FCC brings students together to learn and share accessible recipes in a hands-on cooking experience
The McMaster Students Union's Food Collective Centre hosted its January cook-along event on Jan. 29, 2025, at The Hub. This event is part of a monthly series designed to promote food literacy, build community and demonstrate how meal preparation for students can be accessible.
This month's cook-along, held in collaboration with Maccess, emphasized making cooking more accessible for people with disabilities. During the two-hour session, participants prepared a coconut chickpea curry, chapati flatbread and a cucumber yogurt salad.
Christine Lin and Harry Li, the FCC's Community Kitchen coordinators, explained to the Silhouette that the event is open to all members of the McMaster community, including undergraduates, graduate students and staff.
"We call it a workshop, but we're really just cooking together. It's a collaborative opportunity to learn from each other, whether participants are experienced or just starting out," said Lin.
We call it a workshop, but we're really just cooking together. It's a collaborative opportunity to learn from each other, whether participants are experienced or just starting out.
Christine Lin, Community Kitchen Coordinator
Food Collective Centre
The recipes chosen for the workshops aim to reflect the FCC's core goals for diversity and accessibility. Each month, the recipes are selected so as to use seasonal ingredients an array of dishes from diverse backgrounds.
Recent events featured dishes like vegetable stir fry and tacos, showcasing a medley of global cuisines. Lin and Li highlighted the effort to ensure that recipes accommodate dietary restrictions, with vegetarian modifications always available.
In addition to cooking skills, participants gained practical knowledge such as meal planning, budgeting and food safety. According to Lin, the workshops also address food literacy, teaching participants how to find ingredients and prepare nutritious meals.
The cook-along initiative aligns with broader efforts to address food insecurity on campus, including the upcoming Food Accessibility Initiative referendum. The referendum proposes increasing the MSU organizational fee by $6.50 to fund the Soup & Bread Initiative, which would provide free soup and bread to students throughout the academic year.
Lin and Li expressed their support for the referendum's proposals, noting that these measures would help relieve the hunger of many students. However, they also emphasized that addressing food insecurity requires a more comprehensive and long-term approach that goes beyond immediate relief provided by such programs.
"Food insecurity is a complex issue. It's great that people will be able to have a free lunch every day, but what about the rest of the day? Are they able to cook by themselves at home? . . . We have to think more holistically," said Lin.
Food insecurity is a complex issue. It's great that people will be able to have a free lunch everyday, but what about the rest of the day? Are they able to cook by themselves at home?
Christine Lin, Community Kitchen Coordinator
Food Collective Centre
Lin and Li noted the importance of increasing the variety and accessibility of nutritious food options on campus. They emphasized that it is not just about providing meals but also about ensuring that students have access to fresh, affordable ingredients that empower them to cook at home.
They also explained how food insecurity differs among diverse groups of students. They suggested that graduate students, for example, can struggle to afford nutritious ingredients. Meanwhile, first-year students may not face the same immediate need to cook due to living in residence but could still benefit from learning basic cooking skills to prepare for future independence.
For students unable to attend the cook-along, Lin and Li also mentioned that the FCC is developing a cookbook featuring workshop recipes. The cookbook will include a variety of cultural recipes contributed by volunteers, aligning with the FCC's focus on representing McMaster's diverse campus community.
Looking ahead, the FCC has plans for future cook-alongs, including a February session in collaboration with the McMaster Community Garden and the McMaster Nutrition Club.
The new student market, located in the Hub, offers students easy access to fresh pastries and snacks between classes
In an interview, Jovan Popovic, the MSU president shared details about the recently opened student market on the second floor of the Hub. The market offers fresh pastries, beverages and snacks, catering to students looking for a quick bite between classes or while studying and socializing with friends.
Popovic mentioned that the goal of opening the student market is to enhance food accessibility by providing more options to students at an affordable price.
