According to the Royal College of GPs, and the NHS has observed a sharp increase in admissions of patients with anemia, which is mostly caused by iron and vitamin B shortages.
The street outside the food bank, however, displays an unsettling irony: despite the abundance of wholesome fresh fruit and in-season vegetables available, few people are drawn in.
According to Martin, a bank volunteer, “a lot of the food comes from Tesco’s and a lot of it is Marks and Spencer’s.” Waitrose and Sainsbury’s also make donations. Otherwise, a large portion of it would be discarded.
Another volunteer, Joseph, adds, “They usually just send it to the pig farm.” “We try not to waste it because we don’t want it to end up in a landfill, so if someone can take it, that’s great.”
The volunteers do their best to distribute the free food, but it stays on display for four days. They identify a primary cause.
Joseph adds, “One of the biggest issues is that a lot of younger people don’t know how to cook; they just want to use air fryers and microwaves.”
