The leaders behind a debuting effort to keep food out of local dumps say Renfrew Collegiate Institute was the perfect choice to go first.
Representatives from the Renfrew County District School Board, as well as from the Renfrew Food Bank, the METRO grocery chain, and hunger-relief collective Feed Ontario, met on Friday, November 14th, to celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated culinary classroom at the school, the first of four METRO Shared Kitchen locations set to open across Ontario in the coming weeks.
The nearly $200,000 renovation includes several new state-of-the-art cooking and prep stations plus an expanded classroom area, which RCDSB Director of Education Kristen Niemi says will not only serve as a local hub for cooking classes and an extension of the local food bank’s reach, but also a vital space for students to learn about a growing social issue within the community.
METRO Inc. communications manager Stephanie Bonk adds that the grocery chain is proud to bring the Shared Kitchen concept to Ontario after a successful pilot run in five Quebec communities, noting that RCI’s ties to the Renfrew Food Bank through the hundreds of meals prepped weekly for people in need through the school’s food recovery program closely aligns with METRO’s own goal to fight against food insecurity.
Feed Ontario’s Stephanie Ashton-Smith says the hope for the new shared kitchen is to not only give the food bank more opportunities to provide for Renfrew and the surrounding communities but to also help residents strengthen bonds with their neighbours and reduce isolation, something that can be difficult in an area with a dispersed population.
Officials from all parties involved will be watching how the Shared Kitchen initiative pans out over the next four years, but they have also indicated that a second rollout of locations has been discussed and that other Ottawa Valley communities and RCDSB schools could be involved.
(written by Kasey Egan)
