The issue with food banks and food programs is that they often do little to address the underlying cause, which is that housing is not a guaranteed right. Difficult to store stuff long term if you have nowhere to store it. Fresh shit is basically right out.

The other thing is that most, if not all, of these private organizations are tied to religious organizations, most of which (Unitarian Universalists ftw here) make you attend a service or join a group in order to have basic access to these things. Hell around here, even the domestic abuse shelters are all run by Christian fundamentalist groups, and while it is good that someone is doing it, they actively turn away trans survivors because 'they are actually men'.

The issue is that it isn't a right. We give up so much to the state in terms of freedom and we don't even get the right to the basic security of goods.

That isn't to say that China doesn't have its own issues, but in giving up some of your freedoms your are guaranteed some level of basic security.