Food banks warn surge in demand will prevent feeding hungriest this winter

theguardian.com:

Food banks across Britain have warned of a “completely unsustainable” surge in demand that will prevent them feeding the hungriest families this winter.

Organisations representing 169 food banks told the Guardian the number of people seeking emergency help had already grown “dramatically” and predicted “bleak and disturbing” weeks ahead.

Of the 169 providers, nearly 70% said they may need to turn people away or shrink the size of emergency rations this winter. Almost three-quarters said food donation levels had dropped since April, despite the spiralling demand.

The warning came amid alarming new forecasts about spiralling inflation, with pressure growing on Liz Truss, Boris Johnson’s likely successor as prime minister, to give some indication of how she intends to deal with the cost of living emergency.

The US investment bank Goldman Sachs also warned on Tuesday that inflation in the UK could top 22% next year, close to the post-war record set in 1975, if wholesale energy prices remain at current high levels, heaping more pressure on households and businesses.

In one glimmer of hope, UK gas prices dropped by more than 20% on Tuesday, amid reports that efforts to fill European gas storage before the winter appear to be ahead of schedule.

However, while prices eased from near record highs, they are still 12 times higher than before the energy crisis began, and neither Truss nor her leadership rival, Rishi Sunak, have set out how they intend to mitigate the crisis for millions of people this autumn and winter.

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “When even food banks are warning they may need to shut up shop this winter because they can’t meet the demand, we know the country is heading for a