Hull Council pledged £30,000 to a new community garden yesterday, underlining a rising use of urban farming by communities to tackle starvation caused by the coalition government.

Pop-up grassroots farms turning derelict areas of Hull into sources of fruit and veg for those in need could soon become a reality.

Rooted in Hull co-founder Mark Cleaver explained that while some working-class areas have plenty of fast-food joints and supermarkets they lack access to fresh fruit and veg.

At the same time, “what you see is a rise of foodbanks all over the place, in Hull as in many other places.

“We are also seeing things like fair share, where supermarkets are dishing out their food to people in food poverty,” he added.

But for Mr Cleaver and the people behind the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens these options are not sustainable.

“An example of that is a new shop in Hull which dishes food to people who need it,” said Mr Cleaver.

“So you walk down the high street, you walk into a shop and you can only buy food from there if you are poor.”

But the visibility of a shop where the client needs to be in a vulnerable position is “not great for your self-confidence,” he argued.

Instead, the team behind the project wants to empower the community to grow their own food, learn about different cuisines, and sell the remaining produce to local shops for a small profit.

“The pop-up city farm idea for Hull is a great example of the innovation and alternative thinking that has emerged in recent years, as people become more interested in issues of food provenance, sustainability, the health benefits of growing your own and food poverty,” said federation chief executive Jeremy Iles.

The news has come on the same day as new figures show poverty and personal debt is costing British economy over £8 billion in support services.

Money advice charity StepChange told the government that active help from authorities could slash that cost almost in half.

The group revealed that more than one in five people would not be able to cover basic bills with their savings if their income dropped by 25 per cent.