Mark Seed now runs a community food project in Trowbridge, east Cardiff.
"I'm still shocked by the fact that we have people who are eating pet food," he said.
"[There are] people who are trying to heat their food on a radiator or a candle.
"These are shocking kind of stories that are actually the truth."
"Cardiff is a flourishing city however there are pockets of deprivation which are simply not acceptable."
Mr Seed said people were not being paid enough to afford the essentials, with the cost of living crisis pushing prices way up "so that everybody is squeezed or they just can't afford it".