Free Soup for Students is an initiative we started in early October of 2025 to provide a free, nutritious meal to any student in the high school we operate our cafeterias in. We got involved in high school cafeterias because of how directly we can be involved in the food culture of a school that way. We call these "Get Fresh Cafes". Here, all the food is made from scratch, and is food we'd all feel good about serving to our own families. Free Soup for Students began as a means to make sure that anyone who walks through the door into the Get Fresh Cafe can find a nutritious meal, no matter their means. It is offered universally, meaning that any student is welcome to a bowl of soup, in an effort to reduce stigma. Free Soup for Students has been a huge success. Currently we are serving it twice a week and each time we are serving more than 250-300 bowls of soup. In February, we would like to increase this to 3 times a week and eventually, 5 times a week in September of 2026.
We know that students who have access to great food do better in school, stay at school more consistently, and are able to participate in all that schools offer (teams, clubs, events etc). Free Soup for Students is a barrier free, nourishing way to take care of the school community as a whole and make sure there is good food for all.
Free Soup for Students is important to our community because it shows that there can be community level responses to make the day to day easier for hundreds of young people. This project removes the barrier of food access for students so they can participate more fully and be a greater part of the school food community. Having access to food at school decreases their stress and makes them more ready to learn, improving outcomes in the long run.
Students deserve to come to school without worrying about where they're going to get food from. Roots Community Food Centre is poised to rally the resources required to make this possible and we envision other schools and communities seeing this and being inspired to include this in their own school cafeteria scenarios.
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Always amazing soup to share with my friends at lunch
super duper yummy
I love getting free soup it makes my day
The soup is good
Thanks for the free soup
the soup is good