The Wellington City Mission says it's seeing a "dramatic" increase in the demand for protein rich foods.
Currently, the City Mission gets support from charity 'Meat the Need' and receives 500 grams of processed meat packs, donated from farmers and facilitated by Silver Fern Farmers.
Jeremy Neeve, the general manager of Wellington's Social Supermarket, said that he sees about 130 people visit the supermarket every week - and that number's growing.
"It's really important that they get that protein because they can't have it with every meal.
"So, to be able to get it from a food supplier like Meat the Need is amazing for our people.
"We know the cost of groceries generally is going up, we see that reflecting in the number of people coming to us for assistance. The increase we're noticing is quite dramatic.
"Food insecurity and poverty are growing in Wellington and the high cost of rent and living in the city are the main drivers. People don't have enough money to feed themselves during the week and are getting themselves into debt to try and keep their heads above water," Neeve said.
'Meat The Need' plans to address this issue with˜The Big Feed telethon, which aims to raise as many mince and milk meals as possible. Neeve hopes the whole country will get behind them.
"I cannot stress enough how important it is for us to get that support and how desperately protein is needed for our people and families. It's a staple they wouldn't otherwise get and it's really, really appreciated by everyone," he said.
"We see people every week where they're not going to make it to the next and we can see from their bills that it's a really tough financial situation and they might be with us for a while, said Neeve.
For more information, about ˜The Big Feed and Meat the Need visit https://meattheneed.org/.