“Given how much time students spend in the student centre exploring food options, we understand that adding a food and beverage operation in the Hub isn’t necessarily replacing meals . . . It’s about having something available for students when they start to feel hungry, whether it's because they’re studying, hanging out with friends or playing ping pong, there’s something there for them,” said Popovic.
It’s about having something available for students when they start to feel hungry, whether it's because they’re studying, hanging out with friends or playing ping pong, there’s something there for them.
Jovan Popovic, President
McMaster Students Union
Popovic emphasized that the student market is primarily focused on offering fresher food options, such as sandwiches, salads and bagels instead of simple snacks. He also noted that the market is exploring the inclusion of culturally diverse food options to better reflect and cater to the needs of the student body.
In 2017, the construction of the Hub was approved by full-time undergraduate students through a referendum. It was built to address the lack of student and collaboration spaces on campus due to a growing population. A survey conducted by the MSU in 2016 found that approximately 80 per cent of respondents indicated a desire for more space on campus to work on projects, eat and socialize with friends.
Additionally, Popovic mentioned that through the referendum and student consultations, there was a clear demand for expanded food and beverage operations, as well as more affordable food options on campus.
With the opening of the student market, Popovic mentioned that they are currently focusing on student feedback.
“What are they saying to our cashier? What is interesting to them? What are students actually looking for? Even within Union Market and the student centre, there are times where a student will come up and say "I was really hoping you’d have this product," and then two weeks later we now stock it. We’re really sensitive to student feedback and are always trying to hear more and see how we can improve,” said Popovic.
Popovic highlighted that, in a time where food insecurity has become a prevalent issue, the MSU has been actively addressing it by offering low-priced food and beverage options at Union Market and subsidizing TwelvEighty Bar & Grill to provide high-quality, large portion sizes.
“Hopefully, the market helps create a dent in this issue, where students feel a little more comfortable and realize they have more options on campus, without having to go to a specific place. We’re trying to address this as effectively as possible. And while it’s a much larger issue, every dent we make is significant right now,” said Popovic.
Hopefully, the market helps create a dent in this issue, where students feel a little more comfortable and realize they have more options on campus
Jovan Popovic, President
McMaster Students Union
Popovic highlighted that the inventory of the student market would be shaped by purchasing patterns. He explained that if students express a demand for meal options like those at La Piazza Grab and Go and Union Market, those could also be added.
The student market will be open Monday to Thursday from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Fridays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Despite the many spots available for a quick bite, the vegetarian and vegan food options at McMaster are very limited and leave many of us hunting for greens
By: Maya Elfizy, Opinion Contributor
It is safe to say that, at one point or another, most of us have found ourselves famished on campus and not really sure what to eat. The food options vary from a $5.00 pizza slice from Pizza Pizza to a $20.00 bowl from The Chopped Leaf. This does not offer much variety for those trying to eat healthy while on a student budget.
Not to mention the difficulty in finding plant based vegetarian and especially vegan options. Many students cannot eat animal products for religious or ethical reasons. The few vegan and vegetarian options on campus tend to cost more and few of the vegan options have a decent amount of protein.
A reoccurring frustration in the realm of campus food is the price. McMaster claims to care about student mental health, but makes it so hard to access healthy and affordable food as prices have increased since last year. This is especially significant considering research showing the relationship between a healthy diet and mental health.
A study done at the University of Middlesex discovered that what we eat now is strongly linked to our health later in life. Researchers at the University of British Columbia also found that poor eating habits specifically in post-secondary students are linked to poorer health throughout their lives. For these reasons, the university should ensure that healthy and religiously considerate food options are accessible.
An obvious solution would be to bring food from home. But this argument does not consider students with busy schedules, a lack of culinary skills and a lack of cooking equipment. Not to mention, the increasing grocery prices that force many students to opt for the cheaper fast food or instant noodles.
It is only fair to assume that a university for which we pay thousands in tuition could put more effort into ensuring students can access affordable, healthy and vegan options.
