Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Letters

Why is food poverty a fact of life in 21st-century Britain?

An illustration of cotton mills in 19th-century Manchester
An illustration of cotton mills in 19th-century Manchester. Karen Wynyard writes about being reminded of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1854 novel North and South. Photograph: Culture Club/Getty Images

Aditya Chakrabortty’s article (One Welsh town offers a window on to the catastrophe facing Britain. But where are the politicians?, 19 August) reminded me of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel North and South. Written in the mid-19th century, it looks at the living conditions in a mill town during the Industrial Revolution. A mill owner rejects a union’s request for a pay increase and hires agency workers. This does not end well for him or his workers. Towards the end of the book, the mill owner, in allegiance with a union representative, opens a dining room to provide free dinners for his workers. Now, more than 150 years on from the novel’s publication, we have a CEO having to do the same. How have we returned to the need for free food and talk of hiring agency workers in a rich country in the 21st century?
Karen Wynyard
Whitstable, Kent

• As a volunteer at my local food bank, I read Aditya Chakrabortty’s article on food poverty with great interest. This was a sympathetic piece and highlighted the appalling fact that in 21st-century Britain, many of our citizens live in poverty. However, I take exception to the view of the food bank model expressed in the article by Robbie Davison, who says: “It’s not food that people would choose for themselves. It’s a model that says, ‘We know you’re poor, and this’ll do.’ That’s right wing.”

It is true that food bank clients have limited choice regarding the food they are given. Nevertheless, this food stops people from going hungry, there is no charge and, at my food bank, people are treated with the greatest care and respect. The view that because people are poor what we give them will do certainly is not one that I recognise from my own work at the food bank.
Susan Le Jeune
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.