Problem addressed

Our modern societies are facing the erosion of social bonds, resulting in a significant part of the population feeling abandoned, excluded or useless, no matter if they are rich or poor, young or old, local or exiled.

Innovative solution

Les Petites Cantines design a new type of communal place in the form of restaurants or lunchrooms available to all, offering a new opportunity for social interactions to the inhabitants of a neighborhood. We revolution the way we address loneliness by empowering citizens to become agents of social cohesion and learn again how to create valuable social bonds.

Les Petites Cantines is a network of neighbourhood canteens, where citizen can share meal time to create social links, and experience sustainable food, paying what they want. Inhabitants can cook together, meet people from other generations and different courses of life. Each canteen is financially independant, and run by the inhabitants.

Key results and benefits

• 14 restaurants opened in France
• 20 other projects are working to open in the next 3 years in France and Belgium
• more than 15 000 inhabitants have their membership in the restaurants
• more than 125 000 meals served since the beginning of the adventure
• 35 jobs created
• 97,5% of the inhabitants feel welcomed just as they are
• 76% of the inhabitants get aware of the prejudices they attached to strangers
• 91% of the inhabitants consider free-pricing as a reliable tool for  quality food to become reachable to everyone
• more than 1 inhabitant out of 2 has sustainably transformed his comportement when eating

Potential for mainstreaming

Les Petites Cantines has build a support and a toolbox for every project wishing to open a canteen, which can be adapted in another country. This support is financed by the ESF+.