But should we subsidise people's poor choices?
I'm from a poor background. I have poor family and family on benefits.
I have family that already could not afford to provide adequately whilst on benefits but still chose to have more kids, continued to smoke and continued to make choices that puts them in a worse situation that they should have been.
As for providing food - it does take away the independence and I do appreciate Citizen's Nephew's posts. But on the flip side (if it was food boxes or vouchers instead of food banks) it not only shields people from the inflation of food we can also ensure that the families particularly the kids can have more nutritious and beneficial food rather than sacks of chicken nuggets and crispy pancakes.