Key stage 2
Food banks in the UK
Updated Jun 2016
Lessons for Life: Food banks – KS3
Links to subjects: Food technology, citizenship, politics, geography, childcare &
development, maths.
Lesson Objective: For the students to understand the concept of a food bank and
the conditions and support needed to help it to function.
Starters:
Show the class a picture of a weeks’ shopping and ask them to guess how much it
costs? Take a few answers and then ask the class what they would do if they had
half the amount of money, what would they buy/leave out?
Key words:
Food bank
Donations
Crisis
Poverty
Balanced diet
Budget
Food security
Or
Show the following facts to the students and ask them which are true (they all are) and which are
false. Introduce the idea that there are people in the UK who are hungry – how do we as a country
address this?
Main:
Introduce the idea of food banks – ask the students if they know what one is? Have a look at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bkETuqg8Hs an ITV report about Food banks
Why do people need food banks?
A food bank provides three to five days’ supply of non-perishable food to individuals or families that
are in crisis.
What kind of crisis could that be? (Mind map the answers)
A recent JRF study found that there is no one cause of destitution. Most people had been living in
poverty for a considerable period of time before tipping into destitution. This long term poverty
reduced their ability to meet day to day living costs or withstand financial shocks. They were then
tipped into destitution through:
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the extra costs of ill health and disability;
high costs of housing and other essential bills;
unemployment;
a financial shock like a benefit sanction or delay, as well as low levels of benefits for some
groups;
debt repayments particularly from social fund loans and benefit overpayments owed to
DWP, council tax arrears owed to local councils, rent arrears, and debts to utility companies.
https://www.jrf.org.uk/blog/over-1-million-people-cant-afford
What would be the alternatives to using a food bank? Discuss with the students – which of
their answers would are positive, which are negative?
Going hungry, asking friends/family for food, stealing, taking food from rubbish bins
How do Food banks work?
All food is donated by the public and sorted by volunteers. Frontline care professionals such as
doctors and social workers identify people in crisis and issue a food voucher or referral form to the
food bank. Clients receive three to five days of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food in
exchange for their food voucher at the Food bank, or food parcels are delivered to them directly or
via the referring professional.
Find out about your local food bank
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Ask how you can support them
Write to your local MP expressing your concern about hunger in your community
Plan and promote a food drive in your school, to provide non perishable goods to your local
food bank.
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Learn more about the scope of hunger locally, nationally and globally via the Internet and
your local library.
Ask someone from your local food bank, homeless shelter or agency into your school to
explain more about your local situation
Make a poster to illustrate the causes, consequences and possible solutions to hunger.
Discuss the idea of living more simply. What are the benefits? What are the sacrifices?
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Extension/Alternative activities:
Food banks in the UK:
Does poverty affect the UK equally? Have a look at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/mar/06/poverty-england-experian-rankings
http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/why-end-child-poverty/poverty-in-your-area
These websites show how poverty affects the UK regionally and locally. Why is the pattern as it is?
Discuss the regional differences with the students. Does an area which ranks highly in the Experian
table have any child poverty locally? (Look at South Bucks and then High Wycombe. High Wycombe
is ranked 234th out of 326 for being at risk of poverty. However the Micklefield area of High
Wycombe has 32% of children in poverty. How is this?)
General info on people and poverty: https://www.jrf.org.uk/people
Food banks and Faith
Ask the students who they think should run a food bank. Have a look at a few examples of food
banks. Google your local food bank, or have a look at www.trusselltrust.org.uk ,
www.mkfoodbank.org.uk www.blackcountryfoodbank.org.uk .
Ask the students to find out
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Who has set up the food bank
What was their motivation?
Does the organiser have a faith? Can you see which main religion they follow?
What part of their faith is guiding them to do this?
What do the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh religions say about charity? Is a food bank an
outworking of this?
Food banks and a balanced diet.
Most food banks provide 3 – 5 days’ supply of non- perishable food.
At the end of this lesson plan are two food parcel lists; one for a single person and one for a family.
Ask the students to look at the lists and plan balanced meals for either a single person, or a family
for 3 days using the items given. (10 minute activity)
Ask the students what they felt were missing. How could they compensate? How easy was it to
provide a balanced diet?
References:
1 “The Best Meal you’ll Never Have” Costing the Earth BBC Radio 4 14/4/2005
2 End Child Poverty www.endchildpoverty.org.uk
OD PARCEL FOR 2 ADULTS + 2 CHILDREN
MEAT PIE
2 tins
MEAT BALLS or HOT DOGS
2 tins
TINNED HAM / CORNED BEEF
1 large tin
TINNED POTATOES
1 Lrg or pkt or 2 tins
INSTANT MASH
CARROTS
2 tins
PEAS OR MIXED VEG
2 tins
TINNED TOMATOES
2 tins
KIDNEY BEANS
1 tin
BAKED BEANS
4 pack
RICE (unbranded)
4 packets
TINNED TUNA
4 pack
TINNED SALMON
1 tin
PASTA DRIED
2 packets
PASTA SAUCE IN JAR
1 jar
NOODLES
1 large pack
TINNED SOUP
4 tins
JAM/MARMALADE/HONEY
1 of
CHOC SPREAD/PEANUT BUTTER
SPONGE PUDDING
1
TINNED FRUIT
2 tins
ANGEL DELIGHT
2 packets
JELLY
1
CUSTARD
1 tin
CEREAL
1 large packet
TEA/COFFEE/HOT CHOCOLATE
1 of
SUGAR
1 pack
BISCUITS
1 or 2 packets
TOOTHPASTE & BRUSHES
1 + 1 per person
SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER
1 of each
BABY FOOD if 6-12 month
As reqd
NAPPIES
As reqd
FORMULA MILK
As reqd
NAPPY SAXS
As reqd
FOOD PARCEL FOR A SINGLE ADULT
TINNED CURRY or CHILLI
1 tin
TINNED MEAT (not pie)
1 tin
TINNED HAM / CORNED BEEF
1 tin
POTATO or INSTANT MASH
1 tin or packet
MIXED VEG & PEAS
1 tin
TINNED TOMATOES
1 tin
TINNED SOUP
2 tins
BAKED BEANS
2 tins
UNBRANDED RICE
2 packets
TINNED TUNA
1 tin
PKT OF DRIED PASTA
1 packet
PASTA SAUCE IN JAR
1 jar
JAM/MARMALADE/HONEY
1 of
TINNED FRUIT
2 tins
CEREAL
1 box
TEA/COFFEE/HOT CHOCOLATE
1 of
BISCUITS
1 packet
TOOTHBUSH /TOOTHPASTE
1
SOAP
1
SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER
1 OF EACH