Amidst rising living costs and stagnant wages, the number of people in Britain relying on food banks to survive has tripled over the last year to 355,000, according to new figures released today.
Trussell trust charity said 355,000 people received food parcels from its 400 food banks between April and September - more than the entire number given out during the whole of last year in recession-hit Britain.
A third of those being helped were children, and a third needed food following a delay in the payment of benefits.
The Trussell Trust said the problem was so severe that some people using food banks have started to hand back items that need cooking, as they cannot afford to use the energy.
The Trust is calling for a public enquiry into why so many people are having difficulty feeding themselves.
"The level of food poverty in the UK is not acceptable," said Chris Mould, the Trust's executive chairman.
"It's scandalous, and it is causing deep distress to thousands of people," he said.
Professionals including doctors and social workers hand out vouchers, which in the first instance can be exchanged for three days' worth of emergency food.
The Trust said that the problem of hunger in the UK is getting worse.
Rising living costs and stagnant wages are forcing more people to live on a "financial knife edge", it said.
It also forecast that rising energy prices this winter are likely to see more people "choosing between heating and eating."
It admits that one reason for the rise in the numbers is that there are twice as many food banks in existence as last year. But the Trust says the number of people using them has still tripled, and that even the well-established food banks are reporting significant rises in their use.
However the government has taken issue with the report.
"The Trussell Trust itself says it is opening three new food banks every week, so it's not surprising more people are using them," the BBC quoted a government spokesperson as saying.
On the matter of benefit payments, the Department for Work and Pensions said that there was "no robust evidence that welfare reforms are linked to increased use of food banks".
It also said that benefit processing times have steadily improved over the past five years, with 90 per cent now being paid within 16 days.
The call for an inquiry was backed by international aid charity Oxfam, which said that the rise in food bank use revealed worrying gaps in Britain's social safety net.
Oxfam's chief executive, Mark Goldring, said: "This escalation in people using food banks shows we are now facing the shocking reality of destitution, hardship and hunger on a large scale in the UK.
