The Indre Food Bank is launching a mobile social grocery store in Brenne. From September, a distribution room will open its doors in the old Vendoeuvres station. A truck will also crisscross the neighboring municipalities. With this initiative, the Food Bank wants helping disadvantaged and isolated people in the countryside to do their shopping at low cost.
Products ten times cheaper than in the supermarket
While waiting for the start of the distributions, the social grocery truck is parked behind the old Vendoeuvres station. On the inside, you will find all kinds of food and products. The supply will depend on donations received by the Food Bank. “There will be something to eat, a bit of everything, sometimes we will have ketchup, other times mayonnaise. We will also have feminine hygiene products”lists Henri Gaignault, former president of the Banque Alimentaire de l’Indre and manager of this new grocery store.
The rates charged will be very attractive: 10 times cheaper than in supermarkets. “It’s really cheap, we’re here to help people who are in need, so we don’t have sales or markdowns”jokes Henri Gaignault.
About twenty municipalities served
Access to the social grocery store will be based on resources. Once all the charges have been paid, beneficiaries often only have 500 euros left to live on. “It will be a population of single women with children and elderly people who do not move much or who cannot move”says Nicole, a volunteer.
A population that will not need to move, the truck will go to them. Once a week he will cross about twenty municipalities of Brenne, notably Migné, Mézières-en-Brenne and Rosnay. The objective is not to leave rurality aside. “In the countryside, it’s a hidden poverty, we don’t hear them, we don’t see them. It’s very important to go there”insists the volunteer.
“In terms of food aid, you have everything you need in the cities, while in the countryside, there is not muchadds Henri Gaignault. Poverty is growing more and more in the countryside, especially in Brenne, we have to intervene”.
With its social grocery store, the Banque Alimentaire de l’Indre plans to help more than a hundred people every year. She is also looking for volunteers to ensure the operation of the truck, in particular drivers.