Reflecting on Our Visit to TMU’s Good Food Centre!
Blog Post
By Andrea Ventura Mar 20, 2026
Image: Toronto Youth Food Policy Logo
Visit to the Good Food Centre
On February 12th, members of the TYFPC’s Advocacy and Education Committee, Tate and Andrea, visited the Good Food Centre (GFC) at TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University) and met with Rob Howard, the coordinator of the Centre. This was an incredible opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas in the realm of food insecurity of students in need.
The Good Food Centre operates in service of any and all TMU students who face any level of food insecurity, meaning the inability to obtain food meeting one’s dietary needs.
The GFC works closely and under the Daily Bread Food Bank as a member of their Member Agency Program. The Good Food Centre also funds “The Common Pot”, which has a free soup program once a week on Wednesdays. Common Pot is entirely run by students of Toronto Metropolitan University. It’s an external partnership, so Common Pot is not under the TMU umbrella.
How Does the GFC Work?
To be able to use the Good Food Centre, students first must register as a member, which can be done here: https://yourtmsu.ca/services/food/intake/. Of note is that Tuesdays are the busiest time for food. The Centre operates using a “shopping cart” model – students arrive and are provided limits per section. In other words, they have the ability to choose their own food through the aisles of shelf-stable, refrigerated, and even frozen foods to best find what suits their needs, while also allowing enough for other students in need. The Centre also shares accessible recipes and blog posts for students!
Incredibly, the Good Food Centre works closely with TMU’s own rooftop garden! And the best part is, the Centre is open all year round and remains accessible throughout the Summer, too.
The Centre’s hours of operation can be found here: https://yourtmsu.ca/services/food/ – currently, the GFC remains open:
Mondays 1:30PM – 5:30PM
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 2:30PM – 5:30PM
The Centre is located at: Student Centre SCC B-03A, basement, former CopyRITE office (55 Gould St.)
Image: Google Maps
A Reflection
We bounced off many ideas and reflections with Rob Howard, the Centre’s coordinator. The Good Food Centre’s entire mission to provide free food to students remains self-informed in that it maintains active by conducting surveys to their student demographics to find out what groups of folks are most in need, and by asking what food resources are most needed. The GFC thereby evolves to meet the needs of all of the students they engage with, both in-person, and anonymously through conducted surveys.
The Toronto Youth Food Policy Council endorses the mission of TMU’s Good Food Centre, especially in that centres such as this drive the goal to provide free food for all, especially to groups in need (in this case, youth who continuously face financial barriers to food access given the cost of living crisis), and especially culturally-relevant and nutritious foods. We at the Council believe that creating and expanding across networks close to home is a key driver in promoting more sustainable food systems and strengthening communities. As a voice for youth 30 and under in Toronto, we aim to inspire every person to be concerned with food-secure futures.
Please reach out to us at our contact information below if you’d like to be featured in one of our posts and to continue the dialogue of food-secure futures for youth and all!
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For any inquiries, please contact: info@tyfpc.ca
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Sources
- https://yourtmsu.ca/services/food/intake/
- https://yourtmsu.ca/services/food/
- https://www.torontomu.ca/wellbeing-central/category/physicalwellbeing/goodfoodcentre/