Recently we signed up for the grocery delivery service Spud.ca. At first we felt a little bit lazy ordering organic groceries online and having them delivered to our door- but we got over that pretty fast and haven’t looked back since.

Spud.ca is a convenient way of getting fresh, local and organic produce (and other groceries) to you weekly. You sign up online, select from their endless selection of products – from home baked chocolate croissants to purple potatoes – and within a week the groceries are delivered to an address of your choosing. I’m at work all day, so I request that they deliver it there. The items are kept cool in a big tupperware tub with ice (or dry ice if need be) and can stay cool for up to 8 hours without refrigeration.

Produce is always fresh, clean and is handled far less than your average grocery store produce. Plus you can feel good knowing that most of their items are organic and as locally grown / produced as possible. Once you place your order they tell you the average distance the food has travelled to get to your door. Nifty! And if that wasn’t enough, they donate leftover food to disadvantaged families.

To make things even more easy, they have a standing order option. Each week we have $35 of fresh produce chosen for us by Spud. We can go online and change / tweak their selection, but they do the bulk of the choosing if you select this option. It’s a great way to try new things. You can also have certain items automatically added to your cart each week. We go through a lot of Que Pasa corn chips and salsa, and have that automatically put in our cart each week. It saves a lot of time, and ensures that you don’t forget the essentials. I’m not sure Jake could survive a week without nachos.

Aside from convenience their selection is pretty good. While we still need the occasional trip to Safeway, we now buy all of our fresh produce, milk, eggs and bread through Spud. Specialty items like pumpkin pie spice or wasabi peas currently aren’t available, but as the company grows I’m sure their selection will as well.

As for prices, Spud is only slightly higher than the grocery store, and delivery is free. For convience, peace of mind, and knowing that I’m supporting an awesome local company, the few extra dollars a month I spend is well worth it.

https://www.spud.ca/

The Naam is one of Vancouver’s oldest vegetarian restaurants. Now before you carnivores, or omnivores with heavily carnivorous tendencies (we’re all on a spectrum, they say) click on your browser’s back button, I must announce that as an omnivore who dearly loves red meat, this place was thoroughly satisfying. I was not converted, but I will think twice before dismissing tempeh ever again.

The Naam is pretty laid back, kind of rustic, with old wooden tables and chairs. Some might venture as far as to use the word hippy-ish (is that even a word??) but this would be unfair. It’s casual, and no fluff or nonsense. Probably one of the best aspects of this place is that it is open 24 hours a day and because of this, it’s probably one of the only places to get a full service, good meal in Kitsilano- even Vancouver. Every time I have been there are 2 am (and these number many), there have been a surprising number of people munching on garden burgers.

Food at the Naam is an adventure in vegetarianism. I never would have imagined that so many of the items we enjoy as carnivores could be replicated in vegetable matter with so much accuracy. The ruben sandwich I enjoyed was very tasty, and the salad that accompanied it was fantastic. The Naam does a hell of a job of salads. It also does gravy well- very well. I dare say that it is borderline famous for its miso gravy- perhaps it has crossed the line even. Food for thought. Be sure to check it out for live jazz music in the evening.

Address:

2724 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
(604) 738-7151