When Lord Freud, the unpopular UK Minister for Welfare reform, claimed that there was no link between the Westminster Government’s welfare cuts and the huge rise in foodbank use, he was booed in the House of Lords.

His argument that the threefold increase in foodbank use in the last year is being driven by desire for free food, rather than real hardship caused by low pay and benefit cuts, is completely out of touch with the reality of foodbank users’ lives.

It is unacceptable, in this day and age, for people in Wales to have to turn to foodbanks because they are unable to afford to feed themselves and their families.

A recent study by the Trussell Trust, the organisation that runs the largest network of foodbanks in the UK, found that people only use foodbanks when facing a crisis. In the last few years, those crises are being made worse by increasingly widespread low pay, job insecurity and the failure of the welfare system following Government funding cuts.

Whether it’s illness, bereavement, job loss or relationship breakdown, the welfare system is supposed to be a safety net for us all when disaster strikes. But the study found that for between half and two-thirds of the people interviewed, delays in benefit payments, unfair sanctions and cuts to benefit payments mean that the safety net is failing.

The crisis of low pay and job insecurity is also contributing to the problem. 20% of foodbank referrals in Wales are caused by low income.

This week I will be visiting the Blaenau Gwent foodbank as part of a National Assembly inquiry into poverty in Wales.

I am looking forward to meeting the volunteers whose hard work is making a huge difference to the lives of those who are struggling because they don’t have enough to meet their needs. I am also looking forward to meeting those using the foodbank so I can listen to them talk about the challenges they face.

Food banks offer more than just food, those who use them find the kindness they experience there and the advice about other support services offered almost as helpful as the food package itself.

While too many people suffer low wages and a broken benefits system, food banks are a vital stop gap that ensures that no one needs to go hungry.