The pandemic has dramatically increased food poverty in the UK, and the Black community in London is being disproportionately affected by this crisis.
This year has pushed many more people to the brink of poverty, and more people than ever are living in a state of food instability, having to choose between paying their bills and buying food, and relying on food banks to survive.
Research conducted in April by The Runnymede Trust and the Wealth Assets Survey, found that Black and ethnic minority groups are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty, when compared with white British individuals, with typical Bangladeshi household incomes being £8,900 a year lower than the White British median; Pakistani households £8,700 less and typical Black African households £5,600 less.
One of the main causes of poverty is noted to be a lack of employment, or insecure or low-paid employment – another factor that has been seen to be getting worse for ethnic minority communities over the course of the pandemic.
A study conducted in November 2019 – just before the pandemic hit – found that ‘people of Black ethnic background were over-represented among those referred to a food bank.’ Nearly one-in-three (28%) of food bank vouchers in London were issued to Black people.
Given what we know about how the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing racial inequalities and widened the poverty gap, it follows that Black people and people from other ethnic minority groups will have been hit the hardest by the growing food crisis in the UK.
This is something that Sinéad Browne has seen very clearly in her work as the founder of food waste and poverty charity Compliments of The House (CoTH).
Based in Brixton, south London, CoTH collects fresh, surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to vulnerable members of the community. Sinéad, who is a former lawyer, founded the charity after because she has first-hand experience of living in food poverty.
‘We are seeing a huge spike in people from BAME backgrounds requesting help from our service,’ Sinéad tells Metro.co.uk.
‘During the first lockdown, I was taking calls and for every call, I answered there were four or five more people trying to get through.
‘We have also seen that the demographic of those seeing help has changed. It is still mainly those from ethnic minority backgrounds, but we are also receiving requests from those who were self-employed or worked in the creative field and whose income has now been cut due to their sector collapsing.’
Sinéad left care at the age of 16 and lived in temporary accommodation for the homeless while studying for her A-levels. She has an acute understanding of the daily struggles experienced by CoTH guests, which she says drives her ambition to support others in similarly difficult situations.
‘Black communities are 100% being disproportionately affected by this crisis,’ she explains. ‘There have been multiple studies since the rise of Covid-19 cases that show people from Black and minority backgrounds are more at risk.
‘These communities are more likely to be in health and social care roles or other more manual jobs that don’t have the luxury of working from home, thus increasing the risk.
‘Paradoxically, In April, figures showed that the biggest fall in employment was for BAME people, dropping 4.6% compared to white employment dropping 1.7% which is another reason we are seeing so many more requests from people from Black and minority backgrounds requesting help from our service.’
Compliments of the House has had to pivot its business model throughout lockdown to ensure that their users are still able to receive produce while restaurants are closed. As part of their business change, the charity has worked closely with food banks and deliver food packages across London.
‘We are doing our best to support those in need with the very limited resources that we have, but our government must recognise that we have an issue with structural and institutional inequality and address this,’ says Sinéad.
‘More government funding and support is needed for charities like ours that are working on the frontline, as without funding injections we will all be unable to continue the valued and necessary work that we do.
‘More investigation is needed into the causes of why those within the BAME community are disproportionately relying on emergency food provision and solutions not to be generated to resolve and remedy this very concerning issue.’
The latest annual report by the Social Metrics Commission found that nearly half of Black households were in poverty, compared with just under one in five white families, while all ethnic minority families were between two and three times as likely to be in persistent poverty than white households.
The commission said ethnic minority households were more likely to be in ‘deep poverty’ than white families – around one in 10 adults from a Black British, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or mixed background were unemployed, compared with one in 25 white British people – and so were more likely to suffer heightened financial exposure to the pandemic.
Writing in a blog post this summer, Manchester’s Central Food Bank called for more support for all people living in poverty, and issued a warning against allowing these inequalities to continue to grow.
‘Do we want to carry on in the same fashion as we have always done, and risk a further entrenchment of poverty among already vulnerable groups that are continually struggling against an already high tide, or can we use these findings as a catalyst for change and work towards our vision of a UK without poverty?’ reads the post.
‘It can never be right that people are forced into poverty due to factors that are out of their control, and we know that simply providing food is not the answer to financial hardship.
‘As a charity, we are advocating for structural change to systems of inequality.’
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.
Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.
MORE : British public believe racism is caused by ‘personal prejudice’ not ‘systemic’ problems
MORE : The realities of travelling while Black: ‘Racism abroad can be life or death’
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/30/the-pandemics-food-poverty-crisis-is-disproportionately-impacting-black-communities-13676198/
Posts
0 Comments