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"I'm sure there are many who use these food banks in the UK in a similar way. Either bad money managers, freeloaders, foreign students, people here on visa's earning not as much as they hoped they would, and so on".

I don't think so. My understanding is the food bank system, certainly as far as the Trussell Trust goes, works on a referral-only basis.

Every client is sent to the food bank after concerns raised by health visitors, doctors, social workers, and other professionals and social organisations.

They are given an emergency supply of food which should last them for at least three days. They are not allowed to keep coming back.

I agree with with you "Food banks are supported by a whole range of different organisations," But the subject of Food Banks has been raised in the House of Commons by Labour members recently and it is clear that it has become political, a broadside attack by powerful people that is why it is on programmes like Newsnight, ITV C4 with people like Justin Forsyth banging on etc.

Why is this news? Food Banks and soup kitchens are nothing new, we had them forever, given it is always good to see Christian organisations and the like doing something for the poor, but is it really melt down?

"Why is this news? Food Banks and soup kitchens are nothing new, we had them forever"

I don't think this is correct. Soup kitchens we have had forever, but not food banks. Food banks in the UK is a recent phenomenon - about the last 4 years.

"Why is this news?" Because there has been an enormous increase in food banks opening in the last year or two which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Save the Children campaign which only started this week.

Obviously politicians will take advantage of any situation but that is not the point here. The point is the huge rise in food banks opening.

I think this is for two reasons:

1. Working people on the minimum wage finding it an enormous effort to survive. Over the last 4 or 5 years we have had virtually no pay rise for Joe Public but inflation until recently has been at about 5% with food prices going up and electricity and gas bills soaring. This has resulted in a big reduction in living standards (about 20% at least) and low paid working people not being able to cope.

2. There has been a big increase in people being sanctioned and losing their benefits. View the graph here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19468697

Since 2010, while the number of people getting their Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claims refused has fallen, from 80,000 to about 40,000, the number of people getting their benefits suspended has spiked.

And this is just for JSA. The disability tests introduced for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are leading to thousands of people having their disability benefits cut, sometimes by ?30 out of ?100 a week, says the CAB.

To put it bluntly, the new benefits regime is forcing people off benefits - not permanently, but as a temporary punishment. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, sanction or disallowance happened to 167,000 people in the three months to February 2012.

This is what is causing the huge increase in food banks, not some politically inspired campaign.