24,800 meals later: how TMU Eats supports food security on campus
The TMU Eats team is reflecting on a year of meaningful progress in addressing student food security on campus.
Through a growing suite of programs, partnerships and campus-wide collaborations, TMU Eats continues to support making food more accessible, affordable and community-oriented for students navigating the rising cost of living.
This success is the result of partnerships with departments across campus, student societies and campus groups to deliver initiatives that respond directly to student needs.
Fueling finals: the Free Food Project and sustainable giving
The Free Food project is a collaborative initiative involving the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, faculty societies and administrative partners, TMU Eats supports the delivery of these free and inclusive meals – accommodating halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dietary needs – to students during one of the most demanding times of the academic year. This past year, that meant more than 14,000 free meals served across campus.
14,814 free meals
Provided by the Free Food Project to students across campus during the 2025/2026 academic year.
Stretch your dollar: five-dollar favourites and free soup days
The Friendly Fiver returned to the Hub Café as a reliable, low-cost staple. Offering fixed-price meals at just $4.99, it helped students, faculty and staff stretch their budgets from September 2025 to April 2026. These meals were purchased 4,047 times over the academic year.
Free Soup Day, a partnership between the Office of the President and Professor Emeritus Myer Siemiatycki, these six events brought the campus together over warm, signature soups at zero cost. This year, approximately 4,900 free bowls of soup were served (4,200 via the President's Office; 700 via Professor Siemiatycki).
Expanding access: meal pack partnerships and dining hall pilots
For students facing deeper food insecurity, access to a single meal isn't always enough. TMU Eats took a targeted approach this year, partnering with student societies and piloting new dining hall programs to get sustained, meaningful support directly into students' hands.
- Collaborating with the Ted Rogers Students' Society, TMU Eats distributed 889 meals directly to students in need via specialized seven-day meal packs.
- New for this year, TMU Eats piloted a meal pack program that provided 50 students who had a pre-identified financial need, access to meals from either the Pitman and ILC dining halls. In Winter 2026, TMU Eats provided 150 meals through this initiative.
- Total partnership impact: combined meal pack partnerships successfully delivered 1,039 meals to students.
Connecting through food: a year of campus-wide impact
Food security isn't just an individual challenge, it's a community one. The Connecting Through Food initiative invites the broader TMU community to learn about the barriers some students face and take action through fun, engaging campus events.
It also allows students to help out and give back through activities like Spin to Give Back, where all proceeds go towards supporting future food security initiatives from TMU Eats. Campus engagement helped raise $2,504 in 2025–2026 to fund future food security programs.
The grand total: TMU Eats supported the distribution of more than 24,800 meals during the 2025–2026 academic year.
TMU Eats is working to build a campus where all students know they are supported with healthy and accessible food options. Since the earliest food security initiatives in 2020, a remarkable 75,253 total meals have been provided to students. With continued collaboration and innovation, we’re focused on ensuring food security remains a central part of student well-being at TMU.
Learn more about TMU Eats dedication to food security at TMU.