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At the initiative of the Federation of General Student Associations (Fage), in 18 French university campuses, student associations hold solidarity grocery stores to help their comrades in financial difficulty.
Prizes that defy all competition to fight student precariousness . In front of the shelves full of canned goods, pasta, juice and other long-term products, Soraya, a student at the University of Nanterre, fills her bag. Bread, salmon, yogurt, beans, nuggets ... at the checkout, for the purchase of twenty products, it will have to pay only 3.97 euros. In this Agoraé, a solidarity grocery store run by students, all the prizes are divided by 10.
"I have more than 20 products in my cart. Normally, in a supermarket, it would have cost me nearly 50 euros and there I paid only 4, "rejoices the student who spends weekly shopping here. Every month, she has to live with only " fifty euros ", after paying her rent, her transport card and her bills. The solidarity grocery store is a boon for her, " with l'Agoraé, I care less about the race for food, I can focus on other expenses, such as rent, " says the one who babysit 4 evenings by week, otherwise she would have no way to finance her daily life. However, she must still limit her consumption of food, " to have enough other days " she concedes.
" It helps to balance the budget (students) and not to spend too much on food, so students can think of other forms of purchase, such as financing the driving license, " says Fatoumata Gassama, a volunteer who runs the grocery store. With many of her comrades, she welcomes the beneficiaries, accompanies and puts in confidence those who want to become so. " It can be embarrassing to come to other students to talk about their difficulties filling the fridge. There may be brakes. We try to have a framework at the top, to offer them help, to be there and accompany them, "says Fanny Pommier, responsible for supply.
"Student precariousness is a reality"
In France, following the burning of a student in front of a Crous on November 8, several demonstrations erupted in the big cities to denounce student precariousness. According to the Fage, the first university union, 20% of students live below the poverty line. At l'Agoraé, this story is on everyone's lips, and precariousness, a real " reality ". And it is not as financial, say volunteers, it "creates other problems such as learning difficulties or health concerns. And some people live very badly, "Gassama warns before adding," it creates an inequality of opportunity, we really see it during higher education . "
Even if many aids exist, " the Crous grants and the APL (Personalized Housing Assistance, Ed) are not enough. Some scholarships can pay a lot of their fees, but not everyone can work alongside their studies, "said another volunteer, Talla Kardiatou. This is why the main unions, the FAGE and the UNEF (National Union of French Students), asked the government, in a meeting with Gabriel Attal the Secretary of State for Higher Education , An " urgent re-evaluation " of university scholarships.
But in the face of the growing number of people who want to be beneficiaries, and even though groceries are not lacking in products, volunteers believe that the state should do more to tackle the problem. " It is not normal that it is the student associations that manage this problem, it should come from public policies, " said Kardiatou. " The state should be more worried about the phenomenon, " concludes Fanny Pommier.
A solidarity network
To offer struggling students daily food products, the grocery store can count on a large network of charities. " We have a lot of partnerships, " explains Ms. Pommier. Pick up at the food bank every Thursday, recovery of unsold products and products whose expiry date approaching in supermarkets Nanterre and Paris ... students are redoubling their efforts to fill their reserve.
But they can also count on their campus. " The university, which has hives, offers us honey and sanitary napkins, " says Fanny. And sometimes, it's just students who come to bring surplus. Like this Friday, when the grocery store is about to close, a young student passes the door, arms loaded with sausages. " We had a barbecue yesterday and there are still a lot, we did not want to throw, " he says offering a dozen lots. "They were well in the fridge? Because we are very careful to respect the cold chain , " says Fanny, who is training in hygiene, while slamming the door of a noisy gray fridge at the bottom of the room.