NEWSLETTER

Roger Bonnivard runs a bird shop in a popular paris neighbourhood. Roger loves his pets, and he also loves people. He was a militant for the MNR (National Front dissident party) when he founded the SDF association. SDF is the French acronym for “homeless” but for Roger and his wife Odile it means “Solidarité Des Français”. In their translation it means “in order to restore solidarity among REAL French people, with the exemption of Jews or Muslims”. They’ve been distributing free hot soup to Parisian homeless every winter Thursday for two years now. They’re helped by some of their members, such as their security guy Jojo, a former skinhead, Marcel, the Algerian war vet, and half a dozen Catholic old ladies. That January evening, there were less than ten bums and more than 50 cops next to the cars where the soup was steaming and the French flag was flying.

Vice: So, what’s in your soup ?

Roger: We provide traditional pork soup. It’s bacon mixed with potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions plus pork ears and feet.

Why pork only? Why not chicken or beef?

Because pork is cheaper and we love pork, it’s the basic French meal for the poor, the oldest French tradition. Gallics always ate pork and we still are Gallics after all.

What’s your SDF association purpose?

Just look at all those dropouts sleeping outside in the cold streets. Sadly most of them are Europeans because help centres are submerged with foreign misery mostly coming from Maghrebian countries. The French government is wasting millions of euros on immigrants instead of helping our own poor. We want to help ours before the others, that’s our slogan.

Why are there so many police around?

Because we upset authorities. They want to prohibit our soup pretending we are racists who create public disorder. They’d rather be in the suburbs watching over the next riots. When Muslim associations give couscous on Fridays they don’t consider that Christians should eat fish on Fridays, and they’re not reported as racists.

Are you racist?

We’re not here to discuss my political opinions, but I’m not a racist. I will serve pork soup to all hungry people.

Even black or Arabic folks?

Sure, when we guess somebody’s a Muslim or a Jew, we just inform him it’s pork soup. By the way, do you want some?

Nah.

MATHIEU BERENHOLC

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