Do we live in a third world country? You can find out if you are brave enough to drive through the narrow arch by the Shakespeare pub at Kendal.

At the end of the yard there is a hive of activity. Volunteers from an aid agency (the King’s Church) take in, record use-by dates and package food, to supply to families caught in a trap without food.

There are several reasons: payments stopped because of some failure to follow bureaucratic rules, or delay in the arrival of the income they are entitled to.

We admire all who give food and those who deliver it to starving families. But shortage of food is more widespread than this.

Parents skip meals to make sure their children are fed. Families’ food budget is squeezed because it’s the bit of their income that doesn’t have to be paid, like rent or heating.

The Trussell Trust, the Equality Trust and Church Action on Poverty say this is wrong. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world polices can and must change to prevent this.

Tim Baynes

Local Branch of Church Action on Poverty

Kendal