in Marseille, students talk about their difficulties in getting enough to eat

On the campus of a university in Marseille, several students, whether on scholarships or not, talk about their difficulties in eating properly. A precariousness that requires daily sacrifices.

Nearly 20% of students do not have enough to eat, according to a study carried out by the Federation of General Student Associations (Fage), the leading student union, and this concerns scholarship holders and non-scholarship holders alike. The study also highlights the difficulties in accessing student accommodation.

Leaving the university restaurant on a campus in Marseille, Baptiste, 24, has just had his meal for one euro, the price for scholarship holders. This master’s student has a very tight budget for eating. Groceries cost 15 euros per week maximum. “I take whatever is cheapest: pasta, pasta sauce, potatoes, he describes. Honestly, all the products I consume in general have increased. So, there are times when I skip meals to save a little. I did it three days ago, because I haven’t received the scholarship yet. It’s not pleasant, but I did it.” It was therefore on an empty stomach that Baptiste revised his exams.

“I smoke to suppress hunger”

It’s not easy to concentrate in these conditions. “In fact, if you can’t eat, you can’t think”, says Ona, a foreign student. In his hand, a shopping cart on wheels. She was hoping to come across a food distribution on campus. “If I don’t have food aid, it’s very complicated, she laments. I find fruits and vegetables super expensive. Cheeses are out of the question. Olive oil too, it’s something that has become a bit of a luxury.”

The young woman often had to find ways to skip meals due to lack of means.
“Before, when I smoked cigarettes, I said: ‘I smoke to suppress hunger’.”

“Even during breaks, I had to tell my friends that I had a toothache or something like that, so as not to go out with them, out of shame at being poor.”

Ona, foreign student

on franceinfo

Today, Ona studies performing arts after dropping out of law because she had to spend time working to feed herself. Ilona, ​​26, also has to juggle classes and a job, 18 hours a week, as a supervisor in a college. She has no other choice because she has no scholarship. “There are not many rights for non-scholarship students”regrets the young woman.

“For Christmas, I ate apples. I made one meal a day and ate apples.”

Ilona, ​​26 years old

at franceinfo

“But I don’t always eat very well, admits the student. I have to work to be able to live a minimum of well, so I just hope I don’t miss my year because I decided to work. But that’s how it is.”

Ilona revises her cultural mediation classes after work with a friend who hosts her, because the young woman does not have the right to housing in a university campus and has difficulty finding a healthy apartment on her small budget.