Hungry for some 'fuud'? Delivery service brings farmers market 'meal-kits' to B.C. doorsteps

Filmmaker Thomas Buchan admits he's never been a great cook. Over the years, his lack of skills and busy work schedule made it hard to plan meals for him and his partner and their three kids.

"Dinner was a nightmare," he told host Jason D'Souza on CBC's North by Northwest. "Living in a place like B.C., it shouldn't be like that."

But when he took his family on a trip to New Zealand, he came across a food service that seemed to solve all his problems. It was called My Food Bag — a service that delivered farm-fresh foods and recipes to your doorstep.

He brought the idea back to Canada, and recently launched his own version of the program in B.C., called Fuud.

Farmed 'fuuds'

Buchan says the goal of Fuud is to help get people in touch with the local and fresh tastes of the province. The service collects fresh produce and organic meats from farms throughout the Fraser Valley, and delivers them to homes all over the province.

"We live in an amazing bread basket," he said. "We source as much as we can from the Vancouver Farmers Markets and local purveyors and suppliers or farmers, and we put that in a box and it gets to you three to four days from the farm."

Each kit comes with a variety of different ingredients, and an accompanied recipe. Buchan says there's options for meat eaters, vegetarians, and even gluten-free.

"We try to touch everything as little as possible," he said, adding that each item is pre-portioned to help eliminate food waste.

"There's a very conscious population here about food waste, and we want to make a very small footprint on the planet."

Tired of ordering pizza

The team works alongside local nutritionists and chefs to develop recipes, which vary from week to week. Buchan says they've even started taking suggestions from customers.

The service currently provides customers with up to four kits a week.

"You get tired of ordering pizza every night when there's nothing in the fridge. Having an easy solution that you look forward to a couple nights a week — that's made a difference in my week, and with our customers. They're cooking together."

Buchan says he hopes Fuud will eventually build bridges across communities in B.C., especially in Vancouver.

The group is currently working to bring kits to local shelters and charities, including Covenant House, Mom-to-Mom, and the YWCA.

"We don't want this to be an exclusive service. We want everybody to be able to enjoy local produce, and we don't think anyone in B.C. should go without a great dinner."

With files from CBC's North by Northwest

To listen to the full interview, click on the audio labelled: Hungry for some 'fuud'? Delivery service bings farmers market 'meal-kits' to B.C. doorsteps