Afrasianet - Britain's largest food bank network said the cost of living is pushing food banks to the "edge of the cliff", with new bank visitors rising even before the start of winter.

Bloomberg News reported that the Trussell Trust network of food banks registered 320,000 new visitors between last April and September, an increase of 40 percent compared to last year, according to the network report.

The network added that for the first time in the organization's history, emergency food needs outweighed donations. "Winter is usually the busiest time of the year at food banks," Network Executive Director Emma Reeve said in an interview.

Frequency to food banks rose as the rate of inflation in Britain increased to levels not recorded in four decades. "Fair Share", a bank that distributes food to charities in contact with the needy, urged supermarkets to make more food donations to help these banks continue.

Chief Executive Lindsey Boswell said demand for food was "recording unprecedented levels", with 90 percent of charities reporting an increased need. Large retailers are under pressure to keep prices low after reporting strong financial results, while many of their customers struggle to make ends meet.

Sabine Goodwin, coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network, warned that the demand for aid was increasing "at an alarming rate", to the point that suppliers were struggling to meet demand. Nutrition Britain has reported that demand has increased by at least 30% in its food clubs over the past six months, with some banks seeing a 100% jump. "

The frequency with which people need our service and the amount of food they need has increased," said Andrew Forsey, director of Nutrition Britain.

Despite desperate calls from activists, the British government has yet to announce more financial support for struggling families. The Trussell Fund reported that it delivered 2.1 million food parcels last year.

The numbers in January and February of this year were 22 percent higher than they were in the same two months of 2020, before the Corona pandemic.

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that about 88 percent of adults have reported an increase in their cost of living over the past month.

The bills are set to rise sharply again when the price ceiling set by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets is reviewed. Food prices are also expected to increase as producers pass on higher emergency costs for energy, fuel, transportation and labor to consumers. Food inflation was 5.9 percent in March, nearly double the rate of increase in government benefit payments this year.