About Racine Pop
Racine Pop was founded in 2022, from the desire of parents and staff at Sutton School to respond to a simple question:
How can we best nourish the children of our school?
Today, we prepare and serve over one hundred hot, healthy, and tasty meals every day, directly in the school cafeteria.
We are proud to be part of La Cantine pour tous, a Quebec-based network that facilitates access to nutritious meals for all children, while allowing Racine Pop to remain free to cultivate its local identity.
Our Mission
Racine Pop is a non-profit organization that manages the school cafeteria service at Sutton School.Our mission is twofold:
To develop a viable food model while being involved in different ways in the community life of the village of Sutton.
We use the school cafeteria as a lever to:
Nos valeurs
Health & Quality
Homemade, balanced, and nutritious mealsCommunity & Solidarity
Feeding all children through social pricingSustainability
Promoting local producers and reducing food waste
Humanity & Proximity
Cheffes who know every child and support them in their taste discoveries 
Our Difference
What distinguishes Racine Pop from other cafeteria services is its closeness to the children.
Our cheffes are both the ones who cook and the ones who serve the meals. They see the children grow, know their tastes, respect their needs, and gently encourage them to try new flavors.
More than a cafeteria, Racine Pop is a living, warm, and educational space, at the heart of Sutton School.
History of Racine Pop – Key Milestones
Sutton School has a kitchen, then managed by a “super cook,” Mona. But the task is enormous for one person alone, especially with aging facilities.
A community fundraising campaign is launched to support Mona and purchase basic equipment. Result: $12,500 raised in two months, thanks to the generosity of Sutton’s businesses and residents.
Official birth of Racine Pop: registration, bylaws, and the formation of the first board of directors.
The kitchen is run by a team of volunteers and dedicated cooks who prepare three meals per week.
Hiring of the first salaried cook: Rachael Hughes.
Three meals per week are served to students, and the service also expands to Le Jardin D’Enfants De Sutton daycare.
Partnership with La Cantine pour tous, a true turning point! Thanks to this model, meals become accessible to all children, priced between $1 and $6 per meal through flexible pricing.
Marie-Ève is hired and joins Rachael to strengthen the team.
Marie-Hélène joins the team. A team of three cooks now provides five meals per week. Result: 21,600 meals served during the year, a 102% increase compared to the previous year!
Racine Pop receives a three-year grant from the Town of Sutton and hires its first coordinator, Naïma. Rachael steps down from her role as head chef, and Marie-Ève and Marie-Hélène take over as cheffes. Mary joins the team to meet the growing demand for meals.
The team of three cheffes continues to serve five meals per week to the entire school. We now serve 150 meals per day! This means that 60% of students at Sutton School benefit from meals prepared by Racine Pop.
Impact & engagement
At Racine Pop, we don’t just feed children today, we are building a sustainable model that also nourishes the future of our community.
Our 2025–2027 action plan is organized around four main objectives.
1. Make meals accessible to all
Goal: Ensure that 60% of Sutton School children benefit from our meals at least 3 times per week (vs. 50% today).
How / Expected impact
How:
- Simplify communications with families and reach more vulnerable children
- Offer a gluten-free and dairy-free option
- Maintain social pricing (pay according to means)
Expected impact: Every child has access to a warm, nourishing meal, without exception.
2. Focus on local and sustainable foods
Goal: Gradually increase the share of local and organic foods.
How / Expected impact
How:
- Continue developing partnerships with regional farms
- Find solutions to preserve and transform surplus food
Expected impact: More local products on children’s plates, and direct support for producers in our region.
3. Strengthen community partnerships
Goal: Continue building strong connections with other nonprofits and institutions in Sutton.
How / Expected impact
How:
- Actively participate in the Community Development Table
- Maintain and expand collaborations with CAB Sutton and other organizations
Expected impact: Share our resources to work together in fighting food insecurity.
4. Educate and inspire around food
Goal: Offer a food literacy program at the school.
How / Expected impact
How:
- Create bilingual educational materials
- Organize hands-on cooking workshops for each class at least once per season
Expected impact: Curious, open-minded children, better equipped to make healthy food choices throughout their lives.
Our Pillars
Racine Pop was born from the desire of parents at the Sutton school to have a cafeteria that would offer children healthy, local, and affordable food.
From the outset, our vision has been built around 5 pillars:
Food security
Providing sustainable and accessible food for the entire community
Awareness-raising
Educating children and the community about food literacy
Local
Working with local producers and processors
Environnement
To offer the most environmentally friendly food possible
Social
Creating a supportive and welcoming network around food
And, of course… put an end to the infamous lunch boxes, often a headache for many parents!