Labour would eliminate the need for food banks in Scotland with a £175 million anti-poverty fund, according to Scottish leader Jim Murphy.
Mr Murphy said the fund would be set up using money allocated in the Scottish budget to mitigate the so-called bedroom tax that would be saved as a result of his party’s plans to abolish it.
The number of food banks run by the Trussell Trust charity in Scotland soared from one in 2011 to 48 at the end of 2014.
Mr Murphy was joined by shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves MP in Glasgow as he set out the party’s plans for to tackle the problem.
They include abolishing government targets for benefit sanctions, banning zero hour contracts, raising the minimum wage and extending the living wage.
Mr Murphy said his party would also cap energy bills, ban unfair rent rises and tax the profits of legal loan sharks to fund credit unions.
Ms Reeves branded David Cameron the “food bank Prime Minister” as she made a plea to Scots to back Labour in the general election.
She said: “In just 44 days’ time people in Scotland can decide the general election. Scotland can get rid of the food bank Prime Minister and elect a Labour government which will protect vulnerable people across the UK by scrapping the bedroom tax.
“A UK Labour government scrapping the bedroom tax means more money in the Scottish budget to support and protect those have borne the brunt of five years of the Tories.
“David Cameron’s failure to tackle low pay has led to an 1,147% increase in the number of people in Scotland using food banks.”
Mr Murphy said: “The two things that sum up five years of Tory rule are the explosion of food banks and the hated bedroom tax that has been imposed on Scotland.
“By abolishing the Tories’ hated bedroom tax we can establish a £175 million Scottish anti-poverty fund for those who, through no fault of their own, fall through the cracks.
“Labour’s mission is to battle poverty and inequality. I want to make food banks history in Scotland.
“It won’t happen overnight, but by making work pay, ending government targets on benefit sanctions and protecting the vulnerable we can begin to build the fairest nation on earth.”