A new Edmonton meal-sharing system has been shut down by Alberta Health Services, leaving local entrepreneurs out of pocket $60,000 and home cooks without customers.

Scarf, a software platform that connected cooks who had extra dinner servings with hungry Edmontonians, launched in late September. Through an online application, the company posted meals that were prepared daily in home kitchens. Folks in core Edmonton neighbourhoods who wanted an alternative to preparing their own meals could order a meal, pay for it and pick it up, via the digital platform.

But Alberta Health Services issued a cease-and-desist order to Scarf, shutting down the meal sharing service last month. In a written statement, Alberta Health Services said its duty is to “keep Albertans safe.”

“This includes working with food operators to ensure they are meeting the provincial standards required to serve safe and healthy food to Albertans,” reads the statement.

AHS says all kitchens producing food for public consumption must have proper permits. Scarf cooks did not have those permits.

Scarf operator Kian Parseyan says he tried to talk Alberta Health Services into working on a pilot project that would provide Edmontonians with a new, safe and reasonably priced meal alternative (Scarf’s meals went for roughly $10 each). He developed safety standards for his cooks that met and exceeded industry standards, he says, including police checks and random kitchen checks every three months.

Parseyan says he tried for three months to get Alberta Health Services involved in the project, but with no luck. He decided to start it anyway because, strictly speaking, he wasn’t operating the kitchens, only the software system. AHS said no.

“The operator’s actions put AHS in a position of taking legal steps to protect public health,” reads a statement provided by AHS.

AHS says it offered to help Parseyan operate within the confines of the legislation. “We are here to help Albertans serve safe food and to support them in complying with the regulations that are designed to protect our health and the safe delivery of these operations.”

The statement continues: “Our efforts also help protect the owners and employees of food establishments. Anyone who is operating or working for an unapproved business without a permit is taking a substantial risk.”

So it’s game over for Scarf, says Parseyan, who had no desire to fight AHS in court. He hopes to sell his innovative platform, which could have applications outside of food.

“As individuals we’re going to move on and suffer our losses,” says Parseyan, who estimates that working on this project full-time for a year cost between $60,000 and $70,000. “Sometimes that’s what happens in entrepreneurship. It’s big risks and rewards.”

Ultimately, he is saddened that AHS wouldn’t look at a pilot project. He sees the Scarf platform as a variation on Uber or airbnb, which disrupt the status quo, but often in a good way.

“Ultimately what happened is not the fault of the executives or inspectors at AHS or anybody who made the decision at AHS. The ultimate fault is society. We choose how regulatory operations operate.”

AHS has “no incentives to innovate,” he adds.

“We are a headache to them. Unless there is a specific, organizational, structural change within AHS or other organizational structures, we’ll just see innovation crushed.”

“My call to action to people is if you want that changed, demand that from your MLAs. Government organizations are falling behind and there is no incentive to keep ahead.”

lfaulder@postmedia.com