Fortunately, in the meantime, there is an MSU affiliated organization, called the Food Collective Centre, which is a food security resource. Students can access an on-campus food bank and cooking workshops, to provide them with the skills and ingredients to make healthy meals themselves. This is a great way to solve some of the limitations to bringing your own food on campus.
However, the general student body might not access this resource due to stigma surrounding food assistance. So, the responsibility falls back to McMaster University to ensure that students can eat healthy while also observing their religious and/or ethical convictions. The food options on campus should both be affordable, inclusive and equitable for both students who do and do not eat meat and dairy products.
After winning his second term as president of the McMaster Students Union in January 2024, President Jovan Popovic made the decision to fast track one of his campaign promises to a referendum.
The promise: to deliver a free meal program featuring soup and bread to students based on the successful Loaded Ladle program offered at Dalhousie University. The referendum failed to reach quorum, with only 9.4 per cent of the student population casting a ballot one way or the other.
As a transfer student from Dalhousie who witnessed first hand how the Loaded Ladle impacted hundreds of students each day, I see this as a tragedy.
But it may not stay that way for long.
As of September, the Student Representative Assembly approved a motion to rerun the referendum. It seems Popovic might have learned more this time than last about what made Dalhousie’s experiment so successful.
As of September, the Student Representative Assembly approved a motion to rerun the referendum.
The Loaded Ladle began life as an unsanctioned food service organization on Dalhousie’s campus serving soup from an ironing board. Despite problems with campus police, the organization gained popularity among students and garnered support that eventually saw them granted a kitchen space in the student union building, as a carve-out from the union's exclusive contract with corporate food provider Aramark.
Its origins — and continued existence — as an explicitly political, anti-capitalist student activist group meant that the Loaded Ladle needed to garner community support from its beginnings.
While I supported Popovic’s proposal, I think that this difference helps explain why his referendum failed to gain enough votes to either pass or fail. What was at Dalhousie a student-run initiative, would be under Popovic a single presidential candidate’s, albeit well planned and thought out, campaign promise.
The proposal itself reflects these differences too. At Dalhousie, the Loaded Ladle is an independent non-profit, run largely by volunteers, now with some paid positions at $23.50 per hour. The proposed program at McMaster would be run out of the TwelvEighty Kitchen and would be staffed and operated by existing MSU employees.
This difference is understandable. The President alone would have a hard time building an activist organization during a one-year-term and his current proposal would deliver results to students soon and for a modest fee.
But I think it's these differences that explain why the referendum failed to meet quorum. Without a group of student activists raising awareness, most students wouldn't have bothered checking the email from elections services.
Luckily, Popovic himself seems aware of this fact.
In his request to the SRA to suspend the rules on referendums that would have prevented the referendum from being re-run until next year, Popovic acknowledges that his referendum failed exactly where the Bike Share referendum succeeded.
“[T]hey were only aware of one . . . a student-led campaign team was openly informing students of the [Bike Share] referendum," read Popovic's official motion to the SRA.
This time around, Popovic says he has a “group of students” ready to raise awareness about the referendum to the student body. This, along with Popovic’s other reasons for rerunning the referendum — a commitment to his campaign promise and to the democratic process — demonstrate his interest in the kind of student-led politics that helped the Loaded Ladle and the Bike Share referendum to succeed.
This, along with Popovic’s other reasons for rerunning the referendum — a commitment to his campaign promise and to the democratic process — demonstrate his interest in the kind of student-led politics that helped the Loaded Ladle and the Bike Share referendum to succeed.
Whether he follows through on his commitment and sees the soup and bread program through or not, Popovic is clearly attempting to move forward with these valuable lessons in mind. His new plan is a clear path to success. With this revised plan, I think Popovic has everything he needs to succeed.
The closure comes in the midst of security and funding issues
The campus community fridge, a vital resource for students, faculty and community members needing free healthy food options, officially closed its doors on Aug. 30, 2024. The decision came after mounting financial challenges, repeated security breaches and ongoing difficulties in maintaining adequate staffing.
