On Place Julien, in the vibrant and formerly celebrated neighborhood of Marseille, there is one restaurant open to distribute free meals to the poor in France's second city on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

Since quarantine measures were imposed for the second time at the end of October, Gerard Groot, president of the Food Bank in Bosch-de-Rhône, notes "a very large increase in the population in need." 

The numbers are huge: every week the association distributes about 85 tons of food.

Evidence of this was first witnessed by the non-governmental Action Against Hunger (ACH) during the start to lockdown measures in April.

- 'New audience' -

Sitting on the edge of Julian's neighborhood carrying coffee and a meal that he just got from the Noga restaurant that distributes aid, Youssef Mudawi says he used to manage his affairs before the pandemic by getting simple jobs for a daily wage.

"It is very difficult to find a job with a stable wage, and for three months I have not worked at all," says this Algerian, who has lived in France for 20 years.

Street artist Tsin Augustin says he used to collect 30 to 40 euros a day in his hat with a soap bubble show, and in the summer more than that. But "now I have nothing left," says the 50-year-old German.

"We have a new audience, poor seasonal or temporary workers or those with very little savings capacity," says Francis Verned.

The closure of restaurants in Marseille increased this phenomenon. Because in this coastal and immigration city, one of the poorest and most unequal in the country, "there is a very strong solidarity as every merchant helps and offers something," says Pascal Bulgarian as he cooks at Noga.

- Difficulties for associations -

The health crisis has also weighed on people like Isabel or Valra.

The 62-year-old woman, a victim of violence, preferring not to reveal her family name, says she left her husband's home in hopes of improving her condition.

"But with COVID-19 now, it is difficult to find work and claim rights," she added.

In his studio in the popular Naway neighborhood near the old port, Valra alone cares for his disabled son with his wife is stuck in Algeria.

He said, "I am not able to continue, had it not been for the presence of the child, I would have found a job as an agricultural worker or anything else."

- A third wave? -

“Food aid is being questioned, we must act differently. It is not necessary to always do more, but to understand poverty first, and how it appears in order to find a response,” says Laurent Ciarabelli of the charitable organization Caritas.

The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics goes back to 2017 and indicates that the poverty rate in Marseille is 26 percent, but goes up to 53 percent in some neighborhoods.

All observers fear a third wave of poverty in the coming months.