Local Food

We believe food tastes better when you know its story. Many of our ingredients are sourced from family farms and artisans in the Ottawa area. When we can’t source from our Carleton community, we prioritize purchasing from ethical producers who engage in practices that minimize the pressures placed on our environment’s natural resources.

Meet The People Behind Your Plate

Learn about some of our local partners who provide fresh and delicious ingredients to Carleton’s kitchens.

Carleton University Biology Department

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 0 km

Products used in CU Kitchens: Potatoes, peppers, garlic, honey

Located behind the H.H.J. Nesbitt Biology building is a classroom garden that offers hands-on learning experiences for students and produces a variety of ingredients utilized by Carleton Dining. Under the guidance of Professor Myron Smith, Carleton students produce foods such as peppers, garlic, potatoes, and honey while learning about plant biology.

Pictured: Professor Myron Smith

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Equator Coffee Roasters

Location: Almonte, ON

Distance from Campus: 50 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Coffee

Equator has been roasting, delivering, and serving fresh, Fairtrade, organic coffee since 1998. Founded by Craig and Amber Hall with the goal of making a difference globally and locally, the name was chosen for a reason: to ‘Equate’ the benefit of drinking coffee, not just for the consumer but for all the people along the way, from our staff who pack and serve it- to the farmers who grow it. Learn more about Equator’s impact.

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Ottawa Samosa

Location: Kanata, ON

Distance from Campus: 22 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Samosas

Ottawa Samosa is primarily made up of Owais Khan and his wife Rumana who is the main chef. Neither had expected to work in the culinary business, although Owais’s father owned an Indian restaurant called Meezan when he lived in Toronto and Rumana fostered a love for cooking by making traditional Indian food growing up, learning from her parents and in-laws and watching YouTube videos. Ottawa Samosa was developed in 2014 after Owais’ father passed away due to a complication in surgery. It had been a dream of his to open a place in Ottawa that sold incredible samosas like he used to sell in Toronto. For that reason, Owais and his family felt very strongly about fulfilling it for him.

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St. Albert’s Cheese Co-op

Location: St. Albert, ON

Distance from Campus: 59 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Cheese curds, sliced cheese

The St-Albert Cheese Co-operative is one of the oldest cooperatives in Canada, with its origins dating back to 1894. The co-op is a democratic organization owned by a group of dairy producers in the St. Albert area. We use St. Albert’s cheese curds to create the classic Canadian dish, poutine, at Burger 101 in the Food Court.

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Le Coprin Mushrooms

Location: Farrellton, QC

Distance from Campus: 50 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Mushrooms

For the last 15 years, Le Coprin Mushrooms has been supping local area chefs with some of the finest and most exotic mushrooms available. Owned and operated by Christophe Marineau-Mes, the organic mushroom farm produces a ton and a half of exotic varieties each month.

Photo by Amy Zambonin

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Broadwood Farms

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 20 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Microgreens

After working for 15 years as an engineer in the aerospace and defense industries, Carleton Alumni Bradley Grice, followed his passion for the quality and nutrition of local food by starting Broadwood Farm. His farm provides our caf with fresh microgreens used to garnish our dishes.

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Centre Maraîchers Eugène Guinois

Location: St. Remi, QC

Distance from Campus: 200 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Lettuce, celery

Behind the “Center Maraîcher”, you will find more than 100 years of traditions. At the age of 16, in search of a better life, Pierre Guinois and his family settled in Canada and began cultivating land acquired near Montreal. From father to son, know-how has been passed on and it is now Mr. Eugène Guinois Jr. accompanied by his wife Denise and their children who can be proud of this great success.

Today, the company has become the largest lettuce producer in Canada, with more than 2,000 acres of crops and more than 400 employees. CME Guinois delivers more than 1,500,000 crates of vegetables a year and this beautiful business is still family-owned.

Photo by Mangez Quebec

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Crerar’s Honey Ltd.

Location: Vernon, ON

Distance from Campus: 33 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Honey

The Crerar family emigrated to Canada in 1852 from Perth, Scotland. In 1914, during the First World War, Duff Crerar, of Osgoode Township, purchased his first hives of honeybees. For the next several decades, Duff expanded the colonies and his knowledge of bee handling, earning him the title of “Honey King of Canada” at the 1941 Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. Duff passed away in 1951, and his son Ian (pictured) took over the business at only 17 years old. Ian grew Crerar’s Honey Ltd. to be a well-known honey producer in Eastern Ontario. Duff’s son, Ian, now retired, grandson, Jeff, and great-grandson, Paul, carry on the family tradition/business.

Photo by Van Dunsen

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Slipacoff’s Premium Meats

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 7 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Beef, chicken, pork

The Slipacoff family has been in the meat business for more than 75 years. Charles Slipacoff owned the original butcher shop in the Byward Market. His son, David Slipacoff, later began a wholesale meat business providing prime cuts of meat to Ottawa’s top restaurants. Premium Meats has now expanded to include the same first-class meat delivered to private individuals throughout the Ottawa region. Today, David’s son Ian Slipacoff (pictured, left) with the help of Marc Steele (pictured, right) manage Slipacoff’s Premium Meats.

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La Soyarie

Location: Gatineau, QC

Distance from Campus: 15 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Tofu

Koichi Watanabe, owner, and founder of La Soyarie, was born in Japan. For Koichi, tofu is a family affair; with his brother having several years of tofu experience in Japan. When Koichi immigrated to Canada and moved to Ottawa in 1975, there was virtually no tofu business. In 1982, with the help of his brother, Koichi opened Soyarie in a small bakery in Hull, Quebec. Soyarie has since grown out of that bakery and is now Quebec’s leading producer of tofu, producing on average six metric tons of tofu per day!

