Ash MacLeod

ash@abetterlifefoundation.ca

778-995-2741

History: A fixture in our community since 1957, our neon pink pigs have been flying over Hastings Street for decades and have always been a beacon of radical inclusion. Originally opened as a massive, multistory butcher shop that provided food security to generations of folks, the classic diner designed with hard nods towards our operations genesis was added in 2009 when Save On Meats became a purpose driven social enterprise, focussed on providing access to food security in our city’s most vulnerable and marginalised community.

The diner and butcher shop ran in tandem along with our production kitchen, which produces ~2,000 meals a day. In 2020 when we were forced to close our operations to the public, we centred all of our energy into our meal production and temporarily closed the diner and butcher shop. Now, the diner is used as a community space multiple evenings/week and our token window ensures that we’re able to serve the public on a daily basis through our storefront.

Community: Our space is home to our federally regulated charity, A Better Life Foundation which partners with Upward Mobility Kitchens inc to drive our community meal provision. Every booking that happens in this space helps provide more meals to folks facing extreme food insecurity.

Donations made to the charity are eligible for tax receipts. Tokens are often purchased by crews to pass out in the community as compensation for disturbing routine, these tokens can be exchanged for meals.

Filming:We’re very proud of our work and the responsibility of providing what is often the only meal people receive on a daily basis. We also understand the pace of filming and have been the location of many major motion picture, television and commercial shoots. Working in our community; resourcefulness and accommodation are essential and we’re used to being flexible.

Events: We have capacity for 136 people standing and approximately 70 seated

2 gender neutral washrooms

A full bar w/under counter refrigerators, glassware, an ice machine and a well stocked soda

fountain. Bartender, alcohol and a special events liquor licence would need to be procured. A fully operational kitchen with loads of equipment, plateware, cutlery and a dishwasher.

Ample sound system for ambient music. Performances may require renting a PA system.

Details:

Our standard hours of operation are 5am-3pm, 7 days/week.

Typically we host events in the evening (4pm-9pm) on an average of twice a week

We are a major production kitchen, so during our operating hours we have the ambient noise of staff working, cooking and equipment running.The easiest shoots we’ve done have set the room while we’re in operation and shot after our team leaves in the afternoon, but to accommodate other filming schedules we’ve adjusted our hours, rented an auxiliary commissary and generally made it work.

Art: We have a substantial collection of original art pieces that help make the atmosphere as special and unique. We have license agreements with each of the artists that releases any copyright concerns. Also, they’re terrific pieces! agreements with each of the artists that releases any