How small firms fighting food poverty are a lesson in empathy - Ismail Mulla

Writing today’s story on businesses that have mobilised to support families of children on free school meals against a backdrop of callous mismanagement, brought home the poverty crisis we have on our doorstep.
Ben Franco, owner of The Barn restaurant in Almondbury, is giving back to the village that he says has given so much to him over the years.Ben Franco, owner of The Barn restaurant in Almondbury, is giving back to the village that he says has given so much to him over the years.
Ben Franco, owner of The Barn restaurant in Almondbury, is giving back to the village that he says has given so much to him over the years.

Meet the Yorkshire business owners helping feed children on free school mealsBen Franco, the owner of The Barn restaurant in Almondbury, has some heartbreaking stories.

Mr Franco has played a key role in ensuring vulnerable people in the village don’t go hungry. When people who knew him started asking if he had food for their children, he did what was second nature to him – he threw himself into feeding children in and around Almondbury during the half-term.

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The poverty situation is such that some families are having to choose between basic necessities.

Mr Franco is dropping of meals at the local church for families that are struggling.Mr Franco is dropping of meals at the local church for families that are struggling.
Mr Franco is dropping of meals at the local church for families that are struggling.

He said: “All our food goes in plastic dishes to microwave, one of the families said, ‘Would you mind putting them in the foil trays that you can put in the oven?’ I said, ‘Sure but why? It’s all microwaveable.’ They said that ‘We’ve had to budget that next week in the house we don’t have any electricity on for the week but the gas oven will be working so we can heat it’.”

You can clearly hear his voice breaking, as he adds: “It was just absolutely shocking to hear that that’s how some of these families have to live.”

Initially, Mr Franco would leave meals at his friend’s newsagents but he was getting messages from people saying they were too embarrassed to walk through the village to ask for food. Therefore, he has started leaving food with the church at the bottom of the village. Down the road in Kirkheaton, publican David Stanley has provided around 7,000 meals to people in need.

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When he was approached by Netherhall Learning Campus, he too didn’t think twice about providing food for families most in need.

David Stanley has provided over 7,000 meals to those in need in and around Kirkheaton.David Stanley has provided over 7,000 meals to those in need in and around Kirkheaton.
David Stanley has provided over 7,000 meals to those in need in and around Kirkheaton.

Sam Diskin, the safeguarding lead at the school, was surprised by his response after she made the approach. “I was only expecting a handful of meals once a week or something but he provided meals everyday for a good four or five months,” she said. “I’d say we were getting up to 50 meals a week.”

The reality of the matter is food poverty isn’t a new issue. It’s been there for a long while but many of us are just oblivious to it.

There are families that were once economically comfortable that are now reliant on the goodwill of the likes of Mr Franco and Mr Stanley.

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“In the first part of lockdown, I even had some of my customers that had lost their businesses ringing [for support], who six months prior were coming in for a meal, drinking Prosecco and having a laugh,” Mr Franco says.

Mr Stanley is supporting the community despite facing a tough time with his business Beaumont Arms forced to shut in this latest lockdown.Mr Stanley is supporting the community despite facing a tough time with his business Beaumont Arms forced to shut in this latest lockdown.
Mr Stanley is supporting the community despite facing a tough time with his business Beaumont Arms forced to shut in this latest lockdown.

Sat Mann at Lean Lunch in Leeds makes a really important point that we need cultural change that stops blaming people on the breadline and starts making it easy for them to eat healthily.

All of this flies in the face of the paltry free school meal hampers, which have been pictured all over social media.

While a large corporate was caught out hiving food off into coin bags, we have altruistic acts from heroes on our doorstep. Stepping up where the state has failed.

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They are doing this against a backdrop of uncertainty. Take Mr Stanley for example. He can’t open his pub despite having outdoor marquees and a teepee.

“It’s almost like a massive thumb screw being tightened up on us,” he says.

While Mr Franco admits that his restaurant can survive operating just two days a week, he too could have taken the easy path and spent his spare time bingeing on Netflix. Instead, he spends 20 hours a week voluntarily cooking free meals for families in need.

The Government should be tapping into this very community spirit.

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None of these people are doing it for the limelight. All of them shrink at the suggestion that they are heroes.

It’s worth remembering these small businesses that came to the aid of the most needy because there is a life lesson to be learnt here.

Mr Stanley jokes that part of it is him getting “older, wiser and having less hair...”.

But more seriously it’s about empathy. A trait that these small business owners and countless others like them have by the bucketload. It’s something we could all do with having more of.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

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