The discussed article is a reflection on the need for food banks in Canada, and was written ten years ago. The article, however, seems to be quite relevant because it describes the potentially possible reasons why this charitable institution should be completely abolished. This surprising opinion turns out to be justified due to the identification of links between food banks and huge food corporations (Power, 2011). Banks feed society with false illusions that they are really solving the problem of hunger. These and other controversial theses will be interpreted in detail in this written response.
Hunger as a National Issue
In exploring the history of the emergence of food banks in Canada, the author asks how the response to the crisis of the 1980s became ubiquitous in the country. Food banks were originally planned as an almost spontaneous form of support for unemployed and hungry people, but these structures have become an integral part of Canadian life (Power, 2011). At the same time, their need for existence seems to the author unobvious for a primary reason – in fact, the problem of hunger is not being solved. Indeed, if one takes into account human ambition, you can draw attention to the extremely low percentage of those in need who will actually turn to charity. However, this argument can be challenged by assuming that charity campaigns will create advertising campaigns that remove the stigma of extreme action from food banks.
The Supply Inconsistency
On the other hand, the aspect of receiving subsidies by food banks is no less disturbing, since their inflows are rather unstable. Food banks primarily rely on balance and volunteering, that is, on gratuitous humanitarian aid to people who are really interested in this. The article offers a rather pessimistic view of the current situation, assuming that due to the unreliable financial cushion provided by contributions, the problem of hunger will not be solved in principle. However, this conclusion does not seem to be simply hasty, but fundamentally illogical. Hunger is a global problem and is associated with a wide range of economic, political, geographic and climatic dimensions. It would be simply absurd for food banks in Canada to set themselves a real goal of ridding the country of hunger, since it is really possible only to try to reduce its amount as much as possible.
The volunteer problem, the unreliability and inconsistency of subsidies, still seems to be a problem that can be solved by attracting new technologies, primarily advertising. Canadian food banks have a real opportunity to increase the prestige of their companies through attention-grabbing technologies. In the modern world, paying attention to the problem of hunger and attracting a person to solving it is possible, perhaps, only through effectively thought out tactics. Food banks should not close, they must adapt to modern technological realities in order to survive and do their job further. A truly motivating and deeply impactful video on social media could be of immense benefit, reaching a large number of people. At the same time, technologies should meet the needs of the donor of charity in order to really involve him in charitable activities. People in a world in which there is already an overabundance of information, need those methods of influence that can convey the importance of donations. So the problem of low involvement of volunteers and benefactors seems to be solved and does not guarantee the need to liquidate food banks in the country.
Collaborations with Large Companies
The final idea that needs to be considered is the accusatory statement by the author of the article that food banks cooperate with large corporations in the face of the open dishonesty of this partnership. The visibility of the problem being solved seems to the author a really worrisome issue, since the author accuses corporations of only creating the illusion of helping a poor society. The author accuses corporations of recycling a huge amount of unused food, which in fact only makes it easier to clean up food waste in mass production.
Perhaps, if the problem of hunger needs to be really overcome, then the problem of food production should be seriously considered. Indeed, there are so many products produced in the world that there is an obvious discrepancy between them and the number of people who cannot afford food. Perhaps, a really fair argument of the author of the article is a call to the state to pay attention to the problems prevailing in society (Power, 2011). However, a volunteer position and networking to overcome hunger should still exist and give people the motivation to do good and help each other.
However, social and state institutions should also be involved in solving this problem on a larger scale. Considered as a problem is the inability to constantly renew the supply of fresh food in such a way as to regularly provide for families with low incomes. Despite the fact that food banks can provide assistance in a critical situation of a real deadly hunger, they are powerless in the context of improving the quality of life of each individual family (Bazerghi et al., 2016). Based on this, the author’s assertion about the need for structural government intervention in this problem seems absolutely correct.
References
Bazerghi, C., McKay, F.H. & Dunn, M. (2016). The role of food banks in addressing food insecurity: A systematic review. Journal of Community Health 41, 732–740. Web.
Power, E. (2011). It’s time to close Canada’s food banks. The Globe and Mail. Web.