The Midnight Kitchen

Put Your Politics Where Your Mouth Is! 2012

themidnightkitchen — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:48:34 +0000

February 27th to March 2nd
At Concordia and McGill campuses
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A conference linking food politics and the student movement.
Presented by Midnight Kitchen and People’s Potato.

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Descriptions and locations will be updated as they are confirmed.
Schedule:
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Monday, February 27th
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1pm Fermentation
—–Midnight Kitchen–room 304–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
This workshop will cover some of the basic principles of fermenting foods for preservation and taste. The plan is to guide people through the process (making sauerkraut and beer!) and discussing various ways that fermentation can be made DIY and cheap.

3pm The History of the Midnight Kitchen
—–room 302–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish

5pm Dinner and Discussion
—–Midnight Kitchen–room 304–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
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Tuesday, February 28th
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1pm Intro to Herbal First Aid
—–UGE–room 413–Shatner Building–3480 McTavish
Learn some basics about how to deal with a range of common health problems using herbs and other plant materials you might just have in your house.

3pm Gluten-Free Baking
—–People’s Potato Kitchen–7th floor–Hall Building
Come by the People’s Potato to learn about the mysteries of (delicious!) gluten-free vegan baking. This workshop will include info & discussion as well as hands-on baking practice. We will be making bread, banana muffins and black bean brownies.

5pm Dinner and Discussion
—–Midnight Kitchen–room 304–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
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Wednesday, February 29th
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10am Radical Walking Tour of McGill

1pm A Practical Workshop on Internet Security
——Lev Bukhman–room 203–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
presented by Anarchist Tech Support
A discussion of the importance of (tech) security, touching on issues of Necessity, Solidarity, Counter-insurgency, and Corporate Data-Mining. Followed by a practical workshop explaining some tools that we can use on computers: Online anonymization (firefox add-ons, VPN, Tor);
Encrypted communications (GPG email, OTR instant messaging, ZRTP voip);
System security (various things).
IF YOU CAN, BRING YOUR LAPTOP OR OTHER DEVICES!

3pm The History of the People’s Potato
—–People’s Potato Kitchen–7th floor–Hall Building

5pm Dinner and Discussion

7pm The ABC’s of Occupation
—–room 433a–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
This workshop will provide a space to explore the political and tactical argument for occupations as a form of direct action, and go through some concrete steps for planning, carrying out, and following through with different sorts of occupations. From no-nonsense lockdowns to theatrical office visits, come learn and share your experiences of occupations!
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Thursday, March 1st
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1pm Prisons, Food, and Hunger Strikes
—–QPIRG Concordia–1500 de Maisonneuve West–suite 204

3pm Don’t cha put it in your mouth: food and social control
—–Breakout room–2nd floor–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
As children we were told not to put things in our mouths until we checked with a grown-up if it was okay to eat (like a muffin or a beet). This was probably good advice. This advice is less than prudent when it applies to letting government professionals and greedy corporate big shots control what we eat, and in turn, control many other facets of our lives. This presentation and discussion will focus on the many ways that the stateand large corporations control what is considered food through the process of commodification, as well assome of the ways we culturally regulate what is considered food. We will also explore some fun ways that we cande-commodify food, defy the stupid grown-ups telling us not to eat candy off the floor, and learn that we can actually feed and care for ourselves.
5:30pm Dinner and Discussion

6:30pm Witch-hunting, enclosure and the ongoing war against women
——-People’s Potato Lounge–7th Floor–Hall Building–Concordia University–1455 de Maisonneuve West–métro Guy-Concordia——————————————————————-
Presented in collaboration with QPIRG Concordia
Silvia Federici will discuss themes from her book “Caliban and the Witch”, as well as her further research and writings on enclosures and the war against women.
https://www.facebook.com/events/390607260955451/
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Friday, March 2nd
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1pm Fatphobia and its intersections
—–UGE–room 413–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish
This workshop will provide an introduction to fatphobia and look at how it intersects with other forms of oppression. We will also attempt to debunk/discuss some myths surrounding fatness.

3pm Neoliberalism and McGill
—–room 433a–SSMU Building–3480 McTavish

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Social Justice Days: MIdnight Kitchen’s screening of If a Tree Falls

themidnightkitchen — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:11:29 +0000

Friday, February 17th 1pm-3pm – 3480 McTavish – Rm. 203 (Lev Bukhman)
Following The Midnight Kitchen’s daily food serving starting at noon, the film If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front will be screened. This documentary explores the history of the radical environmental group, ELF, and the massive FBI operation to track down and arrest their members. Events covered include tree sitting and blockades in Oregon, the WTO protests in Seattle, as well as the various acts of sabotage carried out by the group.

