The U.K. government released figures last month showing that unemployment here has reached an all-time low since 1971. At the same time, the summer demand for food banks is at a crisis point, with a record number of banks almost running out of food. What do we make of these parallel and seemingly contradictory trends?

For starters, low incomes – many workers are on part-time and zero hours contracts – as well as changes to benefits are pushing more and more people into food poverty and a reliance on charity to survive. The government seems to view the increasing role of food banks as evidence of former Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Big Society” in action, rather than a sad indictment of a country’s poorest and most vulnerable members let down.

The Trussell Trust, the U.K.’s only chain supplier of food banks, runs two thirds of all food banks in the country. “Last year almost 1.2 million three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis by Trussell Trust food banks and we need to talk about why this is, and how we can reduce the need for food banks in the future,” Emma Thorogood, a Trussell Trust press officer, told Occupy.com.

“No one should face going hungry because they’re unable to afford food in the U.K., and we’re clear hunger needs to be a priority for the government.”

The government tracks the use of Trussell Trust food banks – but not of independent food banks. “Whilst we share our figures with the public, politicians and government, our figures cannot show the whole picture of food bank use in the U.K.,” she said. “As part of the End Hunger U.K. movement, we alongside other U.K. charities, like Child Poverty Action Group and Oxfam, are asking the government to start monitoring food insecurity in the U.K.”

Thorogood said the Trust is concerned about the impact of a new benefits system in the U.K., especially in terms of payment delays. “2016-17 has been a new record high for food bank use in the U.K.,” she added, explaining that some areas of the country have been affected more than others, mainly because they are the first to experience the changes in benefits.

“One of the things we’re really concerned about from the evidence of 2016-17 is the impact of Universal Credit rollout, the new system for administering benefits. Food banks in areas of full Universal Credit rollout to single people, couples and families have seen a 16.85 percent average increase in referrals for emergency food, more than double the national average of 6.64 percent,” she said.

Dr. Stephen Iafrati, a senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Wolverhampton, gave further context for the crisis. “If we look at what is really going on, we can see a growing economic polarization, as evidenced by news from the Resolution Foundation that the number of people is increasing at the same time as the number of people with no home is also increasing,” he told Occupy.com.

Iafrati said he believes the government sees food banks as “a positive expression of civic responsibility” rather than evidence that people are being failed by the system. “From early in the coalition government, as food bank demand was rising sharply, the government ruled out providing funding for food banks because they did not want to 'nationalize' food banks or stifle the way they operate. In essence, many people in government saw food banks as being a way in which communities and voluntary organizations can organize welfare more effectively than government,” he said.

For Dr. Martin Caraher, a professor of food and health policy at City, University of London, “the government is almost refusing to accept that there is even such a concept as food poverty.”

“They don’t measure it and they’re quite happy that food banks are offering a service that they don’t have to offer," Caraher said. "It’s aligned to their cuts in welfare. Seven or eight years ago, if you were in dire need you went along and got a loan or some other kind of help from your welfare officer. Now you get vouchers to go to the food bank. The government are saving money by not having to give out money for food.”

Like Iafrati, Caraher believes the government is trying to put a positive spin on the existence of food banks. “They dress it up in the guise of welcoming volunteering and the whole non-governmental organization (NGO) sector,” he said. Instead, and far more valuable, the solution should be that the government “introduce a minimum wage across the country and ban zero-hours contracts.”

Elaine, who declined to use her last name, works part-time in retail and is a single mother of two young children. “Explaining to my kids, who are six and nine, that we have no option but to live on tinned vegetables, pasta and bread is heartbreaking,” she told Occupy.com.

“It’s not nutritionally sound for growing children, but I also feel sad that I can’t give them treats. Don’t get me wrong – I’d be lost without our local food bank. But it seems ridiculous that the government is leaving people like me to rely on charity. I don’t feel secure, especially when I read about food banks getting low on supplies. Surely the government should be looking after us, not leaving us to this uncertain future?”

With recent reports showing that some claimants are waiting six weeks to receive their Universal Credit payments, and a swelling “gig economy,” food bank use only looks set to rise. In the short-term, with the end of summer holidays and a return to free school meals, the summer “run” on food banks may not yet be over. So far this summer, 42 Trussell Trust food banks have been forced to make urgent appeals for donations, mostly begging for versatile staples like baked beans. They seem to have set a worrying precedent.

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