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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Christopher Megrath

Good Morning Britain viewers furious after food banks labelled as 'trendy'

Good Morning Viewers were furious after presenter Jonathan Swain called food banks "trendy."

During a discussion of the cost of living crisis, presenters Rob Rinder and Ranvir Singh said people are expected to "starve to death" if the government doesn't intervene immediately. They said both Tory candidates running for Prime Minister must act now if they want to avoid disaster.

The studio passed over to co-presenter Jonathan Wain who was on stand-by outside of a local soup kitchen. He spoke to staff at the location to discuss the impact and stress the facilities have been put under.

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During his introduction, he branded food banks as "trendy", sparking outrage among Good Morning Britain viewers. He said: "Even here in the city there is a need for things like this. They are seeing double the amount of people come in that need help.

"[The staff] have been doing this for many years now, since 1988, long before food banks became a trendy thing. There are now 2,572 food banks in the country, more food banks than there are McDonald's outlets."

Viewers slammed the "trendy" comments as they corrected Jonathan "no one goes to a food bank to look cool." One viewer said: "Did I just hear food banks being referred to as “a trendy sort of thing” on #GMB by Johnathon Swain? Food banks were born of necessity not because it was a “trend”. Just so we’re clear!"

Another added: "Jesus Christ reporter on #gmb just said 'Before Foodbanks became Trendy'....Yeah, people use them because fashion magazines tell them it's 'cool'."

A third viewer said: "Can't believe the reporter has called Food Banks a 'trendy thing' they have become a necessity for a lot of people. Not a trendy thing."

A final comment added: "Commenting on a soup kitchen in central London operating since 1988 a reporter on @GMB just said it had been there “before Food Banks became trendy kind of things”. A terrible choice of language."

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