SOCIAL JUSTICE DAYS
February 13th – February 17th, 2012

Intended to stimulate an alternative political culture in the McGill University community, Social Justice Days is about to mark its seventh year with a week of workshops, discussions, film screenings, and speakers engaging local and global issues. This year we have an international speaker and hip-hop artist from Haiti (Doc Filah), American activist, writer and legal rights advocate Dean Spade, and much more! Social Justice Days testifies to the diversity of critical political engagement on McGill campus, and offers students concrete opportunities to get active in their global community.

Social Justice Days is an annual event series co-organized by the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at McGill and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU).

This year’s co-sponsors include QPIRG McGill, SSMU, CKUT Radio, Solid’Ayiti, Queer McGill, Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE), Black Students’ Network (BSN) at McGill, RadLaw, and QPIRG Concordia.

All venues on campus are wheelchair accessible. The venue for the hip-hop show is accessible for non-electric wheelchairs only. The venue for the closing event is unfortunately not fully wheelchair accessible. If you have any other accessibility needs, please contact us.

For childcare or translation, please reserve 48 hours in advance at 514-398-7432 or qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca.

Check the website for full schedule, updates and room changes:

http://qpirgmcgill.org/

The Midnight Kitchen’s Discretionary Fund!

themidnightkitchen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:38:08 +0000

Are you organizing around issues of social and environmental justice? Do you have an event or initiative in mind that you want to get off the ground? Are you strapped for cash and looking for funding to make your project a reality? Then look no further than the Midnight Kitchen!

In the fall of 2011, the Midnight Kitchen collective approved a new function of the organization: a Discretionary Fund. In an effort to expand the ways in which we support like-minded, grass-roots and underfunded groups, we thought it would be a great idea to join the league of organizations that offer funding to kick-start new projects and support existing ones. Every month, the Midnight Kitchen has a total of $500 to distribute to applicants that best fulfill our preferential funding criteria. As usual, we also offer additional support by way of our Kitchen Bookings, Solidarity Servings, kitchen equipment and library.

Please visit us here for more information!

Ongoing: (Reclaim Your) Education Week

themidnightkitchen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:08:32 +0000

MK is helping set up some workshops for this week of events. Tuesday (tomorrow) at 1pm, there will be a revamped version of Street Action 101 in the Atrium of the Law Building and Thursday at 3pm at QPIRG McGill will be a presentation that critically analyzes nonviolent idealogy, it’s limitations and problems. The entire week of workshops aims to prepare peolpe for fighting tuition hikes by offering context, strategies, knowledge and networks. Check out the full schedule on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/207481946009120/

Occupy Workshop

themidnightkitchen — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:40:06 +0000

La Belle Epoque, 1984 Wellington
Friday, January 6th, 6:30 pm

From Wall Street all the way to the West Coast, this fall saw a series of
tent cities, building occupations, direct actions, a port shutdown, and a
general strike under the banner of “Occupy”. This event will be a few obdurate feminists sharing their experiences with Occupy Oakland, Occupy
Baltimore, and Occupy Wall Street, followed by a discussion. This will
also be a space for people to share their own reflections and experiences
with Occupy Montreal.

Topics that will be covered:
* Race, Gender, and Class composition in Occupies
* Attitudes towards the police and violence
* Does occupy have an analysis?
* The Liberal Counterrevolution
* Camp as Tent-City vs. Camp as Revolutionary Commune
* Blocking Capital Circulation; Ports and beyond
* Power Hierarchies in occupies

STREET ACTION 101

themidnightkitchen — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:39:00 +0000

know what to do when your friend gets pepper sprayed? or when they get arrested? maybe you know one but not the other. possibly you know both but there’s other times at protests when you’re not sure what to do.

this is a workshop to discuss the various strategies used at protests to deal with police repression and police brutality and to maintain solidarity with each other and keep healthy.

On November 10th there will be a la…rge student protest that is leading up to a full scale student strike. this workshop aims to help people get prepared. the facilitators will be discussing the role of street medics – how to become one or get help from one – and the street tactics used during protests, for example to prevent your friends from getting arrested or hurt and to keep us from being divided.

this is part of an ongoing series of workshops about the student movement and struggles presented by the Midnight Kitchen. it will take place just after the serving. come for food and stick around for the fun times!!

Midnight Kitchen and QPIRG McGill Need Your Help!: Vote YES for QPIRG

themidnightkitchen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:55:08 +0000

What is QPIRG?
The Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at McGill is an independent, student run and consensus based non-profit organization. QPIRG’s mandate is to bridge students and the university campus with the wider Montreal community through the social and environmental issues they have in common. They offer a wide range of services – including research opportunities, meeting spaces, a library, funding and training. Since QPIRG was founded in 1989, the organization has always been at the forefront of social change; for example, QPIRG brought recycling, fair trade coffee and the safe space campaign to McGill. They are one of the only groups on campus to bring students and Montreal community members together towards common goals, whether to campaign for the rights of migrant workers, empower young women to respond to gender based violence, organize a grassroots newspaper or advocate for more green space in the Milton-Parc neighborhood. QPIRG valued a diversity of opinions, building a more democratic campus, and are opposed to all forms of discrimination on the basis of class, religion, gender, race, sexual orientation, and dis/ability.

