Cooking Programs Impact Snapshot

Cooking workshops for children, youth, and families that create opportunities to learn new skills, prepare nourishing meals, and connect through food.

WHAT WE KNOW

Low-income communities face many structural barriers that make it difficult to access enough nutritious, culturally appropriate food.

While we know people experiencing food insecurity do not necessarily lack cooking skills, we know that cooking can be a powerful way to bring people together, strengthen community ties, and celebrate the diverse food traditions of NDG.

1 in 5

Montrealers

experience food
insecurity

1 in 3

Children

risk going to
school hungry

Low-income communities face many structural barriers that make it difficult to access enough nutritious, culturally diverse food.

While we know people experiencing food insecurity do not necessarily lack cooking skills, we know that cooking can be a powerful way to bring people together, exchange knowledge and skills, and celebrate the diverse food traditions of NDG.

WHAT WE DO

Build food literacy and cooking confidence through hands-on workshops that help participants develop practical cooking skills, prepare healthy and affordable meals, and deepen their understanding of food and nutrition.

Celebrate diverse cultures and food traditions by creating opportunities for community members to share recipes, stories, knowledge, and culinary practices from around the world.

Create welcoming spaces for connection and belonging where participants build relationships, share experiences, and strengthen community through food.

Support the health and well-being of community members by increasing access to food knowledge, practical skills, nourishing meals, and positive experiences around food.

OUR PROGRAMS

Five different types of workshops — Recipes Together, My Healthy Family, My Family in the Garden, Basic Food Skills, and Men’s Kitchens — bring people together to cook and share a meal. Guided by facilitators, participants exchange tips and food traditions while preparing affordable, healthy dishes.

Participants receive an honorarium to co-facilitate a cooking workshop (in our space at Recipes Together, or in the garden at Roots of Flavour) or lead a meal at the Resto Depot as a Guest Chef.

Hands-on, after-school workshops and activities that help youth build confidence in the kitchen, gain nutrition knowledge, and develop a healthy relationship with food.

2025

0 +

prepared through Boîte à Lunch and community kitchen workshops.

0 +

participants of all ages engaged in cooking workshops

community partnerships supporting workshop outreach & registration

recipes shared with families through Boîte à Lunch

community organizations supported to run Boîte à Lunch across Montreal, reaching 300+ children and teens

WHAT WE HEAR

2025

0 %

of Community Kitchen participants said that The Depot’s programs have increased their level of happiness/life satisifaction

0 %

of Boîte à Lunch (Grade 4 & 5) participants expressed that they feel confident making healthy choices at the end of the session

0 %

of Boîte à Lunch participants report having been introduced to new ingredients or tried new foods

0 %

of Community Kitchen’s participants made new friends

“We enjoyed very much our experience when we prepared food all together. This helped us to strengthen family bonds. We started preparing food together at home, and [the] children now participate in the cooking.”

-My Healthy Family participant

“I now know how to follow a recipe on my own!”

-Boîte à Lunch participant

“He is more confident in cooking simple recipes by himself [and] I look forward to cooking together with him at home!”

-Boîte à Lunch parent

“We have all cultures here. Through cooking, we come all together, and it is non-judgmental here.”

-Community Kitchens participant

ADVANCING OUR IMPACT

At The Depot, people have immediate access to fresh, nourishing, and culturally diverse food. They build skills, improve their health, make social connections, and contribute to their communities. They also have the opportunity to engage in advocacy work that raises awareness and addresses the systemic barriers to realizing of food as a basic human right.

OUR cooking programs...

1 RESPOND TO IMMEDIATE NEEDS

by offering access to healthy and culturally diverse meals.

2 BUILD COMMUNITY AND LONG-TERM HEALTH

by helping participants develop nutrition knowledge and food skills, connect with neighbours, and celebrate the cultural diversity of the neighbourhood.