New ‘shared kitchen’ in Renfrew, Ont. provides meals for local food bank

Metro has opened a new ‘Shared Kitchen’ at a high school in Renfrew, Ont., which will provide food to the local food bank. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports.

A newly launched ‘community kitchen,’ is turning donated groceries into meals for a local food bank.

Renfrew Collegiate Institute is now home to a newly retrofitted kitchen, which will be used as a community space, and to create meals for the Renfrew and District Food Bank.

“With this new shared kitchen and the new facility we have, we’re close to 1,000 to 1,200 meals every week,” said Michael Wright, president of the Renfrew and District Food Bank and teacher at the secondary school. “It’s a massive amount of soups and stews just coming out of the kitchen.”

The shared space is part of Metro’s Shared Kitchen network.

Metro says the Renfrew kitchen is the program’s first in Ontario and builds on an existing network launched in Quebec 2024. Three additional projects are set for across Ontario in Orillia, Oakville and Thunder Bay.

“We’re investing nearly $900,000 dollars on the creation of four new shared kitchens. For Renfrew itself, it’s $190,000 dollars, over four years,” Metro communication manager Stephanie Bonk said.

The kitchen was launched on Friday morning as a collaboration between Metro and Feed Ontario.

“It’s going to ensure that people in the community have access to healthy, nutritious food. In addition, it will reduce social isolation by allowing community groups to come in and use the space,” said Stephanie Ashton-Smith, vice president of Development & Partnerships at Feed Ontario.

According to a press release from Metro, “the upgraded kitchen will help extend the reach of the Renfrew & District Food Bank. Metro’s funding enabled the addition of a new prep and teaching area, along with six state‑of‑the‑art kitchen stations designed to accommodate groups of up to 30 participants.”

The community kitchen will also serve as a teaching resource.

“[The kitchen is] a place for the students to learn about, cooking and food. It’s also going to serve as a hub for the Renfrew District Food Bank to help, prepare meals and get food out into the community and the surrounding area,” adds Metro’s Bonk.

Wright of the Renfrew and District Food Bank says the shared kitchen will enable community members to use the space after school hours.

“Great location for fundraisers. If you want to make pies, you could have 20 people in here making pies for a fundraiser all at the same time,” Wright said.

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