THERE is a lovely woman in the east end of Glasgow who spends her mornings helping out at the local foodbank. As well as making up the food parcels, she has become a shoulder to cry on for many of the parents who use the service, struggling to keep mind, body and soul together as they try to feed their children.
There is much more to this volunteer’s story, which I first heard about as part of my work on the Glasgow Community Champions Awards. The annual event, which has been organised by The Herald’s sister title the Evening Times for more than a decade, celebrates the work being done by selfless, hardworking people who give up their time to help others.
The nominees often reflect the biggest issues faced by communities across the country – similar events run in Greenock and Dunfermline – and for the last few years, food poverty has been high on the agenda.
Food poverty is a term which has seeped into our consciousness, slipping into daily usage on the news, in education and in workplaces, but it is woefully inadequate as a description of the hideous truth behind it – some families in our neighbourhoods, in our towns and cities and groups of friends, do not have enough to eat.
Read more: The roots of our children's mental health problems run deep
I got a message this week from a friend who was aghast to discover the publication of a children’s book about a young girl’s visit to a foodbank with her mother.
There is nothing wrong with the book itself – It’s a No-Money Day, by Kate Milner, is a beautiful picture story, with lovely illustrations and compassion at its heart – but the very fact it exists at all is the problem.
My heart sank when I read the book’s description. “Mum works really hard, but today there is no money left and no food in the cupboards. Forced to visit the local foodbank, Mum feels ashamed they have to rely on the kindness of others...”
Picture books should be about diabolical cats who steal into Buckingham Palace and rhinos who eat pancakes and all manner of equally silly things – but this is where we are.
Read more: Why a ban on smacking is long overdue
Foodbanks have become so necessary, they are just accepted, and it’s shameful. Our communities support them and use them as if it’s just a part of the fabric of our lives. Reports earlier this year, based on research carried out by the Independent Food Aid Network, revealed more than 480,000 food parcels were handed out to Scots over an 18-month period.
This is a depressing and upsetting picture, and one that our politicians should put at the forefront of their minds as we career towards a Christmas election.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here