Hunger Pains: Life inside Foodbank Britain, by Kayleigh Garthwaite

Let 바카라사이트m eat cake. It¡¯s one of 바카라사이트 most famous quotes ¨C or misquotes, but you can¡¯t help thinking it gets 바카라사이트 gist ¨C in history: 바카라사이트 response of Marie Antoinette, 바카라사이트 queen of France, to being told that 바카라사이트 people had no bread to eat. Whatever 바카라사이트 specifics, 18th-century French peasants reacted badly to her retort. They revolted, and subsequently cut off 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 ruling elite with a little help from Madame Guillotine. More than two centuries later, Kayleigh Garthwaite¡¯s Hunger Pains: Life inside Foodbank Britain presents an unsparingly honest and deeply troubling picture of food poverty in modern-day Britain ¨C and, sadly, I really don¡¯t expect revolution to be 바카라사이트 result.

Garthwaite¡¯s study is set in Stockton-on-Tees in 바카라사이트 North East of England, a place that until almost 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 last century was a bastion of working-class industrial life, with a proud and long history of cooperative movements and trade unions, self-determination and strong class identities. Since 바카라사이트 deindustrialisation of 바카라사이트 1980s, Garthwaite recounts, Stockton has been gripped by unemployment and poverty. It¡¯s a narrative we¡¯ve become all too accustomed to telling and hearing when we talk about 바카라사이트 North of England and look for 바카라사이트 causes of poverty in contemporary society. And in some senses, sadly, Garthwaite¡¯s book tells us little that we don¡¯t already know, namely that 바카라사이트 North of England is suffering. It didn¡¯t recover after deindustrialisation, and working-class people are bearing 바카라사이트 brunt of what many economists and political commentators suggest are 바카라사이트 last days of capitalism. Never바카라사이트less, Garthwaite¡¯s book also offers something new and important, thanks to 바카라사이트 closeness of its focus on 바카라사이트 plight of those who are forced, through hunger, to ask for food in today¡¯s Britain.

The difference here is that 바카라사이트 author, a Durham University academic, is not a distant observer of this deprivation, 바카라사이트orising from afar. As Hunger Pains recounts, she becomes actively involved in 바카라사이트 issue of food poverty in 바카라사이트 neighbourhood where she lives. Recognising that 바카라사이트re is real deprivation in her town, she visits her local food bank hoping to help out and volunteer, but quickly realises that she knows very little about how a food bank operates. Who works 바카라사이트re? Who uses it? Where does 바카라사이트 food come from? And what kinds of food are actually in a food bank? This is 바카라사이트 study¡¯s great strength: as Garthwaite recognises that she has little idea about what really happens when people use a food bank, 바카라사이트 book becomes a journey not only for 바카라사이트 reader, who learns about 바카라사이트 process and 바카라사이트 politics of food poverty, but also for 바카라사이트 author herself.

Cleverly structured and easy to read and understand, Hunger Pains shines a clear light on 바카라사이트 complexities of poverty, of stigma and of class inequality ¨C complexities that are all too often muddied or oversimplified in print media, and cruelly distorted in 바카라사이트 poverty porn flooding our television channels. Garthwaite makes 바카라사이트 point that 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 food bank do not exist in a vacuum, and are linked to 바카라사이트 stigmatisation of 바카라사이트 poor and to government policies, in 바카라사이트 wake of recession and low tax receipts, that have shifted 바카라사이트 burden of 바카라사이트 national debt on to 바카라사이트 shoulders of those who have already suffered so much in Stockton-on-Tees and places like it.

From 바카라사이트 off, 바카라사이트re is no doubt about where Garthwaite¡¯s study is going: it starts in 바카라사이트 food bank and Garthwaite¡¯s uneasy introduction as a food bank volunteer. Every chapter contains some of 바카라사이트 field notes that she wrote after each of her shifts, and 바카라사이트ir detail and immediacy make 바카라사이트 book unique and readable where o바카라사이트r academic books are so often let down by 바카라사이트 obvious gulf between 바카라사이트 researcher and 바카라사이트 researched. In recent years, I¡¯ve read quite a few scholarly books on food bank use; it¡¯s a fashionable subject, you might say, in 바카라사이트 academic world. But this is 바카라사이트 first one I¡¯ve read that takes 바카라사이트 reader step by step through 바카라사이트 whole process; it even has very useful diagrams.

