June 2, 2022

More here

April 28, 2022

More here

February 11, 2022

More here

Vij’s Chef and Co-Owner Meeru Dhalwala is launching a range of sustainably farmed and organic baby foods, where people buy according to their income levels. 
My Bambiri Baby Foods by Chef Meeru Dhalwala is a community business for parents and caregivers who wish to nourish their babies with creative new foods which Meeru has cooked herself.

My Bambiri will start with four baby-delicious flavours: Blueberry-Sunflower Seeds, Apple-Teff (an ancient grain), Beets-Red Lentils, and Lentils-Basmati Rice, and will be available for purchase at www.mybambiri.com. You can also purchase them alongside your take-out order at Vij’s, as we will include them on our take-out menu.

“I love babies and I have two--now adult--daughters,” says Dhalwala. “While I didn’t win any prizes for potty-training, bedtime schedules or getting them to school on time, I was a star at cooking for them. My younger daughter’s first full sentence in her cute toddler voice was, “Mama, I wan’ more.”

“I was born in India, raised in Washington DC, and settled as an adult in Vancouver, BC. My world is full of wonderful people of all sorts of income levels who share the same desire to eat well and eat ethically. We’ve created a brand where people can pay according to their family’s ratio of income to what they spend on food, creating a supportive circle that is not based on charity, but on each family’s budget.”

As a guide, My Bambiri will list the net cost for producing each food. The hope is that parents pay honestly, from less to more, based on their unique circumstances. To save money on small-farm organic cooking, My Bambiri’s one policy is that parents buy in any assortment of 12 packs. Initially, pick-up will be available at Vij’s on Cambie Street or via delivery services alongside your Vij’s take-out.

All profits above the net cost will go towards baby foods being donated to the Food Stash Foundation (www.foodstash.ca) for distribution to food insecure families.

The name “Bambiri” comes from the nickname given to Meeru by her parents when she learned how to crawl. It means “spinning top” in their ancestral Punjabi language, and is a metaphor for a social and happy baby. They called her “Bambiri” until the days they passed away, in 2017 and 2019 respectively.