The Welfare Trap
Last night a friend told me that today there was going to be a free BBQ out the front of a food bank in another suburb today and that he’d be there around 10:30am.
I told him I’d be there, but I had slept in and when I had arrived there just after 12pm. He must have been and gone because he wasn’t there.
The BBQ was there, and I was told that the next batch of sausages would be ready soon and I was offered a free can of soft drink.
I had asked if they had any sugar free drinks and they apologised for not having any. I saw bottles of water in the esky and chose one of those instead, and they generously provided it.
While waiting, I walked into the food bank.
The Food Bank
The outside of the food bank had a sign that said that they strictly only accept credit cards and that absolutely no cash was kept on the premises.
Inside there were rows of shelving which held various canned foods, perishable foods, meal packs, soft drinks, and other shelves that held various everyday supplies like toothbrushes, soap, sanitary napkins, etc.
At the back there were fridges filled with relatively cheap frozen meats and low on code yoghurts.
There was a fruit section were most of the fruit was fresh, but the potatoes were out of date by a few days.
Signs posted at the end of the shelves say that taking photos is strictly forbidden.
I had selected a few items and went to the cashier who asked me my name. I told her and she checked my bame against a list.
See, in order to buy food at a food bank, you need to provide a voucher.
The vouchers to buy the food are provided by ringing up one of two local, very wealthy, professional charities and making an appointment.
When I admitted to being ignorant of their voucher system, I was told that I could get a “customer voucher” to pay for the basket of stuff I had picked; I just had to wait to be interviewed but there was a waiting list of 3 people already.
There was one guy in the office being interviewed by a woman. I know this because the woman came out of the office holding a phone to her ear. She came back and shit the door. The other two people waiting outside were two women with babies in prams. Then two morbidly obese women turned up and sat down.
I waited for 5 minutes more, got board and went out to get a sausage on bread with tomato sauce from the BBQ, ate it and then decided that it would take forever and didn’t go back inside.
Instead I caught the next bus back to the nearest train station and did some normal shopping / picking up project based supplies.
While shopping, a pen fell out of my pants pocket and someone chased me down to hand it back to me.
I checked my pocket and found the phone numbers of the charities I needed to make the appointment, to be able to shop at the food back.
It dawned on me that these charities are gatekeepers;
They essentially want you to beg to be allowed food and essential supplies.
I also know from asking Google, that these charities earn millions of dollars in profit every year. Not a bad grift if you can get away with it!
But at the same time, I didn’t need to be shopping there despite the bargain prices. There are discount stores that can be quite competitive, without the restrictions.
There’s a better way to live and the welfare mindset is very much a trap. I took a long time to get off of welfare, was off it for 3.5 years before the work ran out and I had to back on it again just to make rent payments.
I do have the occasional high paying shift at a few casual jobs and that sometimes means earning too much for a welfare payment, but it’s not enough to come off of it completely.
But I have a plan and I received a huge tax return.
I looked at the piece of paper one last time, screwed it up and threw it in a nearby bin, resolving to never go back.
There’s a better life available if I want it; and I just made that decision. Will you?
Thank you for reading and may you never have to deal with with the welfare / charity system.
They are a trap and you’ll be reliant on their system if you fall into it.
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I love the hidden little irony of "We only accept credit cards", instead of "no cash, EFT only". It adds a layer of humiliation onto the top of it.
Credit becomes the next layer of the trap, and like a black hole, the gravity is inescapable.
I think they meant EFT only, and it also highlights how crime ridden the area is.
The food bank must be making a lot of money, just in turn over alone.
I read the article but was a little surprised.
You pay for food at the food bank?
I live in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. We have a food bank and yes, you get interviewed if you want to be a customer there. They want to make sure that the food actually goes to those in need. Price for items zero. Food goes in by donation and is run primarily by volunteers.
People are encouraged to give to charities at their local grocery store but as you said those charities have very high operating costs. Having looked for food for a new immigrant who had no money I know that the churches in town are responsible for feeding a lot of the less fortunate. I'm in a Christian church which takes donations of cash and food from its members and runs a "store" a few days a week with a free delivery service (my son works two days a week as their delivery driver). Very low operating costs that way.
The person I was looking for was Muslim and didn't want charity from a Christian organization and luckily the other mosques and temples in town also often have food services for those in need. No paperwork or referral needed but if social services calls on your behalf it makes it a lot easier to know where to go :)
Still....
... Being self sufficient is always preferable. Knowing where the deals are and knowing how to prepare food from scratch can save huge amounts of money! Buying prepared foods is a sure way to go broke! Knowing how to use flour, sugar, oil, beans and frozen means being able to survive on a fraction of the cost.
When my son was close to leaving the house we had a discussion on food costs. I asked him to figure out how much he needed daily for food. His thought? $30 CAD daily. I looked at what he wanted to eat and shuddered. Then I showed him the baseline of $1.80/day. Yes, it was a lot of prep. No, there was no meat. Yes, all the protein came from beans, eggs, and milk. Yes it was incredibly boring. But the point remained... Two days of his food choices could actually fund an entire month with preparation and determination.
Some people have no choices for any number of reasons. I just look at the Nigerian people on this board and the impossible to live on wages. However, as you said
I applaud your decision! So many people just grumble and complain rather than taking a stand and (hopefully) devoting themselves to finding a better way :)
Thanks for the article
Thank you for the support. To clarify, the food bank isn’t legally allowed to charge for the food but they charge a “handling fee”.
But I think the voucher gives some free stuff. They do have sone free items that they had difficulty selling.
Thanks for the clarification.
Still, a handling fee still seems like a drag for those people in need. As for the free vouchers... seems like a pain as you mentioned in your article
Yes. It’s gatekeeping.
In the U.S., food banks are also free. They are privately run and exactly how they work can vary a little from one to the other. In terms of being on welfare, you are basically given an allowance in the form of a debit card which can be used at any grocery store though there are restrictions on the kinds of items you can buy with it (e.g., you typically can't by "prepared" food though the exact restrictions may vary by state).
The part that kind of disturbed me was the part about photography not being allowed. What are they afraid of exactly?