The threat is serious. “Les Resto du cœur could go out of business within the next three years,” said Patrice Douret, the association’s president, on TF1 on Sept. 3. Les Resto du cœur, created by comedian Coluche in 1985, is France’s main charitable organization offering food aid to the poorest in France.
“We’re going to have to take very difficult measures, and say no to people who need food aid,” lamented the head of Resto du cœur, who estimates that over 150,000 people could be turned away in the coming months. The association will, in fact, be revising the amount of resources required to qualify.
Writes La Tribune: “With the crisis and inflation, Resto du cœur is facing a major influx of people living in poverty. These include young people, students, pensioners and single-parent families, but also a growing number of middle-class French people who can no longer make ends meet.” “Inflation is unheard of,” notes Patrice Drouet. The food bank provides over a third of emergency food aid in France, and has already welcomed 1.3 million people in 2023 alone, compared with 1.1 million last year, even though winter hasn’t started. The influx of requests is increasing the association’s operating costs. Its budget for food purchases, which are then redistributed free of charge to beneficiaries, has already doubled.
