“Today, it must be said that precariousness is increasing, hunger is increasing in France,” declares Patrice Doucet.
“It’s extremely difficult for our volunteers to say no to people to whom we usually had to say yes”, deplores Tuesday, November 21 exclusively on franceinfo the president of Restos du coeur, Patrice Douret, on the occasion of the launch of the 2023-2024 campaign. The association represents 35% of food aid in France, but its president is worried about its future, and denounces the growing precariousness in the country.
franceinfo: In September, you launched an appeal for donations. Were you afraid of refusing beneficiaries? Where are we today?
Patrice Douret: What we feared has now happened. In relation to the people who were registered for food aid at Restos du coeur, we had defined a figure of 150,000 people who might not be accepted. And today, registrations are underway, it’s still a little early to make a definitive assessment, but that’s the trend. What must be emphasized is that it is extremely difficult for our volunteers to say no to people to whom we usually had to say yes. But this inflation is also incredibly violent for people in difficulty, and we are keen to welcome them and still be able to maintain contact with all the people we refuse. It is too early to make an assessment. We will do it in the coming weeks.
Behind these numbers, there are people. On what criteria is the selection made?
These are simple eligibility criteria. A balance to live on, based on a difference between main resources and main expenses. But what must be added is that it is important for us to receive them with dignity. This is also why we made this decision, which is not only accounting, to slow down the machine. Because for us, it is important to be able to receive them, listen to them, guide them and respond to their needs.
Even if it’s to say no to them in the end?
Yes, because we only say no to them on food aid. The people to whom we have to say no, for these reasons, it is important to be able to keep them with us, to continue to welcome them, to listen to them. We have other activities than food aid and they are as essential as food.
These people who come to see you and to whom you are forced to say no, what is their profile?
We have all the profiles, unfortunately. What we see is that the increase in precariousness concerns all groups, both retirees, single-parent families, single people and especially many children, 39% are minors, and many workers poor.
“In the previous campaign, 1,300,000 people were welcomed, 171 million meals.”
Patrice Douret, president of Restos du coeurat franceinfo
People who, from one day to the next, change, who have housing, a job, who thought they were safe from this fall, this precariousness which falls on them because of inflation and the energy crisis.
The previous campaign already saw 30 million meals distributed over a year. What order of magnitude are you on for the campaign that is opening?
Unfortunately, the wave does not weaken. We see that, even having limited our eligibility criteria, we have a lot of people who come forward and who fit into this scale.
Does this mean that we are going to take a new step?
I fear it. And in any case, we will remain extremely attentive to this development.
How do your volunteers react to refusal or constraint?
First, I would like to emphasize that this is exceptional work that our 73,000 volunteers do every day. It’s very difficult to say no. I will say it again despite everything, there is a real kindness there. We are faced with people who understand, a form of resignation from people to whom we say no. First, many say ‘we knew it very well’, since it was announced that it might be difficult. But they fight. Our volunteers are fighting to continue to maintain this essential link. Don’t let go of someone you’ve said no to. And for the people we support, ensure that quickly, through our personal assistance and the support we provide, they can quickly leave our workforce again.
This reality that you have been describing for a few minutes is a sign, according to you, that France is becoming poorer?
Yes it’s clear. Today, it must be said that precariousness is increasing, hunger is increasing in France. We have families who make the choice between food and heating, housing, and transportation. It is extremely difficult to realize that, when we had not at all foreseen that we could sink one day and fall into precariousness, we must call on a solidarity association. It’s not easy, there is always this feeling of shame. But you have to call on an association to try to get out of it. And the Restos du coeur make sure that it happens as quickly as possible.
You launched an appeal last September, you were missing 35 million euros. Are you there today?
Our call was heard, both by the State which increased the credits which were planned by a little more than 10 million euros for the Restos du coeur, but also by businesses and individuals. Once again, it’s the addition of all this that means that we can, and we hope, at least get through the coming winter.
You said that you were worried about the survival of Restaurants in three years. What about this worry?
We remain attentive, there remain some uncertainties. The first is the number of people who will be registered for this campaign. And then 60% of the donations we receive are in November and December. So we can only be assured when we have passed this period of November and December, because it is absolutely necessary that we can obtain at least the equivalent of the donations that we received last year in order to be able to make slightly more reassuring projections. And then we remain very attentive to the evolution of precariousness. We could never have predicted such a development in a few months.
As for public assistance, you said that it was insufficient. You have 150 million euros. Today you are asking for 200 million [pour toutes les associations de banques alimentaires]. Have you been heard?
This is what we believe is necessary so that the solidarity associations which provide food aid can function normally and help all the people who come to us.