food bank
Food bank in Britain
The number of Scottish people using food banks and soup kitchens has increased by five times in a year, a new report reveals.

According to the overview of food aid provision by the Scottish government's social research unit, food bank charity The Trussell Trust handed out food support to 23,073 Scots between April and September, compared with 5,726 recorded in 2011-12.

Speaking during a visit to the Edinburgh South East food bank on Tuesday, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond described as "absolutely unacceptable" the increase in the number of people ending up using food banks.

Charities blamed the rise on the UK government's welfare reforms, falling incomes and benefit delays.

British MPs are expected to face a critical debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday about the rise of food bank use and the increase in the country's hunger levels.

Meanwhile, in a survey of almost 2,000 adults by the Unite trade union, three out of four Britons blamed the rise in dependence on food banks on food prices and increased living costs.

"The rise of food bank use in the UK is the surest sign that this government's austerity programme and cost-of-living crisis is causing genuine human misery," said Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.

In a letter to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) earlier this month, health experts warned that food poverty in Britain has reached the levels of a "public health emergency."

Moreover, in a survey, conducted in November by The Trussell Trust, store giant Tesco and food redistribution charity FareShare, some 27 percent of British adults said they found it harder to feed their families than a year ago.