TMU Eats energizes students for their Winter 2024/2025 Exams
At Toronto Metropolitan University, we recognize that the well-being of our students has an impact on their ability to focus on their learning. That’s why TMU Eats has made addressing food security on campus a priority through a number of initiatives designed to support students accessing healthy, nutritious, affordable food on campus. With the 2024/2025 academic year behind us, we’re pleased to highlight successes in this year’s efforts to tackle food security.
Free Food Project offered healthy, hot meals free of charge during exam periods
Launched in April 2024, the Free Food Project has provided almost 16,674 free meals to students in the fall and winter exam periods. Meals rotate daily and in line with the university’s commitment to sustainability, are served in a reusable, Friendlier container. In Winter 2025, we were able to provide over 3900 free meals to students.
The Free Food Project was made possible through sponsorships from the Office of the President, Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, Office of the Vice-President, Administration and Operations, the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, TMU Eats and various student groups from across the university.
“As a university, we’re committed to supporting our students beyond the classroom, as we know this has a direct impact on their academic success. That’s why my office has made it a priority to support not just the Free Food Project during exam periods, but also TMU Eats’ daily and monthly initiatives as well.”
Two Hub staples provide reliable access to affordable food on campus
The Friendly Fiver is an inflation-fighting daily special designed to provide students with a healthy and affordable option. As the name suggests, for the past ten years our community has been able to rely on finding a meal at Hub for the set price of $5. Since 2023 alone, TMU Eats has served over 6,900 Friendly Fiver meals.
Hosted monthly, Free Soup Day provides the TMU community with their choice from a rotating menu of two delicious soups for free. This initiative started with a donation from soup-lover Professor Myer Siemiatycki, and we expanded the program to have additional soup days throughout the academic year. It continues to be popular with both students as well as staff and faculty and we’ve served 8,700 free bowls of soup since 2023.
Both of these initiatives are made possible through funding partnerships with the Office of the President.
“By ensuring access to nutritious and budget-friendly meals we’re contributing to a more equitable learning environment where every student can thrive.”
Tackling Food Security with partnerships across the university and beyond
TMU Eats has established several partnerships with internal and external groups to increase the impact of its food security measures. Since 2024, we’ve worked with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students to secure 875 $50 meal credits for students through Skip the Dishes to use for off-campus dining.
The Meal Pack Partnership allows departments on campus to purchase bulk dining hall meal plans that they can then distribute to their student communities. In both the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 school years, we worked with select student societies and departments across campus to provide over 4,000 free meals to students through this program. These allow students access to seven or ten, healthy All-You-Care-To-Eat meals at the Pitman and ILC Dining Halls.
While we have offered several initiatives that have had a positive impact on addressing food security on Campus, these are just steps in an ongoing journey to help students access healthy meals. TMU Eats will continue to build innovative programs for the foreseeable future.
To learn more about how TMU is fighting food insecurity or for an opportunity to support the efforts, visit the TMU Eats website.