In 2016, I wrote a publication entitled ‘Is Rural French coffee dying?’ The publication highlighted the difficult situation of the French village coffees, whose numbers were in free fall, like many other rural comforts. After nine years, has something changed?
Café del Pueblo has traditionally been an integral part of the fabric of rural life. Its decline is symptomatic of the general discomfort of the French countryside.
[Difference between a bar and a café? Broadly, a bar is normally restricted to serving drinks. A café often serves simple dishes as well. When it comes to declining numbers, they are equally concerned. For the purposes of this post, ‘café’ covers both.]
Decreasing numbers
Coffee had its apogee duration the beautiful epoque, the end of the 19 yearsTh century and early 20Th. The precise figures are difficult to find, but probable more than 600,000 coffees existed in 1900. By 2014, there were less than 40,000 in France.
Our own people, with a population of around 4,000 in 1900, had innumerable bars and coffees. Now has two and one Café Associatif (More on those shown below) for a population of around 1,500. We are relatively well in that sense, although many other stores have closed.
According to the figures of 2021 of INSEE (Government Statistics Office), around a third of the French population lives in a commune Or less than 3,500 people. Insee also found that 62% or common It no longer has stores or coffees.
Personal experience
I must admit that my own experiences of French coffees have not always been happy.
At the beginning of the 1970s, my teenage cousin and I laughed at a coffee from Paris by the exclusively masculine client for axking if we could buy a package of mint for his brother -in -law. Okay, we were naive and ignorant, but they didn’t have to treat us like that. Even on vacation 35 years ago, I felt out of place in the very masculine environment.
You still find coffees for the multitude of hunting and fishing. Entering one of them can be uncomfortable for a woman. Fortunately, things have changed mainly to be social acceptable for women to frequent coffees.
Multiple service services
Some brightness of light are on the horizon. Covida Pandemia generated relief the isolation of people in the field. In its path, an initiative sponsored by the Government, 1000 coffees, has tried to promote and support coffees that provide multiple services in common Or less than 3,500 inhabitants.
Diversification seems to be the key to survival. Gone were the days when a coffee matched some guys drinking paste and play eagle (a card game) in a smoke from fog or gauloise. Many coffees now operate like the local epicería” Dépôt of painNews agent, package collection point, post office, cultural place, internet access point, etc.
Most coffees that 1000 coffees are a Café Associatif. Which is established as an association and not as a business. It can serve drinks and meals like any other coffee, but the goal is to provide a service, not obtain profits. Any gain must be reinvested in coffee, including the use of staff.
Mixed results?
It is difficult to find definitive figures, but 1000 coffees have a network or 300 coffees, established since 2020. One year or less new year projects. At least three AssociSfs cafes exist locally, including that of our people.
Three hundred coffees are a drop in the ocean when he consults how many have disappeared. And the initiatives will only work in the context of the increase in the attractiveness of rural areas generally with jobs, homes, transport links and networks, accessible medical services, etc.
In addition, executing coffee is difficult. The hours are long and it is difficult to find staff, especially from Covid. Some of the people who establish a coffee under the 1000 coffees initiative have already surrendered.
However, when these new initiatives have been successful, local people inform that they increase the interaction between generations, fight loneliness and isolation and provide a welcome point for the life of the village. They also sacrifice access to the services that the inhabitants could otherwise have to drive miles to find. Hopefully the pendulum begins to move.
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