Alimentation populaire et secours charitables. L’exemple parisien (1840-1870)

Abstract

Although people were no longer dying of starvation in Paris in the early 19th century, food was still a matter of concern for the working classes. As a consequence, many organizations were engaged in food charity of several sorts. The aim of this study is to take into account two points of view : the history of food on the one hand and the history of philanthropy on the other hand. The Saint Vincent de Paul Society, which was responsible for 10 % of the aid to the poor during the July Monarchy, is particularly useful for this purpose. The way it helped the poor was quite different before and after 1848 – indeed, a profound social change can be seen through the shift from bread tickets to cheap meals called “fourneaux économiques” (the equivalent of soup kitchens) which were sold at a loss. For economic as well as for moral reasons, institutional catering appeared as another way of relieveing people, and although the poor and the working classes were helped in different ways, food remained terribly expensive for the whole of the toiling masses.