On Oct. 27, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) launched a free vegan lunch program, offered Monday through Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the first floor of the University Centre. Students can pick up a meal as part of SSMU’s efforts to address food insecurity on campus. The current program was established after SSMU closed Midnight Kitchen—a student collective known for its free lunch service—on Oct. 1. This semester, meals are prepared by a catering company; SSMU is working towards a permanent lunch service run by a Food Services & Hospitality Manager that would operate out of a kitchen space in the University Centre.
In a written statement to The Tribune, SSMU President Dymetri Taylor outlined the current program’s timeline and plans, highlighting that it could extend into the Winter semester depending on the success of an alternate plan for replacing Midnight Kitchen.
“[The program will] run until December 12th, as that’s the last day that the University Centre is open for this semester,” Taylor wrote. “It may continue to run during the Winter semester, depending on whether it’ll be possible for 5-meals/week to be served out of the 3rd floor kitchen space [by the Food Services & Hospitality Manager].”
Taylor explained that the SSMU has received frequent feedback on how to improve the current program, whether it be requests for larger serving sizes, or concerns about the ingredients used in meal preparation. One of the most common suggestions—asking that SSMU increase the number of meals offered—prompted the union to expand the program.
“Initially it was 100 meals, increased to 125, and we will now be increasing to 175 meals/day starting next week (total of 875 meals per week),” Taylor wrote. “The frequency is going to remain at lunch servings once per day.”
Taylor added that SSMU evaluates the program’s success by monitoring daily turnout.
“[Our measure of success is] that all the servings each day are gone and there’s no one left at the end of the serving without food,” Taylor wrote.
Student reactions to the program remain mixed. One student who has attended the lunch program several times, who wished to remain unnamed, shared concerns about SSMU’s ability to adequately replace Midnight Kitchen in an interview with The Tribune.
“I don’t think [the lunch program] fulfills the needs that Midnight Kitchen once provided [….] I’ve gone [about] four times now, on different days, and the [SSMU] portions are significantly smaller [than Midnight Kitchen’s], and you’re only given one meal option,” they said. “There’s no […] side salad, there’s no […] dessert.”
The student also emphasized the loss of a sense of community that Midnight Kitchen’s closure has created.
“Midnight Kitchen was great because it was also […] a collective effort of students making [the food served]. Now it’s a catering company that [provides the SSMU meals], and so you kind of lose that sense of community [….] The community and social justice aspect is completely gone.”
Maria Konovalov, U3 Arts, echoed these concerns about the quality of food SSMU is serving through its new lunch program in an interview with The Tribune.
“What I do like is that [the program] is daily. However, what I will say is that I have eaten there twice, and I will not go back because the food fully made me nauseous,” they stated. “There’s no dessert, [the food is] unseasoned [….] I really do hope that [SSMU will] improve the quality of their food.”
The Arts Undergraduate Society of McGill (AUS) has also piloted its own initiative in response to the demand for accessible meals on campus following Midnight Kitchen’s closure. On Nov. 21, the society test-ran its Food Security Program, offering 50 free meals to students in the Faculties of Arts and Arts & Science who registered in advance through AUS Express for pickup from the Arts Lounge.
For more information on McGill’s accessible campus food services, consult SSMU’s Free Lunch Program schedule and menu, and the AUS Instagram @ausmcgill.
