Sheffield foodbank says people are too poor to cook meals – “they can eat spaghetti hoops cold”

The point was made during a discussion on greenspace, biodiversity and food growing at a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s South LAC (Local Area Committee) yesterday, Tuesday (November 28).

Jock Stevenson of Gleadless Valley Foodbank spoke as a member of a panel alongside Gareth Roberts and Fran Halsall of Sharrow-based food cooperative Regather and city council allotments officer James Musgrave. The discussion, which took place at Heeley Parish Church, was led by Gleadless Valley Green Party ward councillor Marieanne Elliot.

Mr Stevenson said that demand for the foodbank has increased hugely. He said the people they see are lucky if they have £6,000 income a year.

As well as providing food, the foodbank provides counselling and mental health support for users.

Like 90 per cent of his team of 35 volunteers, he started helping because he had used the foodbank himself and asked what he could do because he was embarrassed to need help.

Neglected

He said: “I never thought that in my lifetime we would need this service but we do. You just have to take a walk up the Valley and you can see the poverty.

“You can see it in the streets, it’s neglected, it’s run down.” He said the people are also neglected and run down: “They’re lucky to go from one day to the next, wondering if they’re going to eat the next day.”

Mr Stevenson added: “I would hope there comes a day when we don’t need a foodbank but in this climate, I can’t see it happening.”

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A foodbank volunteer speaking from the audience said that people don’t want to take fresh food because they may only have a microwave and a kettle, or just a kettle, so they prefer to get pot noodles or tinned goods that are quick and cheap to reheat.

She said that she supports organic food production but the issue for people living in poverty is different: “You can fix the food system as much as you like, it’s an economic problem.

“It’s not easy for people to get jobs, lots of our clients are in such poor mental health they are effectively unemployable.”

Refugees

During the discussion, Gleadless Valley vicar the Rev David Middleton said that his church also helps lots of poor people, including refugees, adding: “They’d far rather have a tin of spaghetti hoops – they can eat that cold.

“Life is so hard, preparation of a meal or to even know how to prepare a meal is too much. They’ve got to cook it and pay for the utilities.

“What we do at Christmas particularly is help families with food, gas and electrics.”

Mr Roberts said Regather grows crops at a farm on Lightwood Lane in the Moss Valley. These go into organic fruit and veg box deliveries alongside food bought in from wholesale suppliers.

He said that there are five farms in the same area but there is not enough agricultural land available currently for Regather to grow everything it supplies itself.

Ms Halsall said that Regather is looking at setting up a food hub in disused garages at the foot of Bankwood tower block in Gleadless and growing fruit trees in Lees Hall. The organisation is linking up with Newfield School to grow fruit trees and set up an outdoor classroom.

Privilege

Mr Roberts said that Regather is also looking into using the glasshouses at Norton Nurseries in Graves Park to propagate plants to be grown at the farm.

He added that an Urban Agricultural Task Force is working with the two city universities, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and South Yorkshire councils on agricultural and environmental restoration. He said that the council owns 192 acres of agricultural land on that area with the potential to create jobs by growing more food locally.

René Meijer, a trustee at Heeley City Farm, asked: “How can we make sure that food grown isn’t a privilege but also (eaten) by everyone in the local area?”

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Mr Stevenson said that more allotments should be made available for people to grow their own food. He said that when the church set up a food-growing area, he thought it would be vandalised but instead, local people tend it themselves.

Mr Roberts responded that one issue is the domination of supermarkets over the entire food supply system.

Mr Musgrave told the meeting that the number of people who have allotments in south Sheffield is equal to the number on waiting lists. He said the council struggles to find areas of land to set up new allotments to help meet demand.

Bonkers

Ann Marshall, secretary of Woodseats Allotment Society, said that members organise donations of excess crops to be turned into meals to feed people. She said they could do more but the problem is one of coordination.

Coun Elliot mentioned the issue of food waste. In Sheffield, the council’s contract with waste management contractor Veolia has prevented the introduction of roadside food waste collections until 2038.

Mr Roberts said it was “bonkers” that a rich multinational should profit from food waste anyway and the nutrients involved should be retained and recycled locally. He said Regather gives leftover edible food to Foodworks and other organisations turning food waste into meals and everything else becomes compost for its farm.

He said he understands how organic food is seen by many as an expensive privilege but organic food production is vital in order to undo the damage done to soil and the environment by industrial agriculture methods.