ effort. This month we are celebrating the ‘month of culture’ and the Chief Minister was talking about his paintings. I’m not much of a painter but I can visualise the torment of someone (mother/father) unable to feed their family adequately. For folk in that situation cultural sustenance alone makes very thin soup.

Bernard Moffatt