Vancouver Fresh, Organic Food Delivery Services

Save time and money by getting fresh local, organic groceries delivered to your door from one of several Vancouver-area box delivery services

 

Finding good organic food is not always the easiest or most convenient of household duties, and as Vancouver hits its stride and shows off the rain for which it has become famous, I find myself less motivated to pedal to the store for my groceries. To the rescue are several thriving businesses that deliver organic groceries to those of us in Vancouver who wish to stay dry.

 

Green Earth Organics, Organics@Home and Small Potatotes Urban Delivery (SPUD) all offer home delivery of a large range of organic produce and groceries to the Vancouver area. My experience with SPUD has been awesome, but what I have to say can probably be equally applied to the other two.

 

Cost of buying organics

When we first looked in to using SPUD, we originally thought that we would be spending more money. We resigned ourselves anyway to paying that premium for the convenience of the delivery and the peace of mind that buying organic gave us. However, in effect we now spend around two-thirds as much as we were spending a year ago (buying a mixture of organic and inorganic produce).

 

A large part of that money savings can be related to impulse buying; by getting our food delivered we are no longer prone to buying all those tempting traps that stores set for us.

 

The food is also consistently reasonably prices. You may find some items cheaper elsewhere, while others would also more expensive, but because you’re ordering in advance, SPUD can order the exact amount they need so that you’re not being billed for spoilage on contingency stocks, as in the supermarket model.

 

Calculate your food miles

To help us manage our orders online, SPUD provides information on the provenance of its products. When our bill arrives, each item states how many kilometres it has travelled from its source to the SPUD warehouse in Vancouver and, on average, how far the items have travelled in comparison to those at the supermarket. That New Zealand apple or Peruvian avocado can really throw your stats off. It also means that you can set yourself targets; aim to get your average below 500 kilometres, then next month you can try for 400.

 

Community focus

SPUD also has initiatives that help keep the enterprise community focused. On the back of each invoice is a community newsletter, complete with events, seasonal tips and recipes—great if you’re not quite sure what to do with that rutabaga! And SPUD also donates a percentage of your bill to a community fund.

 

Further options for organic delivery (FOOD)

If you want to take a slightly different approach, you may like to check out the Neighbourhoods Organic Weekly Buying Clubs (NOWBC), who have depots across Metro-Vancouver. As well, there are a number of smaller green box programs around the area. The best way to find out about them is to ask your friends which services they use.

 

Where do you get your produce and how is it working for you?

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