BuurtBuik is a Dutch neighbourhood food project that turns surplus food into free meals for local residents. Founded in 2014, after being inspired by the Portuguese initiative Refood, the organisation works across cities in the Netherlands to reduce food waste while also addressing social isolation and food insecurity.
Its method is simple and highly local. Volunteers collect leftover food from supermarkets, greengrocers, restaurants and other horeca partners, then prepare it into healthy meals for anyone who wants to join. The process is deliberately flexible: the menu depends on what has been rescued that day, making each cooking session a small exercise in improvisation. Meals are served in a communal setting, with the social element presented as part of the core mission, not an add-on.
According to the project website, BuurtBuik currently operates on 22 locations in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Weesp, Rotterdam and Leiden. The organisation says it exists because food is still widely wasted in the Netherlands, while many households live below the poverty line and many people experience loneliness. Its activities therefore sit at the intersection of food redistribution, community building and informal support.
The organisation is run through local volunteer teams and a broader network of coordinators. In Utrecht, for example, a six-person board oversees the city’s locations, while volunteers handle collection, cooking and serving. The project is also linked to local suppliers and neighbourhood partners who donate surplus food.
BuurtBuik’s results are visible mainly in scale and continuity: weekly meals, multiple city locations and a growing network of residents, volunteers and food donors. The homepage now lists the organisation as a volunteer-run group with a broad presence across the five cities, and it continues to recruit volunteers, donors and partners.