The number of Queenslanders seeking help to put food on their tables each month is increasing and a majority of charities are struggling, a leading food relief organisation says.
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Foodbank - which supplies 58 per cent of food distributed by Australian charities - says its partners have noticed a 10 per cent increase in people seeking help in Queensland the past year.
Foodbank says through its partners it supplies meals to nearly 166,000 people in Queensland, however only 35 per cent of the charities can keep up with demand.
Nearly 23,000 Queenslanders requesting help each month are unable to be fed - 47 per cent of whom are children.
The results were contained in Foodbank's 2014 Hunger Report, released on Thursday to mark World Food Day.
Foodbank Queensland general manager Ken McMillan said requests had increased each year since the Global Financial Crisis.
"Every suburb's got poverty. People don't realise that one in four pensioners in this state are struggling and one in seven kids go to school without breakfast," he said.
"The poor are getting poorer and the richer getting richer. The gap is widening."
Mr McMillan said there was a culture of food wastage in Australia, with enough food produced locally to feed "60 million people". He said a third ended up being dumped.
However, Mr McMillan said awareness of hunger relief charities was improving in the farming and dairy industries, as well as supermarkets.
Currently, more than 700 companies donate food and groceries to Foodbank, including stock close to expiry, with items incorrect labelling and damaged packaging.
"We're reaching out to more farmers now. We're starting to tap into where the food is being wasted .The cost of dumping is going up so these people who have surplus foods are looking for alternatives rather than throwing it away," he said.
"Our expectations from our farmers is [the food] has always got to be perfect. Well it isn't perfect all the time and we need to realise that fruit and veggies do have a spot on them occasionally."
The national results of the Foodbank report showed 516,000 Australians rely on its services each month.
The main reason they asked for help was because of low incomes or unexpected expenses or events.
