The Archbishop of Canterbury says he was left more shocked at the plight of poor families in the UK being forced to rely on food banks than the suffering in African refugee camps.
Hunger "stalks large parts of the country" while the scale of waste was "astonishing", said the Most Rev Justin Welby.
He made his comments ahead of the publication on Monday of a parliamentary report he has backed that sets out a series of proposals aimed at preventing people going hungry, and urges swift action by the Government and food industry.
In an article in The Mail on Sunday Archbishop Welby said, although less "serious", the situation of a family having to turn to food bank in the UK had shocked him more than terrible suffering in Africa because it was so unexpected.
Archbishop Welby wrote about his visit to a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the scene that he encountered.
"It was deeply shocking but, tragically, expected," he wrote.
"A few weeks later in England, I was talking to some people - a mum, dad and one child - in a food bank.
"They were ashamed to be there. The dad talked miserably.
"He said they had each been skipping a day's meals once a week in order to have more for the child, but then they needed new tyres for the car so they could get to work at night, and just could not make ends meet.
"So they had to come to a food bank. They were treated with respect, love even, by the volunteers from local churches. But they were hungry, and ashamed to be hungry.
"I found their plight more shocking. It was less serious, but it was here."
The sharp increase in the number of food banks across the country in recent years has proved politically divisive.
Earlier this year, ministers were accused of "taking food from the mouths of children" after blocking millions of pounds of European funding agreed for British food banks.
Cash to help people suffering extreme poverty across the EU was backed in a vote at the European Parliament but the Government said food aid was better decided nationally rather than by Brussels.
Archbishop Welby has called for changes to allow food companies to pass on goods they could no longer sell.
Under the current system it costs retailers to give away surplus food to the hungry.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "As a country we have enough food to go around, and we agree that it is wrong that anyone should go hungry at the same time as surplus food is going to waste.
"There is a moral argument as well as a sustainability one to ensure we make the best use of resources.
"While this report outlines important areas for consideration, we should remember that this country has been through the deepest recession in living memory, and sticking to this Government's long-term economic plan is the best way to improve living standards."
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