A Fife foodbank user walked 12 miles from Ballingry to Dunfermline to access a service, MSPs have been told.
An emotive meeting of Holyrood’s Welfare Reform Committee heard people who rely on the facilities often cannot afford to pay for transport, while many are given items that can be eaten cold because they are unable to pay for electricity in order to cook.
SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing told the meeting she had met a person who had hiked a dozen miles to the centre in Dunfermline on Monday night.
“It’s not just the walking in. It’s the walking back with maybe 12 kilos of food,” said the Mid Scotland and Fife representative.
She revealed two children she spoke to at the foodbank had voluntarily given up their comic allowance so they could help contribute to the family budget.
The people running voluntary organisations across the country told the committee thousands more people have turned to foodbanks for emergency food parcels following changes to the benefits system, which were introduced by the UK Government in April 2013.
Services are also being used by people who are employed on low incomes, and who are struggling with the rising cost of living, the charities said.
The Trussell Trust has reported its foodbanks helped more than 56,000 people between April last year and February 24. The total for the previous 12 months was 14,318 including about 4,000 children.
Dundee-based Scotland development officer Ewan Gurr said: “It is indisputable that people are under more pressure than they ever have been, and obviously we are not seeing benefits keep pace with the rise in living costs.
“The evidence that we are seeing every day right across our foodbank network is that welfare reforms are inextricably linked to the rising demand for emergency food relief.”
Mr Gurr also revealed he was forced to utilise the very foodbank he runs for a short period due to funding issues and stressed that he did not want the service “being part of the welfare state”.
Denis Curran, chairman of Loaves and Fishes, a Glasgow charity that provides food parcels, said people were “walking three or four miles with children” to attend foodbanks and that many attendees are “broken” when they arrive.
He challenged MSPs to face up to what people using charitable services do.
Mr Curran said: “Powers that be it is time you woke up to reality. We don’t need meetings to decide if benefit cuts have got something to do with a rise in foodbanks.”