From single to double… Like the endless lines of students seen during food distributions, solidarity grocery stores are also experiencing a significant increase in their attendance.
In the network of AGORAé grocery stores, launched by the Federation of General Student Associations (FAGE) in 2011, beneficiaries have never been so numerous since the crisis generated by the Covid-19 epidemic began.
“Of the 24 AGORAé in France, there were between 6,000 and 7,000 young beneficiaries,” explains Aymeric Corbé, vice-president in charge of social innovation at the national office of FAGE.
"With the crisis, we have grown to more than 13,000, soon 14,000…" The purpose of these grocery stores is simple: to help the most precarious students by offering them, after acceptance of their application, products sold between 10 % and 30% of their actual value.
And the observation is simple: there are more and more students in need.
On the campus of Paris-Nanterre University, Sarah, co-president of the local AGORAé, can attest to this: she now has 112 beneficiaries (including current cases), against around thirty before the summer.
Since November, and as some buildings of the university are closed, the modalities have changed and the grocery store, failing to open its premises regularly, offers a free distribution to its beneficiaries every Friday.
Mélissa, an English student, has already made several food distributions since the start of the crisis.
Here is his first.
“We work a little less, there is a little more stress… It's a little harder to manage.
So that there are distributions on campus that allow us to save money, it's great ”, she confides, her bag of provisions under her arm, which will allow her to last“ at least a good week. ".