Food

Something is wrong, very very wrong and it is starting to really piss me off.  It is about food and people going hungry and in some cases having to starve themselves to ensure their families get food.  I am not talking about the current famine and major crisis in Africa, although I will come to that very shortly.  I am talking about here in the UK and Ireland.

Now last time I checked the UK and Ireland were not third world countries and looking around food shops you will see that their shelves are fully stocked so we are not short of food. There is nothing on the news about a food crisis and unless I have missed something fairly major we do not have food rationing in either of these countries. Yet people are going without food or relying on free food hand outs to ensure they get a meal.

When there is a famine in Africa we all reach in out pockets and donate money to help get them food. Our governments once they get their act together normally use some of our money to send aid. Quite rightly so I might add, no one wants to see a starving child. The question I have is what exactly do our governments do to stop people going hungry in their own countries? Do the governments actually know the scale of the problem?  It is no good trying to fix the world if you then can’t put food on your own table. The feel good factor doesn’t control hunger.  

The British government is happy to pump huge amounts of money into the banks. Give massive amounts of money to nuclear armed nations in aid and use vast amounts of money to start wars yet we have people in this country who either go without food or rely on free food handouts. We really do need to get out priorities right here, don’t we?  I am not saying don’t give aid to other countries I am just saying that there needs to be a massive reality check.  A governments priority should be the population of their own country.

I genuinely believe that the situation is worse in Ireland and it breaks my heart to see it.  There is a government that is hammering the population until they squeal then pushing them even further because of the mistakes, bad practices and in some cases criminal activities of a few.  

Prices are continually going up, taxes are being increased which means everyone has less and less money to put food on the table.  I have seen the price of food go up by 10 to 20% in some cases, utility bills are ever increasing so is it a wonder people are having to resort to going without food or relying on handouts?

Isn't food a basic human right?  It certainly on the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Why are politicians ignoring this?  Why are people being let down so badly?