Nourrir les « nouveaux » pauvres. Une enquête de terrain dans des services d’aide alimentaire parisiens au temps du premier confinement (printemps 2020)

Abstract

This article deals with the organisation of Parisian food aids, and their beneficiaries, during the first lockdown of the population in 2020. The work is based on the direct observation of food drives and the disruptions caused to them by the global health crisis. In this situation, we found front line workers and their managers concerned about the appearance of “newcomers”. However, this sense of novelty stemmed primarily from the flow and concentration of active queues at a smaller and more accessible set of help services. Some people were indeed using this emergency aid for the first time. These were temporarily inactive workers or struggling students. However, the study shows less the shift into precariousness than the extent and diversity of budgetary imbalances that affect the lives of those who have to feed themselves with few resources.

Keywords

• food aid
• social emergency
• covid-19 sanitary crisis
• first lockdown