The fridge, operated by the Student Wellness Centre, had been a food resource located behind Mills Library for over two years. It provided free, nutritious food to anyone in need, including students, staff and members of the surrounding community.
For many students, the fridge was essential to help provide food amid the rising cost of living. In an interview with The Silhouette, PhD student Val Flores, expressed how the fridge had been a great help throughout their time at McMaster. "It came at a time in my life when I didn't really have a lot of money," said Flores.
It came at a time in my life when I didn't really have a lot of money.
Val Flores, PhD student
Flores, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 2023, shared the struggles of eating healthy with expensive grocery prices and limited food options on campus. "Having the community fridge so I could make my own meals and deal with my own condition . . . It helped me a lot," said Flores.
The McMaster Community Fridge announced on Instagram that the service would be closing as of Aug. 30, 2024. The statement cited "logistical challenges" as the reason.
The community fridge was established in 2022 by a group of third-year student volunteers who wanted to address food insecurity on campus during a sustainability course project. The Student Wellness Centre undertook the project and assumed responsibility for stocking, maintaining and monitoring fridge services.
SWC Program Coordinator Jack Chen provided a detailed account of the challenges plaguing the community fridge initiative in recent years. Funding had become a persistent challenge, with the initiative relying heavily on monetary and food donations. "The years following 2022 showed a pretty exponential decrease in funding from donation . . . we were not able to secure the kind of additional funding needed to support the fridge on a sustainable basis," said Chen.
The years following 2022 showed a pretty exponential decrease in funding from donations …we were not able to secure the kind of additional funding needed to support the fridge on a sustainable basis.
Jack Chen, Program Coordinator
Student Wellness Centre
Staffing and volunteer support have posed further challenges. "We have lots of student volunteers who work on the project and love being part of it . . . But without a dedicated [paid] staff member, it's been challenging to manage everything together," said Chen.
In addition to financial difficulties, security concerns have significantly impacted the fridge's viability. According to Chen, the fridge has faced incidents of theft.
"In the past 12 months, we've experienced quite a few security breaches," said Chen.
These incidents have also highlighted the difficulty of maintaining a free-access resource in a public space while balancing the need for security and safety. Ultimately, the combination of these issues led to the difficult decision to close the community fridge.
Although the community fridge itself will no longer be in operation, the mission to address food insecurity on campus will continue through the Food Collective Centre, a service funded by the McMaster Students Union. The fridge and freezer from the closed community fridge will be repurposed to support the FCC's operations, expanding their service operations to offer both non-perishable and perishable food items.
The FCC, newly located on the 3rd floor of the HUB, has traditionally focused on non-perishable items. This expansion will help maintain the balanced and nutritious offerings previously provided by the community fridge.
"I'm super excited by the expansion of the FCC services to include perishable items. This will continue to help us serve our members and help alleviate food insecurity on campus," said MSU Vice-President (Administration) Adam El-Kadi.
The SWC will provide an initial $1,000 in financial support to the FCC and will evaluate further donations based on the success of the first year of operations.
Organizers of the community fridge have expressed their commitment to supporting those in need, albeit in a different format.
"You can still access the same number of resources, if not more, in this new space [FCC]. It's just in a different spot and a different format," said Chen.
They hope that integrating the FCC into this new model will provide a more sustainable and secure method of distributing food, addressing the challenges that led to the fridge's closure.
As the campus community adjusts to this new food distribution blueprint, the HUB will officially launch the new service space on Oct. 1. Organizers encourage students and staff to stay informed by following @msu_fcc and @mcmastercommunityfridge on Instagram.
By Gregory Lee, Contributor
Whether it be from the crowded lines at the MUSC Tim Hortons or to the pasta place inside Centro, hungry students are everywhere, looking for ways to satisfy their hunger on campus.
McMaster Hospitality Services, which operates most eateries on campus, state that they aim to provide high quality food service, variety and value. Eating on campus a few times will show that in reality, these expectations are not always met.
