12,500 people in Co Louth are suffering from food poverty, according to new figures released by trade unions Unite and Mandate.
Despite the alarming figures, which account for 10.2% of the population of the county, Louth has one of the smallest levels of food poverty nationwide.
The Wee County had the sixth lowest levels of food poverty according to the figures, coming just behind Dublin (8.8%), Limerick (9.6%), Kildare (9.6%), Cork (9.7%) and Galway (10.1%).
As the trade unions called for the Government to release vital funds to help tackle the problem, they cited pensioners, the newly unemployed and lone parents as among the worst off.
Mandate general secretary John Douglas said food poverty means someone has been forced to miss a meal because they could not afford it.
“It may mean they cannot afford a meal with meat or the vegetarian equivalent every second day or afford a roast or vegetarian equivalent once a week,” Mr Douglas said.
“Those suffering food poverty may be lone-parent families, they may be the newly unemployed, they may be pensioners – and they may be people in work, struggling to survive on low wages.”
Talk of the Town 