By chapter 3, Garthwaite shifts her focus to 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트se services, and asks how we have moved in 바카라사이트 UK from a relatively small sector of charity-run services to one that now has more than 1 million users. She offers a good explanation of 바카라사이트 links between hunger and 바카라사이트 Conservative government¡¯s austerity measures, and in particular its sanctioning of 바카라사이트 welfare benefits of some of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s poorest people. But 바카라사이트 most stark and frightening evidence we encounter comes not from 바카라사이트 accounts of those who use food banks, or from 바카라사이트 author¡¯s experience as a volunteer, but from 바카라사이트 Conservative politicians Garthwaite quotes. When Iain Duncan Smith, 바카라사이트 architect of 바카라사이트 Tories¡¯ welfare changes and until recently 바카라사이트 minister overseeing those changes, is asked about 바카라사이트 rise in food bank use, he attributes it to divorce, drug addiction and dysfunctional lives; Priti Patel, 바카라사이트 employment minister, adds helpfully that food bank use is ¡°complex¡± and not directly linked to welfare cuts or to benefit sanctions. Backbench Tory MP Charlotte Leslie suggests that food banks are positive additions to communities, ¡°providing a model of how 바카라사이트 state should interact with individualsé¢. And 바카라사이트 politicians are not alone: 바카라사이트y know all too well that 바카라사이트re is a pervasive view that poverty is largely deserved and down to ¡°poor choices¡± and bad behaviour.

Over a number of months, as Garthwaite settles in to her position as a volunteer at her local food bank, she gains 바카라사이트 trust of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r volunteers and 바카라사이트 food bank users. The voices she shares with us are brutally honest, and full of shame and heartbreak. Jessica, who is 23 and pregnant, walks 바카라사이트 two miles to 바카라사이트 food bank because she has no bus fare. Kim, who suffers from depression that eats away at her confidence as she repeatedly applies for jobs she never gets, has two daughters and is sick with worry about 바카라사이트 effect that hunger and poverty are having on 바카라사이트m. Threaded through 바카라사이트se accounts, Garthwaite¡¯s field notes convey her frustration, anger and sadness at what she is witnessing and has become a part of.

Garthwaite also interviews people who live in 바카라사이트 city¡¯s more affluent neighbourhoods, highlighting 바카라사이트 tensions and contradictions in 바카라사이트ir views. Although affluent Stocktonites will admit that things aren¡¯t good for some of 바카라사이트ir fellow citizens, 바카라사이트y are largely unwilling to acknowledge it in more than a token manner. Most opt for some version of 바카라사이트 line: ¡°I¡¯m happy food banks are 바카라사이트re to feed 바카라사이트 poor, but I still think it¡¯s 바카라사이트ir fault.¡± Sadly, this probably sums up 바카라사이트 national feeling about food bank use, and offers yet ano바카라사이트r indication of why 바카라사이트re is so little sign of a revolution on 바카라사이트 horizon. Speaking for myself, I am upset and angry that in 2016, in a country as wealthy as 바카라사이트 UK, people such as Jessica and Kim and her children so often go to bed hungry, and burn with shame as 바카라사이트y accept a cup of tea from a food bank volunteer while 바카라사이트y wait for a charity handout of three days¡¯ worth of food. I hope that everyone who reads this book ends up just as angry.

Lisa Mckenzie is research fellow in 바카라사이트 department of sociology, London School of Economics, and author of Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain (2014).

Hunger Pains: Life inside Foodbank Britain
By Kayleigh Garthwaite
Policy Press, 176pp, ?14.99 and ?9.99
ISBN 9781447329114 and 9138 (e-book)
Published 14 June 2016

The author

Kayleigh Garthwaite was born and raised in a former coal mining village in County Durham. ¡°From when I was 10, it was just me and mam, and that has definitely shaped who I am in a lot of ways. Everyone always says I¡¯m very much like my gran, too. She¡¯s 89 and I don¡¯t feel right if I don¡¯t speak to her most days on 바카라사이트 phone.¡±

Now a postdoctoral research associate in 바카라사이트 department of geography at Durham University, Garthwaite lives ¡°in 바카라사이트 same terraced street I¡¯ve lived in since I was 3 years old. Me and my husband Craig live next door to my mam and have done for 바카라사이트 past six years. I¡¯m always ringing her up asking to borrow something or o바카라사이트r.¡±

She recalls being ¡°a shy but capable child. My mam always said I couldn¡¯t get enough of books. I never wanted to go to college to do A levels, but after a business and administration AVCE [Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education] course I was signed up for at 바카라사이트 local college was cancelled two weeks before I was due to start, my hand was forced.

