At least 14,000 people in Mayo are affected by food poverty, according to two leading trade unions.
This week Unite and Mandate published a new report - Hungry for Action - in which they estimated food poverty levels in every county in Ireland.
Nationally, an estimated one in 10 people are affected by food poverty.
The trade unions have called for an immediate subsidy of €10 million to charities providing food relief across the country.
They also want the Government to reverse some austerity cutbacks early in the New Year to help struggling families, workers and pensioners.
Food poverty is defined as missing a meal in the last two weeks due to lack of money, not being able to afford meat or a vegetarian equivalent every other day, or not being able to afford a roast one day a week.
Unite’s regional secretary Jimmy Kelly said food poverty is “a reality in every county in Ireland”.
Sinn Féin Councillor Rose Conway-Walsh described the numbers experiencing food poverty as “shocking”.
“This report shows us that it is not only those without a job that experience poverty,” she said. ”Nearly one-in-five people at work are officially categorised as deprived. In households where there is only one income for work the deprivation rate rises to one-in-four.”
