Nottinghamshire Live readers have reacted to Conservative MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson saying in the House of Commons that food bank use is being fuelled by a lack of budgeting and cooking skills. He claimed people could "cook meals from scratch" for "30p a day" instead during a debate on the Queen's Speech in the House of Commons on Wednesday (May 11).
Labour MP Alex Cunningham replied by saying: "Should it be necessary to have food banks in 21st Century Britain?" The comments sparked outrage, but Mr Anderson defended what he said, inviting "everybody" on the opposition benches to visit a food bank in his constituency where, when people come for a food parcel, they now need to register for a "budgeting course" and a "cooking course".
Fellow Conservative MP for Mansfield Ben Bradley, who is also the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, defended Mr Anderson too, saying there is a problem with 'basic education' and numeracy skills in areas such as his. And the comments were met with mixed reaction on the Nottinghamshire Live Facebook page.
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Peter Scoffings posted: "He doesn't have to deal with worrying about money day in day out with no prospect of an end. As for preparing nutritious meals every day for 39p per person, I'd like to see him do it."
Fin Snarey posted: "It is possible to make a meal from 30p worth of ingredients, if you want something with the nutritional value of gruel. This food stops you from being dead but is no way to live."
Ann Martin posted: "Well at the risk of being shot down in flames, totally agree with this MP! I have had to survive on a very low budget before and careful shopping, cooking from scratch and deciding what I could live without got me through a really difficult time. I'm sure I will get lots of criticism but I really respect this guy for speaking out about this!"
Michael Frankton posted: "I don't disagree, you can make a decent soup/stew with a few pence, however doesn’t mean it's right and normalising this isn't the answer. Families shouldn’t have to live like this."
Robert Henderson posted: "Time we went back to teaching kids how to cook in school, not just girls, as in the past, but all sexes. Will save them a fortune in "ready meals" in future as well as being dramatically more healthy!"
Mick Morris posted: "I agree 100 percent Lee, it's either that or they can't be bothered, that's why we have so many takeaways and drive throughs."
Food banks provided hungry families with more than 19 million meals in the year to March as the cost-of-living crisis began to bite. Britain’s biggest food bank network, the Trussell Trust, gave away 2,173,158 emergency parcels in the 12 months from last April.
With each package containing enough food for three meals a day for three days, it means 19,558,422 meals were provided. Of the more than two million packages, 832,109 - containing enough ingredients for nearly seven-and-a-half million meals - went to children.
On his Facebook page, Lee Anderson posted: "Lots of people are now asking me how batch cooking works following my comments yesterday. Some people have suggested I was making this up (referencing a video a foodbank in Ashfield made with the help of a local college) and it was not possible but this is not about me.
"This is about a great foodbank and volunteers who are helping people cope through difficult times. In the film we made 170 meals for £50. This included a lunch and dinner, a breakfast of cereal and milk and enough milk, sugar and tea for a week.
"I make no apologies for trying to help people fend for themselves by helping them learn the skills they need."
