Who are we?
The workers of the People’s Potato recognize that their work takes place on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. The Island of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) is known as a traditional gathering place of many other Indigenous nations. While our daily work within this institution (Concordia University) remains complicit in the ongoing colonisation of these lands, we pledge to prioritize supporting events, gatherings and protests hosted by Indigenous-led grassroots groups and organisations fighting for and towards decolonization.
Pronunciation guide : Kanien’kehá:ka : gan - yea - ge - ha - ga, Tiohtià:ke : jo - ja - gay
The People’s Potato is a vegan soup kitchen at Concordia University - a student initiated project that was founded in 1999 in order to address student poverty and the lack of affordable food options on campus. We offer by donation meals every weekday during the fall and winter semesters, excluding holidays*. With the help of our dedicated volunteers, we serve more than 500 meals daily to students and community members. We are committed to education around food politics and anti-oppression, and to the broader goals of social and environmental justice.
*Due to limited capacity brought on by the pandemic, we are currently offering our meals 2 days a week, those days being Tuesday and Thursday, from 12:30-2:00 PM. We plan to be back up to 5 days a week as soon as we can.
Our Mission
The People’s Potato is a non-profit, worker-run collective mandated to:
● Provide quality vegetarian food to Concordia students and community members.
● Offer an anti-capitalist alternative to corporate food systems on campus.
● Offer education with respect to food politics, food preparation and social justice issues.
● Provide an accessible anti-oppressive community space.
● Mobilize for active involvement in environmental and social justice movements.
● Support the work of social-justice-oriented community events and projects.
● Offer all services for free or on a pay-what-you-can basis.
The People’s Potato is committed to anti-oppression, inclusivity and accessibility. This means
that we strive to make our services financially as well as physically accessible and to
maintain a space in which people feel respected and welcome.
Our Values
Our work is guided by our organizational values of:
- Solidarity,
- Anti-oppression,
- Learning,
- Respect,
- and Sustainable work practices.