article_snippet.sent: The country’s biggest food bank organisation yesterday claimed the number of people claiming free meal packages from The country’s biggest food bank organisation branches passed a million last year.
article_snippet.sent: The figures from The Trussell Trust were seized on by Labour and the TUC as ‘shocking’ evidence that millions need emergency food because of low pay, the so-called bedroom tax, and stopped benefits.
article_snippet.sent: The Trussell Trust claimed that 1 million people are being fed from food banks such as this one in Glasgow .
article_snippet.sent: Another independent food bank organisation warned that such figures could be misleading because food banks are a new phenomenon and should not be used as a ‘political football’.
article_snippet.sent: The row comes amid growing controversy over the spread of food banks – said by supporters to show that hunger is commonplace and need overwhelming, and by critics to show that when free food is handed out, people will always come forward to take it.
article_snippet.sent: The Trussell Trust UK director Adrian Curtis said: ‘Despite welcome signs of economic recovery, hunger continues to affect significant numbers of men, women and children.
article_snippet.sent: The latest figures highlight how vital it is that we all work to prevent and relieve hunger in UK.
article_snippet.sent: The latest figures show a slowdown in the numbers visiting food banks, with a rise of under 100,000 in numbers recorded since 2013-14, when there were 913,138 food bank visits.
article_snippet.sent: This means an unknown number make repeat visits, and some analysts say the real total of people who went to food banks may be closer to half a million.
article_snippet.sent: Research carried out by the Trust, Oxfam, the Church of England and other charities last year also found that low pay is only a minor reason for people going to get aide from food banks.
article_snippet.sent: low pay is only a minor reason for people going to get aide from food banks found that more than four out of five users live on state benefits and only one out of 40 users questioned was working on a zero hours contract.
article_snippet.sent: Labour’s work and pensions spokesman Rachel Reeves said: ‘The shocking rise in the number of people relying on Trussell Trust food banks since 2010 shows the Tory plan is failing.
article_snippet.sent: Labour’s failure to tackle low pay, the bedroom tax and delays in benefit payments have led to over a million people depending on emergency food aid.
article_snippet.sent: Oxfam poverty chief Rachael Orr said: ‘It is extremely worrying to see yet another rise in the number of people being forced to visit food banks in the UK.
article_snippet.sent: The picture of millions going hungry contrasts with the findings of the respected US-based Social Progress Index published earlier this month, which put Britain in first place out of 133 countries for Britain success in conquering hunger.
article_snippet.sent: The Oxford Food Bank, which is independent of the Trussell Trust network, urged caution in the interpretation of food bank figures.
article_snippet.sent: The organisation, which distributes food to other charities which provide meals, rather than handing it out to individuals, said: ‘We think that increasing use of food banks is an unreliable guide to underlying need because food banks are a new phenomenon –
article_snippet.sent: whereas food poverty is not.
article_snippet.sent: ‘The issue of food banks and food poverty should not be used in a game of political football when the statistical evidence is so potentially misleading.
article_snippet.sent: It is high time the OFB model of food bank – which prevents food being wasted and combats food poverty – is encouraged and replicated elsewhere.
highlights_snippet.sent: Critics claim that people will come forward if free food is on offer .
  