"We are asking for concrete, precise and immediate answers as well as for the launch of an emergency food plan," said Restos du Cœur president Patrice Douret, appealing to "political and economic powers" for help on the French TV channel TF1's 1 o'clock news on Sunday, September 3. He told Le Monde that the organization faced an "unprecedented situation." Since the comedian and one-time presidential candidate Coluche founded the charity in 1985, the Restos du Cœur has never helped so many people. The organization has already assisted 1.3 million people this year, compared to 1.1 million for the whole of 2022. It is also spending more than ever due to the combination of increased demand and inflation, having to buy more than a third of the food it distributes and bear additional costs such as electricity and transport.
"At this rate, if we do nothing, even the Restos du Cœur could be forced to close within three years," Douret added on TF1. He said the organization would have to "drastically reduce" the number of people it helps this fall in order to concentrate on those with the least resources, meaning that some 150,000 people would be deprived of free meals. "We will also have to reduce quantities for those we are able to help," he said.
During the TF1 interview, Douret said he had been warning the government for several months but that his calls for help were "not sufficiently heard and, I would even say, perhaps not taken seriously enough." He asked for a meeting with Emmanuel Macron in the spring, along with three other organizations benefiting from European food aid – the Banques Alimentaires, Secours Populaire and the Red Cross. In an opinion piece he wrote for Le Monde, the charity director also called for the European food aid fund to be increased, in vain.
This time, MPs from many parties, including La France Insoumise, Rassemblement National, Parti Communiste, Parti Socialiste, Europe-Écologie-Les Verts and Les Républicains, supported the idea of an "emergency food plan." In the retail sector, the large retail group Les Mousquetaires and supermarket brand Carrefour have both promised to make donations and organize donation drives in their stores.
The new minister for solidarity, Aurore Bergé, spoke on TF1's 8 o'clock evening news. She said that government food aid had been increased to €156 million this year and that "in the next few days, €15 million" will be disbursed to help the Restos du Cœur, along with an additional €6 million for organizations providing assistance to infants and young children. Echoing Douret, she launched "a solemn appeal to the major companies" that had rallied to the cause of rebuilding the Notre-Dame cathedral. She plans to quickly hold meetings with these companies at the same time as with presidents of major charities.
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