Needy families go hungry to pay bills

The region’s food banks are under pressure as low-income families shrink their food budgets in order to pay other bills.

Major Bruce Aldersley of Hastings Salvation Army said the Salvation Army’s food bank was low on food and called for donations from the public.

“At the moment we’re having to buy more [food] because we’re running really low.”

Beneficiaries could apply for an emergency food grant from Winz by making an appointment with a case manager, Mr Aldersley said, however they often had to wait up to three days for the appointment and went hungry in the interim.

They then underwent an interview process at the Salvation Army before receiving food.

“People go to their pantries and they have nothing to eat, and their case manager can’t see them for three days . . . We can’t have children going hungry,” Mr Aldersley said.

Hastings Budget Advisory Service co-ordinator Greta Wham said food was one of the most important things in any budget. “We always give it priority over other things ... Especially where children are involved.”

Because food was a flexible expenditure, struggling families often elected to pay important bills rather than buy food.

“If you’re going to pay a bill that’s going to have dire consequences like having your power cut out if you don’t, and you can use your food money to do that, many people will.”

For that reason, a lot of people were using the region’s food banks, Ms Wham said.

More than 100 people are applying for emergency food parcels from the Hastings Food Bank Trust per month.

Trust chairman Trevor Percy said over the past three years more than 15,000 people had requested emergency food parcels from the trust.

The trust purchased the majority of its food due to support from community organisations, community trusts and Hastings District Council.

Emergency food parcels provided enough food for two days and often included sausages, bread, canned foods, pasta and rice.

Adrienne Taputoro of Mo Tamati, a Maraenui donation network for food and furniture, said housing costs were hurting low- income families’ ability to buy food and caused them to resort to food banks.

“Most of our whanau’s troubles is rent. The rents are too high.

“It’s a whole new game now, trying to get affordable living and affordable kai.”

Ms Taputoro said the network had gone from seeing four families a week last year to about four families a day this year.

Mr Aldersley said the Salvation Army’s food bank was appreciative of non-perishable foods, such as pasta, pasta sauces, rice and cans of baked beans and spaghetti.

The food bank is open to food donations from the public from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.