Collection from food banks: they “need the generosity of the public”, underlines the president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors

Food banks, which are launching their 42nd annual donation collection on Friday, November 6, "need the generosity of the public", underlines Pascal Brice, president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS) on Friday on franceinfo. This year, the network of food banks has brought forward the date of its meeting for “better visibility”, it indicates on its website.

More than 9,000 collection points will be installed between Friday and Sunday in stores, schools and town halls across France. The objective is to collect the equivalent of 20 million meals, then redistributed to more than 6,000 partner associations and CCAS.

An increase in “poverty and precariousness”

“There are more and more people in food distribution since we have reached levels of poverty that have not been reached in France for 30 years,” warns Pascal Brice. The collection is therefore "crucial" because solidarity associations are "confronted with the increase in poverty and precariousness" and are also "weakened" with "increasing costs" and "decreasing public funding".

“We are in something dangerous for the people concerned but also for the general cohesion of the country, for our collective tranquility,” believes Pascal Brice. The president of the FAS calls for “public policies that regain momentum for the protection of the most vulnerable” and that “all those who have the means can, through taxes or donations, contribute to the cohesion of the country”. He also calls on businesses to “mobilize”, while “more and more men and women are falling into poverty and precariousness due to wages that are too low.”