The first METRO Shared Kitchen in Ontario opened at Renfrew Collegiate Institute last week.
Through funding from METRO Inc., the high school was able to make upgrades to the teaching and cooking area of its culinary arts program.
Renfrew County District School Board Chair Leo Boland said the program receives food items from METRO that they can’t sell, and the students use the items to make food for the school community and the Renfrew and District Food Bank.
For example, Boland said METRO might give them a bag of oranges that has one bad piece of fruit in it, but the rest are useable. With the kitchen’s new dehydrator, the students could dehydrate the fruit and preserve it for food bank users to make use of.
Boland said the students are usually able to make 800 to 1,000 meals per week, and the new kitchen upgrades will make the process more efficient.
“They have better equipment, they’re able to work better and more efficiently in that space, and then also that obviously benefits the food bank and the students,” Boland said.
He added that having a shared kitchen benefits the broader community. He said he took a cooking class in a shared kitchen when he first moved to Pembroke, and he still has good memories of it.
The first round of METRO Shared Kitchens in Ontario also includes kitchens in the works in Orillia, Oakville and Thunder Bay.
Applications for the second round of funding open in early 2026.
