• accessibility,  food,  no one asked

    food bank! on campus!

    November 15, 2024

    hi friendos,

    did you know there’s a student-run food bank on campus? since the weather is getting colder, i thought it might be good to let folks know about this resource.

    This may contain: charlie brown and snoop the dog are working on a pile of leaves

    the place in question is the UTSU food bank, which can be found at 230 college street (in the student commons building at the corner of huron and college).

    this is an accessible building, and you can go to food bank room 136 to pick up food every friday, 11am to 3pm by appointment. to make an appointment, you’ll book a slot on this site — bookings open up every wednesday at 9am.

    when you show up, just make sure to bring a valid T card or a copy of your current timetable (to verify you’re a U of T student), and reusable bags for carrying food. but if you can’t pick up food between 11am and 3pm, you’re able to assign a proxy by giving them your T-card!

    for this fall semester, the food bank will run until dec 13, 2024 — but it’ll open up again for the winter semester in january.

    meanwhile, if this food bank doesn’t work for you, check out 211 ontario, where you can find a directory of local food resources near you. there are also several community fridges spread throughout downtown toronto. you can find a super pretty map of these here.

    on that note, i encourage anyone who sees this to donate to toronto community fridges! it’s literally so easy, they’re covered in colorful paintings so they’re easy to spot, you just open it up and put food in! i also saw that the UTSU food bank is currently taking volunteer applications for the winter semester btw.

    and that’s it from me, i’ll be happy if even one person finds this useful. let me know if you’d like more posts about similar U of T resources, or places to get cheap groceries near campus, etc etc!

    This may contain: a black and white cat standing next to a grocery bag

    over and out,

    aska

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  • food,  meal plans

    it do be hard

    July 29, 2019
    im a first year enrolled in uc but living in an apartment can i still pay for a meal plan? i cant make food for the life of me

    ——————————————

    hello friend,

    you certainly can! i figure you probably googled it but weren’t able to find anything– that’s because, according to this site, the plans aren’t available for purchase til august of each year. so hang tight– they should be up soon, and with updated fees.

    if you’re not on res, you can purchase an unlimited dining plan valid at certain locations. new college’s dining hall is usually one of them, which is a win ’cause new is known to have the best dining hall food on campus. when you purchase a plan, you choose a certain period of time it’s active for as well– a year? a semester? a month? i’m not sure what the offerings will look like this year, that’s just based on what it’s been in the past.

    i’m pretty sure buying the annual plan gives you more ~value~ because it’s cheaper per day. an alternative to that is purchasing a plan for a semester, just til you get on your feet with the whole adulting thing. it can get pretty tedious having to go to campus for your every meal– trust me, once january or february hits and it’s -30 wind chill, you’ll want to stay at home if you can. and chances are, you’ll also still end up eating out with friends, skipping breakfast, and wanting snacks outside of dining hall hours.

    these reasons are what have deterred me, personally, from getting a meal plan, although biting the bullet and purchasing a plan can be the right choice for some people. i do believe you’ll learn how to make your own food at some point– but baby steps! it’s totally fair if you don’t feel up to feeding yourself every single meal right now. it do be hard.

    another option you have is to load your tcard with tbucks, which will give you a discount at a bunch of on-campus dining locations. you can also use these tbucks for printing or bookstore purchases, so if you don’t use them all on food, they won’t go to waste.

    that said, if you do wanna go for the full-year unlimited plan, by all means. it can help free up time you would’ve otherwise spent doing groceries and cooking, and hey– maybe you’ll end up making friends in the dining hall. just want you to be aware of your other options, as well as some things i’ve picked up along the way. at the end of the day, choose what works best for you!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • computers,  food,  library,  studying

    nom nom nom

    October 7, 2015

    Are there places on campus where I can plug in my laptop and also eat my lunch? I don’t wanna get caught being sneaky in the libraries!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    fun fact: Kelly Library is the only library on campus where you’re allowed to eat, so if you find yourself on the east side of campus, you could go there! there are also outlets available by study tables- though there’s sometimes a bit of a battle for them around midterm time.

    there are also barstool-type things at Robarts that have outlets on the counter. you can grab food from the food court, park yourself on one of those high chairs, and you’re all set for food and power.

    the Bahen Centre has a similar setup, with a row of stools and a counter that has outlets. you can grab food from The Cube and sit there until your next linear algebra class or whatever.

    finally, the Exchange in the Rotman building has outlets, tables and food – the holy trifecta.

    happy eating and interneting!

    aska

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  • food

    no, i DON’T have $3 for a hot dog

    September 30, 2014

    The most important question I’ll ever ask: Where’s the free food at?

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    hey there,

    finally, people are asking about the real issues. i’m so proud of you for being brave enough to voice what’s really on all our minds.

    there used to be this really great uoft account that just tweeted different places on campus you could get free food, but as far as i can tell, that account no longer exists. some things are just too good to last, i guess.

    however, UTSU often has events with free food, so following them would be a wise move. for example, their free Welcome Back BBQ was just two weeks ago. your respective college’s student life twitter almost definitely tweets about free food events, too.

    what? you don’t know your own college’s twitter? fine. here we go:

    innis, new, st. mike’s, UC, vic, woodsworth and trin/trin.

    itsfreeuoft is another godsend of a twitter account. it tweets about all sorts of free things, not just food, but i figure it’s still worth it.

    best of luck in your noble quest, and please, remember to keep your ol’ pal aska updated on where the free pizza’s at.

    aska

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  • food

    food $$$

    August 27, 2014

    hi aska!