Food at universities is notorious for being unhealthy. It is usually stereotyped as deep fried, greasy, frozen and/or unhealthy, which are all true statements. A quick look at the menu at many of the campus eateries shows that they’re mainly burgers, wraps and fries that are almost always frozen and low-quality in terms of taste — mediocre at best.
Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with frozen deep-fried food but the fact that campus food is also notoriously expensive as well doesn’t help. For example, a slice of pepperoni pizza at the MUSC Pizza Pizza costs significantly more than a slice at any other Pizza Pizza location. A Mac Burger at Centro costs around $8.95 for the burger itself, plus an extra $2.99 for a combo, which includes a drink and fries. An order of onion rings which normally contains 5-7 rings will set you back around $4.
What really puts the prices of on-campus food into perspective is when it's compared to other locations off campus which offer better value for your money compared to the on-campus eateries. It’s worse for people who live on residence as the meal plans offered by Mac Hospitality are mandatory if you want to live on residence with few exceptions.
Although the meals plans allow students to save tax when buying food on campus, they still cost students at least $3000 upfront for even the lighter meal plans.
It gets worse when Mac Hospitality takes away exactly half of the non-refundable portion of your meal plan in the beginning of the year for overhead costs, giving you a 50 per cent discount on all food. This discount is only for first year and disappears after the school year ends. The truth is, many students will not finish the non-refundable portion of their meal plan before first year ends. They will either have to go on spending sprees to finish their plans or cut their losses and use the money next school year, even if it technically means losing half of your money.
Health wise, the food on campus doesn’t fare well either. University eating is characterized by fears over the “freshman 15” and uncontrollable weight gain. While the freshman 15 is little more than just a myth, the health concerns of campus food are not.
A quick look at the nutrition facts of campus food will be enough to give any health-conscious individual a heart attack. Calories, unhealthy fats, sodium, carbohydrates and bad cholesterol are high for most, if not all dishes. In addition, the foods on campus are often low in key nutrients such as fibre, protein and vitamins. The campus eateries do have their healthier options such as salad bars or select food from Bridges, but healthy options are almost always lacking on the menus around campus.
Let’s not forget the fact that food options for vegetarians and vegans are limited on campus. While we do have Bridges serving vegetarian and vegan options, other eateries on campus are often lacking in vegetarian and vegan options. Halal and kosher options are also limited and just recently, McMaster Hospitality stopped offering halal beef burgers at their eateries.
The food at Mac is definitely not the worst, but it can be greatly improved upon both health-wise and cost-wise. The introduction of the new $5-dollar daily meals is a step in the right direction for food accessibility at Mac and the menu at the campus eateries is always changing. Hopefully, Mac continues to make improvements to the food on campus so that one day, it can be accessible for all.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Food security is a major issue that an unfortunately large number of students at McMaster University face. McMaster offers students over twenty different on-campus locations to get food. These locations range in their selection but are united by their general lack of affordability.
The Union Market, located on the main floor of the McMaster University Students Centre, differs from the rest in that they are a relatively affordable institution. They advertise having the best prices on campus, and in fact, they do. A cup of coffee can be as low as $1.40 and a “bigger, better” bagel can cost students under a toonie. Sales are known to occur throughout the week as well that provide students many affordable mealtime options.
Union Market also offers students a range of organic, gluten-free and fair trade products that increase its available consumer demographic. Open seven days a week with extended exam hours, they truly seem to be a place that is catered around student needs.
It is no wonder then that many students flock to Union Market on a daily basis. What is disheartening, however, is that while their prices are affordable, their stock is rarely present.
[spacer height="20px"]For the past few weeks, Union Market has been empty halfway throughout the week. By Thursday, almost all of the stock, most notably its sandwiches and bagels, are off the shelf.
When a cashier at Union Market was asked about the lack of products, she responded by saying that there is a limited number of items that are shelved each morning and that once these items are sold, oftentimes before noon, they are not replenished.
