Eating in Paris

Those who eat include here all the people who consume food in Paris: besides the 2,11 million residents, 3,6 million people including workers, students and tourists are present in Paris every day. The analysis of their eating habits brings to light a wide variety of behaviour patterns many of which are specific to Paris and some of which vary from one neighbourhood to another.

It also enables the diverse socio-economic profiles to be linked to their food expectations. Particular emphasis is laid on analysing the development of eating out-of-home, the increasing consumption of organic, sustainable products, meat, fruit and vegetables as well as the increasing situations of hardship, especially among young people and students.

Alongside this, analysing the panorama of food reveals the diversity and development of supply sources. The food panorama refers to all places where people can find food, from traditional shops to new sorts of outlets (82 markets promoting access to fresh produce, more than 8,000 food shops, 446 organic and sustainable food shops, 14,000 restaurants and cafes, etc.) not forgetting the central role played in Paris by food aid and collective catering with 2,700 establishments providing 350 000 meals a day, of which 1,300 are municipally managed and provide 150,000 meals daily. Collective catering is a major provision which is reflected by the increase in registration for lunch at municipally run schools since 2017.

The cross-referenced analysis of eating trends among Parisian households and those present during the day, with supply points and catering services, facilitates the major urban transformations underway as well as public health issues to be understood.