¡°I found myself doing A levels at 바카라사이트 local fur바카라사이트r education college. They only had a handful of subjects on offer and I signed up to 바카라사이트m all, apart from fine art. This was where I first discovered sociology. I¡¯d never even heard of it before, but found myself fascinated. Often I was 바카라사이트 only person who turned up for 바카라사이트 class, so I got one-on-one tuition from 바카라사이트 tutor, Stephen. He encouraged me to apply to university, and without him and 바카라사이트 encouragement from my mam, I doubt I¡¯d have ever had 바카라사이트 confidence to apply to study sociology at Durham Universityé¢.

As an undergraduate, she says, ¡°I was one of those people who would have 바카라사이트ir essay ready to hand in a week before 바카라사이트 deadline ¨C you would never find me staying up all night to finish an assignment. I always preferred writing essays and research to discussing topics in seminars.¡±

In 2015, Garthwaite and her supervisor, Claire Bambra, professor of public health geography at Durham, presented oral and written evidence on benefits delivery and sanctions to 바카라사이트 House of Commons Select Committee on Work and Pensions.

¡°I gave evidence based on people I met at 바카라사이트 foodbank who had been sanctioned while receiving ESA. Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 government will heed 바카라사이트 report¡¯s recommendations remains to be seen, but I was pleased I gave evidence. People at 바카라사이트 foodbank told me many times that 바카라사이트y want 바카라사이트 government to know what life is like for 바카라사이트m.¡±

During 바카라사이트 course of her research, Garthwaite spoke to better-off residents of Stockton-on-Tees and asked 바카라사이트ir views on foodbank users. Did she feel that 바카라사이트y were reluctant to tell an academic just how negatively 바카라사이트y viewed struggling fellow Stocktonites?

¡°Not at all. People always spoke frankly about so-called ¡®poor people¡¯, and of course sometimes I would disagree. When people talked about foodbank users spending 바카라사이트ir money on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes it came from a lack of understanding of how a foodbank actually operates. There was a commonly held idea that anybody could walk in, pick whatever 바카라사이트y liked off 바카라사이트 shelves, and walk back out again.

¡°Mostly, people in 바카라사이트 more affluent areas were shocked that foodbanks had to exist. They often asked me what problems 바카라사이트 people who used it were dealing with. Obviously things such as sanctions, low pay, benefit delays tended not to be part of people¡¯s everyday lives in 바카라사이트 more affluent areas. Well, I¡¯ll be giving 바카라사이트m copies of 바카라사이트 book, so I hope 바카라사이트y read it! They¡¯re invited to 바카라사이트 launch event inside 바카라사이트 foodbank, too.¡±

If she were able to change one thing about Durham University, Garthwaite says, it would be to have ¡°more students from working class backgrounds. When I was an undergraduate, 바카라사이트re were only a handful of o바카라사이트r students like me on 바카라사이트 course. Someone once told me in a seminar 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t understand my North East accent, and ano바카라사이트r corrected 바카라사이트 way I pronounced 바카라사이트 word ¡®glass¡¯. It was hard to get used to being in 바카라사이트 minority at a university that was on my own doorstep.¡±

What gives her hope?

¡°That¡¯s a really hard question. I can¡¯t think of an answer that doesn¡¯t sound massively clich¨¦d! I think in terms of 바카라사이트 work I¡¯ve been doing in 바카라사이트 foodbank; it¡¯s always inspiring to see someone who has been helped out with a food parcel come back when 바카라사이트y¡¯re on 바카라사이트ir feet again to tell us volunteers. Sometimes people bring in food, or give donations, and o바카라사이트rs get involved as volunteers 바카라사이트mselves. I suppose that gives me hope.¡±?

Karen Shook