The study of poverty and its effects on dietary habits and health can be approached by analyzing the diets of people who rely on food assistance. This population is diverse and encompasses a range of backgrounds, from the working poor to migrants without legal access to work, including the central figure of the recipient of basic social assistance. To cope, people affected by these situations of poverty may turn to organizations distributing food aid. This redistribution system is therefore the responsibility of civil society, which acts through national and local organizations that respond to requests for food aid to the best of their ability. The 2004–2005 Abena Study (Diet and Nutritional Status of Food Aid Recipients) was established to address the need for scientific knowledge regarding the nutritional status of people in situations of extreme precariousness. This study combines an epidemiological survey with a socio-anthropological study of populations relying on food aid. The socio-anthropological study presented in this report is the result of the development of tools, data, and analyses based on existing scientific literature and the conduct of interviews with food aid applicants and association leaders. The analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with households in their homes provided insight into the various food strategies employed in a daily reality marked by economic constraints and the social insecurity of precarious living conditions. The families interviewed draw upon the “resources” potentially offered by their professional, family, social, and neighborhood networks. The proposed analysis is based on a typology that accounts for the impact of these various social support systems on dietary behaviors and food procurement strategies. This typology highlights a level of dependence on food aid that varies inversely with the density of social support systems. Given equal levels of resources, the presence or absence of support opportunities is the primary determinant of the extent and role played by food aid in family nutrition. However, in all cases, and even in the presence of strong social ties, the predominant notion is that of fragility, which manifests as detrimental effects on dietary behavior and health. This study provides a better understanding of how poverty situations arise, their effects on the dietary behaviors of those affected, and their nutritional status as revealed by the nutritional epidemiology survey. Taken together, these findings offer insights into potential future trends in food aid. (R.A.)