Common households struggle to afford food in Britain, with the cost of living soaring constantly nowadays! Hence, Britons have started demanding the return of the Community Feeding Centres that used to exist during the Second World War.

It was during the Great Depression in the 1940s that Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965), the then Prime Minister of Britain, had set up a chain of restaurants in order to provide his countrymen with a not-too-expensive nutritious diet! People from all walks of life used to visit those restaurants where quality food items were available at a cheap price. Although those restaurants were known as Community Feeding Centres, Prime Minister Churchill called them British Restaurant.

The British Government ran those centres on a non-profit basis, as volunteers used to prepare and serve foods. Meat, two types of vegetarian items, desserts and tea were available at reasonable prices at those Community Feeding Centres. The growing popularity of such restaurants prompted the Churchill Administration to open at least 10 new branches every week across Britain.

Now, Britons want Members of the Parliament (MPs) to set up and sponsor Community Feeding Centres in different parts of the country. People have argued that the availability of seasonal and locally produced nutritious food at subsidised rates at those centres shall help reduce wastage of crops. They have also argued that the entire community of a particular region would have daily meals at those centres. In fact, this system exists in many cities across the globe. Community canteens were set up in Singapore after Independence, while Government-sponsored Milk Bars became quite popular in Poland during the Communist Era. Even today, food items at a reasonable price are available in those Milk Bars in Poland.

The Times published an article, titled The food hub feeding families in one of the UK’s most deprived towns, on January 25, 2024, mentioning that a discount food shop in Jaywick, Essex was offering customers “a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese and frozen foods, as well as a range of household items and cupboard staples“.

Terry, a 59-year-old customer, told the British daily: “I don’t eat for luxury, I eat to survive.” According to Terry, he chooses items from the shelf in Brooklands community shop. He said that the rising prices in supermarkets prompted him to visit the community shop for purchasing the groceries. “The community shop is a more affordable option for me. You are looking around for the cheaper food, but it is just not there in some supermarkets,” he stressed.

Locals have to pay a small membership fee to visit that community shop thrice a week and purchase items that cost about half what they would in supermarkets. The community shop was set up in September 2022 when the cost of living started to bite common people and energy bills increased across Britain. Dee (56), another customer, claimed that the social supermarket had a “great impact” on the locals. “It is helpful for the community, especially the elderly people and saves them from going into Clacton. They can come in here and get all their bits and pieces. It is a lot cheaper than down the shop,” he told The Times.

It seems that it is Churchill who would be instrumental to rescue a Hungry Britain, yet again!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das