Challenge
Fighting hunger, reducing food waste
While the best way to reduce food waste is not to create an excess, it is oftentimes unavoidable. At this point, there needs to be solutions for how to get the perfectly edible food to the mouths of the millions of Americans that go hungry every day. Connecting restaurants and caterers with non profits that serve the hungry and homeless could mean reducing how much food is wasted in a landfill and help hungry people in the process.
Flashfood is a mobile application to help food service businesses, food recovery organizations, local community centers and volunteers to work together to recover perishable food and connect it with those in need. Businesses (such as catering companies) which have surplus food can enter information on the app, which alerts nearby charities to the availability. Food can then be donated to families and individuals who might need it; they are alerted through a text message.
Banana App, part of the Be Good Project Foundation, aims to connect grocers and restaurants with low and no-income populations. Participants would be verified and then able to pick up unsellable but still perfectly good food directly from participating locations. Banana App provides an alternative to food banks with their location-based mobile app.