Photo by Martin Chamberland

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Camino

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 5 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, coconut shavings

Camino is a Canadian brand of Fairtrade and organic food products, owned by La Siembra Co-operative, based in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

Established in 1999, La Siembra Co-operative became the first registered importers of Fairtrade Certified cocoa and sugar in North America and today works directly with 18 producer co-ops, supporting more than 36,000 family farmers in 9 countries.

Photo by La Siembra Co-operative

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Fulton’s Sugar Bush

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 70 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Maple Syrup

In the early 1840s, three Scottish brothers from the Fulton family immigrated to rural Ontario and settled on a 400-acre lot full of maple sugar trees. More than 150 years and six generations later, the Fulton family continues to produce sweet treats just 45 minutes west of campus. Today, Shirley Fulton and her son Scott continue to operate the historic farm.

Photo by Maple Weekend Ontario

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Kettleman’s Bagels

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 7 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Bagels

Founder and Montreal native Craig Buckley opened the first store in Ottawa in August of 1993. When he started the business, he simply wanted to make the best bagels you could find. By rolling, kettling, and baking traditional Montreal style bagels in a wood-burning-oven using handpicked hardwood, and maintaining an unwavering commitment to the traditional quality of the food, the Ottawa based business has become a food institution of sorts for over 25 years.

Photo by Mark Holleron

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Portuguese Bakery

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 7 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Bread, pastries

Established in 1960 and in the heart of Ottawa, Portuguese Bakery is a family-owned and operated business founded on quality food and service. Co-owned by Rita Adas and her husband, Portuguese Bakery is passionate about providing authentic Portuguese baked goods to Ottawa while also providing opportunities to Syrian refugees in the community. In 2016, Rita opened a Syrian Kitchen as an addition to their bakery which offers jobs to Syrian refugees.

Pictured: Co-owner Rita with Portuguese Bakery’s first chef hired as a refugee for their Syrian Kitchen, Mohammed Al Mahasna

Photo by Julie Oliver

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Burrell Farms

Location: Metcalfe, ON

Distance from Campus: 44 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Hot Peppers, Callaloo, Jerk Seasoning

Dain Burrell, who owned a farm in Jamaica, moved to Ontario in 2011. Dain couldn’t shake the desire to have his hands in the dirt and started farming a 15- acre piece of land in Metcalfe. Burrell Farm offers a variety of certified organic dry beans including dark red, cranberry, white navy, romano, pinto and black turtle varieties. During the Summer, Burrell Farm sells Callaloo, Scotch Bonnet peppers, Bell peppers, tomatoes, red and yellow onions, eggplant, thyme, carrots and more.

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Urban Fresh Produce

Location: Gloucester, ON

Distance from Campus: 16 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Carrots, Kale, Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Sweet Peppers

Situated within the Just Food Community Farm near Gloucester, in the Blackburn Hamlet, is Urban Fresh Produce, a black-owned urban farm. Founded by Chadwick Lewis, originally from Saint Lucia, Urban Fresh Produce builds upon his farming experience on his family estate, where he cultivated over 25 diverse crops alongside his great uncle. Chadwick is a graduate of the Algonquin College Horticulture Program, combining his knowledge with his passion for providing healthy food options to others. 

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Carleton Mushrooms

Location: Osgoode, ON

Distance from Campus: 38 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Mushrooms

In 1984, Fernando and Anabela Medeiros had a dream of building a mushroom farm. With 15 years of mushroom farming experience under their belt, they started Carleton Mushroom Farms, a small family farm in Osgoode, Ontario, about 30 minutes south of campus. Over the years their dreams and ambitions continued to grow, as did the farm. With family always at the heart of their farming practices, Fernando and Anabela’s two sons, Fernando Jr. and Mike took over the daily operations and management in 2005. Learn more about Carleton Mushrooms’ growing process.

Pictured: Mike Medeiros

Photo by Luda Farms

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Rideau Pines Farm

Location: North Gower, ON

Distance from Campus: 26 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Vegetables

Since purchasing an abandoned dairy farm on the outskirts of Ottawa more than 40 years ago, the Vandenburg family has transformed Rideau Pines Farm into one of the most esteemed hand-picked vegetable farms in the National Capital Region. Rideau Pines grows a wide array of traditional and newly rediscovered crops, from potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli to hot peppers, kale and nine varieties of berries. Their produce is used in over two dozen of the finest restaurants, bistros, gastropubs and cafés in Ottawa and has graced the tables of prime ministers and presidents among other remarkable clients. We are exceedingly privileged to be able to include their produce in our dishes and to have Matt visit us at the Dining Hall during Local Food Week!

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Rinag Foods

Location: Ottawa, ON

Distance from Campus: 8.6 km

Products Used in CU Kitchens: Vegetable Pakoras, Onion Bhaji, Naan & Samosas

Just a short drive from the CU campus is Rinag Foods, a local spot that’s been serving up delicious Indian food since 1986. Tucked away in Nepean, Rinag Foods is all about authenticity, offering handmade dishes made without any added preservatives to keep everything as fresh as possible. One of the best things about Rinag Foods is that they cater to a variety of dietary needs. Whether you’re gluten-free, vegan, or vegetarian, you’ll find plenty of tasty options to choose from. Our team recently visited their facility to see how they create their delicious food. It was clear that the chefs at Rinag Foods pour their heart into every dish. We hope you enjoy trying their food in the dining hall!

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