Published on October 28, 2026
Institutions Eat Local! : Meet the 2026 Award Winners
The 8th edition of the annual event Institutions Eat Local! took place from September 21 to 27, 2026. An initiative of the Aliments du Québec au menu program, the event is open to all institutions across Québec. Each year, it invites childcare centres, educational institutions, workplaces, healthcare facilities and many others to celebrate local foods and showcase them in their communities.
To recognize their participation and encourage institutions to continue their efforts, more than $10,000 in participation prizes were awarded through a random draw among participating institutions. Each of the winning institutions featured below received a $500 grant to continue showcasing local foods throughout the year. Discover the initiatives they carried out during the event to celebrate Québec products in their communities!
Institutions recognized by the Aliments du Québec au menu program:
CHU de Québec - Université Laval (Capitale-Nationale)
Five local food information booths, one at each site, were hosted by nutrition interns. Visitors could learn about the institution’s initiatives and the local products featured in its food offerings, take a quiz and enter a contest.
Collège Montmorency - Département de diététique et de gestion d'un établissement de restauration (Laval)
A menu featuring local foods was offered throughout the week, including some ingredients grown on the college’s rooftop by horticulture students. A visit to Jean-Talon Market also gave students an opportunity to explore Québec products in the context of food production planning.
Santé Québec Montérégie-Est
A local food-themed menu was served in hospitals, long-term care facilities, seniors’ homes and youth centres, featuring dishes such as squash and kale lasagna, apple-braised chicken and haskap berry muffins. On average, 83% of the ingredients used were from Québec.
École Triolet – Services alimentaires Laniel St-Laurent (Estrie)
A table showcasing local foods was set up to give students the opportunity to discover and sample the products being offered.
CPE Soleil de Jeannot – Petits ambassadeurs (Estrie)
Children discovered Québec-grown and Québec-made foods through fun, educational activities, including crown-making, races, an apple stand, drawing and food bingo. They also got to taste and explore new foods. The origins of the foods served were displayed each day, and a table featuring recipes made with Québec products was set up for parents.
Childcare centres:
CPE Peluche et Aventure (Laurentides)
Children took part in cooking activities, including making individual apple tarts, while squash purchased directly from a farm was used to prepare a soup. A special menu also introduced them to new Québec products, including cheeses and crackers.
CPE Les Pouces Verts (Capitale-Nationale)
Children discovered and sampled local products, picked squash and enjoyed a menu made up of 90% Québec products. Food processing and food waste reduction activities also gave them the opportunity to make pesto to preserve for later and cook with vegetable leaves and stems.
Elementary and secondary schools:
École du Versant (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean)
Students turned vegetables and herbs grown in the school garden and indoor greenhouse into homemade salsa. They prepared 250 bite-sized samples to share with classes, giving the whole school a taste of the fruits of their labour.
École Jacques-Cartier (Côte-Nord)
A cooking workshop for students in a special education program gave them the chance to prepare dishes using local products and share their creations with colleagues invited to sample them.
Colleges, universities, vocational and technical schools, and other educational institutions:
Dawson College – Sodexo (Montréal)
The cafeteria showcased Québec foods all week through its daily menus, sandwiches, snacks and beverages. Promotions and conversations with students and staff helped introduce them to local products and suppliers.
Centre d’éducation aux adultes Le Phénix (Capitale-Nationale)
A back-to-school celebration featuring Québec flavours gave students the chance to discover local products. The leftover corn was then to be used to make shepherd’s pie, a classic Québec dish.
Healthcare and social services facilities:
Centre de Santé Lebel – Santé Québec Baie-James (Nord-du-Québec)
A tasting break gave employees the chance to discover three varieties of honey from the community apiary in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, paired with different foods and homemade honey bars. Informational sheets about how honey is made were also available.
Santé Québec Laurentides
A local menu, from appetizers to dessert, was served at all 34 Santé Québec Laurentides facilities for patients, residents and visitors. Dishes and snacks were adapted to meet the different texture requirements of some individuals, and Santé Québec filmed the initiative.
Community organizations (non-profit, recreational and healthy living organizations):
Comité Action Populaire Lemoyne (Montérégie)
Affordable baskets containing exclusively Québec-grown fruits and vegetables were offered alongside themed collective cooking sessions and recipes prepared with Québec foods.
Technoscience Grands Espaces (Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean)
Nine elementary school classes attended the “Let’s Eat Local” presentation, followed by a tasting of turnips from Coop Nord-Bio. Another tasting introduced students to homemade creations featuring local products, including blueberry jam and bread made with Olofé flour.
Workplaces and businesses:
Rio Tinto – Aramark (Montréal)
A dish made entirely with Québec ingredients was prepared for the occasion, featuring Olymel pork, La Morin mustard, maple syrup, apples, cranberries and Québec-grown vegetables.
Société d’aide au développement des collectivités (SADC) des Laurentides
For the fifth year, the team shared a meal made entirely with local products, including chicken skewers, vegetable seitan, desserts and regional beverages. A social media post later highlighted the participating businesses and their products, including shoyu sauce made in Labelle and turnips.
Beyond the winning institutions, two others stood out for their initiatives. The teams at Aliments du Québec and Équiterre each selected a favourite to recognize their original and inspiring efforts to promote local foods.
Discover the institutions’ favourites
A big congratulations to all participating institutions for finding their own ways to make local foods a bigger part of their communities, well beyond this week of celebration!
Learn more about Institutions Eat Local! event