    so here’s the deal. i started at uoft in 2010 and lived in chestnut. then i took a few years off and i’m coming back in september! only now i’m a
    commuter. and i want to use flex dollars for meals and stuff. but…
    a) how do i add flex dollars?
    b) can i use flex dollars at like new college dining hall etc? how much
    does it cost (for a meal, i know it varies depending on time)

    xoxo -hungry commuter

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    a) all i could find was this link, which i guess lets you register yourself and then reload your T-card with money whenever you like. pretty simple!

    according to page 3 of this document, you can also add more flex dollars “from the FFCo.office located in the Dining Hall” “from 9am to 4:30pm.” now, i don’t know what FFCo. is (fabulous food corporation food is fine co.), but it’s in the new college dining hall, so it probably won’t be too hard to find. how many offices could they possibly have in there?

    b) “Flexible Dollars can be used at any of the 30+ participating locations on campus!”

    what 30+ locations?  these ones. and yes, new college is one of them, to spare you the 10 seconds of reading. so go ahead, gobble up that new food (as in new college food; other colleges don’t serve old food i hope).

    if you don’t have a meal plan but you’re a registered student, i guess the prices listed at the top of page 4 for breakfast, lunch and dinner would apply to you.

    bon appetite!

    aska

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  • food

    hook me up with some halal!

    January 21, 2013

    Hey Aska,

    How halal friendly is UofT St. George? I tried to google halal options on campus but everything is very vague. I’m just looking for a place to eat meat, I can’t live like a vegetarian anymore!

    P.S: A lot of food stores in UTSC allow students to ask for halal meat, are there stores like this on campus?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    Hey there,

    I can’t seem to find anything specific about where you can go at St. George for halal food, but we do take it very seriously and would only label things as halal if they were. So, unfortunately, if you can’t find anything that’s labelled as “halal” then… well, sadly, you have to look harder. But here’s a list of possible places for you to go to around St. George.

    And UTSC is a little different and with more halal options mostly because there’s a higher demand over there.

    Bon apetit!

    aska

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  • food,  meal plans

    food is everything

    October 29, 2012

    I’ve done a lot of research, and nowhere does it say whether Innis has a meal plan, or even a cafeteria…

    I need a place with food, and I really liked the look of Innis..

    Thanks!

    PC

    ———————————————

    Hey hey PC,

    Looks like you have done your research! You totally get a gold star. You don’t know how many people ask questions without consulting Google first.

    Anyhow, you’re right. There is no meal plan at Innis. Why? Because Innis functions as an apartment-style sort of residence, meaning you get a fully equipped kitchen that allows you to cook. Yes, that’s right, you can actually go to UofT to learn about biology and sociology and all of those other beautiful things, while also learning how to cook!

    But if you cross the street and head over to the Innis Caf located in Innis College, you can buy food there. They have freshly squeezed juices, breakfast specials with enough bacon to fill your monthly quota for it, and these absolutely amazing chicken kabobs. However, if you’re really set on purchasing a meal plan, there’s nothing stopping you from getting one that allows you to eat all over campus.

    suddenly starving,

    aska

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  • food

    local food from the concrete farms of Toronto

    September 27, 2012

    Greetings Aska,

    Whatever happened to the U of T Farmers’ Market that was in Willcocks Common last year on Thursdays? I didn’t see it this year and can’t find any info on it.

    Thanks,
    Hungry for vegan pies

    ———————————————

    Hello there my loveliest of vegans,

    According to U of T this bad boy still goes down every week … well for a couple more weeks that is!

    Here it tis in the U of T Events Calendar.

    Get it while you can babe.

    mmmm food,
    aska

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  • food,  timetable

    back-to-back lectures made possible with Tim Hortons

    June 26, 2012

    Hello,

    I’m going into CS at UTSG, but I’m also taking RSM and ECO (trying to get in to Rotman year 2). I’m really interested in doing a CS FLC, but seeing as how only 1 RSM lecture is offered, that would make me have an RSM lecture from 5-7, then a CS148 lecture from 7-9.

    Is having back to back courses bad? Is it even possible?

    Cheers!

    ———————————————

    yo yo,

    When you say possible, do you mean physically or mentally?
    Physically, yes! Lectures all start 10 minutes after the hour, giving you 10 minutes to get from one class to another. Depending on the prof and the class, they may even let you out a few minutes earlier than the scheduled end of class.

    Now mentally, 2 hour classes back to back could be worse. They could be two 3-hour lectures back to back. From what I’ve experiencd a prof will either give you a break between the two hours or go straight through and let you leave early. I highly, HIGHLY recommend snacks and coffee.Food will get you through lectures .. and life.

    Please meet my best friend, Tim Horton, may you both be forever acquainted.

    With a medium regular and apple fritter,

    aska

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  • food,  trinity college

    trinity food < hogwarts

    March 28, 2012

    Dear Askastudent,

    How bad is the food at Trinity? I hear it’s one of the worst on campus. How can that be, given all the prestige?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    Hi-de-ho,

    I actually haven’t heard too much about the quality of Trin food. In the normal sphere of society that would probably be good, but as university students we thrive on food. If there isn’t a buzz about the food, it’s probably not all that great. Chestnut gernerally is considered to have the best food. Its far from campus but it’s all you can eat.

    Here is the Trin deal breaker for me. You can only eat during designated times. If you have class, you’re out of luck. Also you have to wear a cloak to dinner, possibly lunch too. I feel like this is only cool if you have a wand tucked up the sleeve and the food magically apears on the table.

    U of T is a Hogwarts wanna be.

    forever waiting for a wand,

    aska

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  • campus,  food

    a meal fit for a… prof?

    March 6, 2009

    it is my first year and i was wondering where you can get free food . JRC is mentioned alot in this site where is it located on campus.

    a suggestion . Can anyone giving advise about campus stuff to include location

    thank you

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