It is true that sales have increased at Union Market since their renovation this year. This may simply be good business for Union Market but for students, especially those on a tight budget, this is a serious issue. By not catering to the demand of the student body, the utility of Union Market becomes limited.
Some would argue that it is not Union Market’s responsibility to be the only affordable and accessible spot on campus. I would agree. But until other establishments can offer affordable prices, Union Market is all students on-campus really have.
If Union Market, and by extension the McMaster Students Union, was sincere in their commitment to fulfilling students’ needs, they would place priority on keeping Union Market well-stocked at the risk of any financial loss. Considering the number of students witnessed entering Union Market and leaving emptyhanded due to a lack of stock, the fear of lost profits is likely unfounded.
The other solution would be to increase affordable options for food on campus. While the recent implementation of Tax-free Tuesdays is a step forward in the right direction, the difference is marginal especially considering the discount applies only one day of the week. Campus-wide, prices have only increased and so it seems unlikely that students will be able to find affordable food elsewhere.
Until student demands are met, it would be wrong of Union Market to advertise themselves as the best spot on campus for food. If you frequent Union Market and are able to snag a bagel or sandwich, consider yourself lucky. The majority of the student body is left disappointed and hungry.
[spacer height="20px"][thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Donna Nadeem
The rising prices of campus food make it increasingly difficult for many students to find a financially sustainable source of nourishment. In an effort to improve food affordability on campus, Ikram Farah, McMaster Student Union president, worked to introduce the pilot project of an initiative called “Tax-free Tuesdays” earlier this month.
Farah is largely focused on increasing food accessibility. Two of her year-plan objectives that centre around this are Farah’s “Tax-Free Tuesdays” plan, which has involved working with McMaster Hospitality Services and working with Bridges Café to offer healthier options at other restaurants on campus.
November will be the pilot month for Farah’s new “Tax-Free Tuesdays” initiative. The project was one of her platform objectives during her presidential campaign and was launched to address the high food costs on campus. Food at La Piazza will be tax-free on each Tuesday of November. Students can access this tax discount by using cash, credit or debit.
On each Tuesday in November, Hospitality Services will lower the sticker price of food items by 13 per cent, equivalent to HST, and the discount will apply to food sold from any of the vendors inside the La Piazza in the McMaster University Student Centre.
“The spirit behind Tax-Free Tuesdays is to address food prices on campus through collaboration with the university,” said Farah.
McMaster University prides itself on prioritizing the needs of students and providing programs and resources that promote physical and mental health.
Nevertheless, the rising prices of campus food call into question this stated goal. Students are finding it increasingly difficult to find a financially sustainable source of food, especially with the climbing prices of healthier options.
East Meets West Bistro and Bridges have never been considered the cheapest place for on-campus dining, but such increases in food prices are making meal plans less attractive from a food security standpoint. Moreover, East Meets West Bistro and Bridges are not included in the “Tax-Free Tuesdays” initiative.
To improve food security, the “food pantry,” along with the food collective centre in Bridges and the anonymous “lockers of love” program, provide an ongoing resource to students who need food the most. The Nolunchmoney initiative team also uses their social media to constantly keep students updated on free food events.
In addition, the MSU operates three specific locations that sell food: TwelveEighty, The Grind and Union Market; all three venues price their food to yield maximum value to the students.
“Food insecurity is real. The MSU invests in the operations of the MSU Food Collective Centre to offer immediate food support to students,” said Farah.
The tax-free Tuesdays pilot program will look at and draw on responses from staff and students and more logistical feedback.
“To me the pilot is not a test of ‘success’ or ‘need.’ To lower costs at all is a success unto itself as there is a need,” said Farah.
On top of juggling academic and extracurricular involvements and struggling with tuition and residence fees, many students worry about not having enough food to eat. According to Farah, the MSU will continue to fulfill its commitment to providing students with affordable food options and advocate for McMaster to do the same.
[spacer height="20px"][thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]