solidarity initiatives to offer celebrations worthy of the name
With inflation well established in our daily lives, holiday meals are always going to be more complicated to organize…
The traditional Christmas maraudes
Photo credit – Pexels/Toni Cuenca ©
Every year, the holiday season is synonymous with charity. Some of us tend to help the less fortunate benefit from the magic of Christmas, in particular through the distribution of food or solidarity actions. More than welcome gestures, when we know that in 2022, 9.5 million of our compatriots are preparing to spend the end of the year in the greatest solitude (IFOP survey for the association Solidarity donations).
Among these are the elderly, the children of divorced parents, those who are abroad far from their families, those on a tight budget, and of course the homeless. In 2020, France has no less than 300,000. So, to overcome this phenomenon of loneliness during the holidays, associations are mobilizing. The volunteers of The Red Cross, People’s Aid, Emmaus, The Restos of the Hearts and many others are taking to the streets of France to distribute warm clothes, gifts for children and hot food.
These are often unsold items from supermarkets, which the associations recover and transform into soups, cakes, or small dishes to take away. These actions obviously have a social impact, that of leaving no one behind. But with the increase in purchasing power that affects us all, these initiatives also have an ecological resonance.
The associations are not, moreover, the only ones to want to remedy this concern of society. Anti-waste applications have also looked into the subject, in order to offer small budgets (and those who don’t have one at all) parties worthy of the name.
Phenix and Too Good Too go
The app Phoenix offers so-called “festive” baskets, between December 19 and January 16. This application, which offers food products at a discount (from 50 to 70%), hopes to market more than 15,000 this year. One of the objectives of this application is to offset food inflation. Its founder Jean Moreau explains to the Parisian : “ our idea, when inflation exceeds 12%, is to allow the French to still be able to consume festive items, such as salmon (…) while fighting against food waste, which is very important during this period. » Great initiatives, already supported by nearly 4 million users!
Another app, Too Good Too Go, is also part of a social and ecological approach. The goal ? Recycle unsold food. Pierre-Yves Parfait (director of key account partnerships at TGTG) started from the following observation: “ between inflation (…) stores are having a particularly hard time keeping their supplies at the right level, so it is more appropriate than ever to take action on unsold goods,” he explains to Parisian. The 13 million users of the application can take advantage of “festive aperitif baskets” for the modest sum of €5. Filled with products from partner supermarkets, these baskets are half the price of their real value!
And on the occasion of the holidays, from December 15 to January 7, the application offers us baskets a little more “premium”, to make us enjoy until the end of festive dishes while selling them. ” The idea is to be able to sell Yule logs, unsold New Year’s Eve cakes and also galettes des Rois », Details Pierre-Yves Parfait. No more excuses to help others or treat yourself cheaply. It’s your turn !