QPIRG’s Plight
QPIRG is running a referendum to continue to exist and to collect student fees. In addition, QPIRG’s question asks for their fee to become “non-optoutable” on the Minerva online system. When the McGill administration unilaterally imposed the online system in 2007, all independent student groups on campus (including the Midnight Kitchen!) suffered from uninformed, blanket opt-outs and unregulated opt-out campaigns. QPIRG’s goal is to implement an open and accessible in-person refund system at QPIRG offices and at a location on lower field campus, similar to the one they operated successfully for 19 years. QPIRG is striving to make the refund process informed, accessible and under student control, and in so doing to foster a more open and democratic campus environment.

The question reads as follows:
Do you support QPIRG continuing as a recognized student activity supported by a fee of $3.75 per semester for undergraduate students, which is not opt-outable on the Minerva online opt-out system but is instead fully refundable directly through QPIRG, with the understanding that a majority “no” vote will result in the termination of all undergraduate fee-levy funding to QPIRG?

Why does Midnight Kitchen endorse QPIRG?
This referendum marks a critical moment for QPIRG’s history and continuing existence. The Midnight Kitchen officially stands in solidarity with QPIRG by publically endorsing their question. We do this for many reasons. At Midnight Kitchen’s inception in the early 2000s, QPIRG provided resources, space, people and monetary support to get us first on our feet. QPIRG continues to provide organizational, educational and political support to Midnight Ktichen (and us to them!) and as a result, our strength and sustenance are directly related to the survival of QPIRG. In other words, Midnight Kitchen exists in large part because of QPIRG! While Midnight Kitchen and QPIRG carry out our politics in different ways, we share a mandate that promotes social and environmental justice. In fact, much of the programming and working groups that come out of QPIRG support our volunteers and students in understanding and participating in Midnight Kitchen’s work. If you love and support Midnight Kitchen, vote YES for QPIRG!!!

Who? How? When? Where?
The polling Period for referendum questions runs from Friday, November 4th to Thursday, November 10th, 2012. You can vote online at http://ovs.ssmu.mcgill.ca or www.vote.electionsmcgill.ca. Votes can be cast in person at polling stations across campus. Any undergraduate on the downtown campus is eligible to vote!

Campaigning: YES Committee
If you are an undergraduate student and would like to be part of – or find out more about – the YES Committee, email qpirg.yes@gmail.com!!!!

With love,
The Midnight Kitchen Collective

Student Strikes: 2005 and 2012

themidnightkitchen — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:35:09 +0000

As part of a series of workshops about the student movement in Quebec, Midnight Kitchen presents a panel discussion on the student strikes of 2005 and the possibility of another in 2012.

UQAM students presently organizing against tuition hikes will be present to discuss the networking and mobilizing happening now. As well, there will be former McGill students who participated in the strikes in 2005 to recount the lessons learned from the past and share their stories. The purpose of this workshop is to consider why and how people should be mobilizing together across Montreal to counter the tuition hikes.

Friday, October 28th at 2pm-4pm (after the Midnight Kitchen’s serving)
room B-30, the basement of the Shatner building

Demonstration for the Right to Education

themidnightkitchen — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:51:42 +0000

We will be serving early on Tuesday October 4th at 12pm in order to go to the protest at St-Louis square. Folks will be meeting up at the Shatner building at lunch to go to the demo together. Come with us!

The Midnight Kitchen is Serving!

themidnightkitchen — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:05:16 +0000

Starting Tuesday, September 6th, we’ll be serving at 12:30pm Monday-Friday in room 302 of the Shatner Building (3480 McTavish St). Come one, come all and get your pay-what-you-can vegan eats on!

We’re always short on volunteers in the first few weeks of classes, so feel free to drop by and lend a hand. If you’re new to the game, jump in, introduce yourself and someone will show you around. If you’re an old dog, you know what to do! Monday to Friday, we start cooking at 9:00am, serve at 12:30pm and finish cleaning by 3:30pm. Check out the “Volunteering with MK” tab at the top of the page for more info about what you can do in the kitchen and when.

If you’re interested in being a regular volunteer with us this year, shoot us an email at midnightkitchencollective@gmail.com. We’ll be sending out volunteer forms and information in the coming days for the fall semester.

Hope to see you in the Kitchen!