“I buy food for around 150 euros and I steal the equivalent of 80 euros”: when the crisis makes theft routine

"I live on a tight student budget, but I didn't think that one day I would be reduced to stealing," admits Camille (*), a 22-year-old young woman.

When she walks the shelves of the convenience store in her neighborhood in Paris, this third-year architecture student steals neither makeup nor "textile", but food.

That day, the student leaves with ham and cheese hidden at the bottom of her bag.

With this theft, she will be able to make herself an improved meal, compared to the rice, pasta and preserves which constitute the main part of her menus.

Like Camille, there are now several thousand in France stealing food products.

Driven by the crisis and the rise in prices affecting basic foodstuffs, more and more students, single-parent families, vulnerable households and elderly people at the end of difficult months are leaving stores with items under the coat.

But, in the competitive world of mass distribution, where we balk…

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