Bridging the gap between surplus and need

Introduction

Food-sharing apps are making a considerable impact in redistributing food that would have ended up in landfills across the United States, Australia, the UK, and Japan. Too Good To Go app has gained popularity in Australia since it launched in 2023 and supports the government in reducing about 7.6 million tonnes of Australian food waste annually. The global combined effort of the Too Good To Go app has saved over 350 million food in support with over 170,000 business partnerships. In Japan, “Tebete” has over 750,000 users and 2,500 restaurants as partners, redistributing food across different cities. In Europe  “Karma” partners with over 7000 restaurants to distribute foods to registered users at low prices. 

The organization's success includes the introduction of the Food Rescue US App, preventing over 199 million pounds of unwanted food from ending up in landfills and serving over 166 million meals. Platforms like “Hungry Harvest”, “Imperfect Produce”, and “Fullharvest.com” help identify the “ugly” edible food rejected by customers.  

The larger percentage of food surplus comes from perishable goods that can be easily transferred for daily consumption. 

Categories of Food Sharing

The food-sharing app can serve different categories of food either fresh or prepared food. Food sharing is categorized into harvest sharing, meal sharing, and leftover sharing.

• Harvest sharing: This is when the excess produce from farms, and personal gardens is redistributed to other people who need them within the community. This category of food sharing will often promote access to fresh food such as fruit, vegetables, or herbs with neighbors using food-sharing apps. Falling Fruit is a collaborative map of urban harvest, while AmpleHarvest uses technology to connect gardeners with local food pantries to donate surplus harvests
• Meal sharing: Sharing prepared meals with others who need food within the community or in a social gathering. This act will reduce food waste in households, by inviting neighbors to join home-cooked meals or inviting people through food-sharing apps and sharing meals with them. Meal Train organizes meal-sharing for friends, families or individuals in need, especially during life events like illness or birth, while ShareTheMeal (by the UN) has served over 150 million meals donated virtually to support families in need
• Leftover sharing: The act of sharing leftover foods (edible) that are still good and safe to eat instead of allowing them to end up in a landfill. Food-sharing apps will help minimize food waste from retail stores, grocery stores, and personal meals, and allow unused portions to benefit someone else. Olio and Too Good To Go  apps where individuals and restaurants can share surplus or sell at reduced prices instead of sending it to landfill

Opportunities of food sharing-app

1. Reducing food waste

Statistics show that about one-third of all global food produced is wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tons annually. The Food App can be a useful connection tool enabling individuals and retail stores to donate surplus food to whoever needs it and request it through the app. Apps like Reduce Go and Food Passport in Japan have helped distribute tons of meals to people within the communities. Also “Too Good To Go” is another App that is helping reduce food waste by connecting retail stores and individuals to consumers who need surplus food. Copia app connects the surplus food to homeless shelters and food banks. An app that has diverted over 1 million pounds of edible food that would have ended up in landfill to low-income communities, therefore reducing the greenhouse gas GHG emissions.

2. Community engagement

The app can encourage sharing and bonding among the community's residents. Sharing resources such as food can help build trust, and people getting to know one another may reduce social isolation, hence encouraging friendship, which fosters bonds. Olio’s neighborhood food-sharing model has encouraged the sharing of leftover items within the communities, redistributing over 206 million portions of food surplus.

3. Reduce food insecurity

The app can create efficient redistribution channels making it seamless for retail stores to reach an individual who needs leftover food and a request for free or at low cost. The avenue will reduce hunger and close the food insecurity gap within the communities, especially in low-income households. This is also a good model for non-profit organizations in the food sustainability ecosystem to reach their target audience. “Feeding India”, is a Zomato initiative, a non-profit organization that feeds underprivileged citizens to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in India.  

What are the app challenges?

Every technological-driven innovation has concerns about the safety or impacts of the application on usage, operations, and acceptability. The success of food waste applications such as the “Food-Sharing App” would depend largely on integrating AI technology, food safety concerns, community education and engagement, engagement of non-profit organizations, and collaboration with government agencies.  The advent of AI technology will support application efficiency, which will be important to future food sustainability. The major challenges are:

1. Food safety concerns

The different modes of prepared food may not meet the required safety standards for other people's consumption. To ensure food safety in terms of quality there is a need to explain the “expiry date”, educate about food safety practices, and incorporate reporting for food handling, storage, and delivery. Second Harvest Food Bank in the U.S. adheres to strict food safety protocols, ensuring the safe redistribution of surplus food.

2. Legal and regulatory concerns

Different laws and regulations in countries and states regulate food donations and waste management, which can impact and complicate the app operations. It will require legal partnership with authorities and advocacy for laws such as the Good Samaritan Donations Act to protect donors’ food liability.

The future of food-sharing apps

Artificial intelligence: AI can play a significant role in food waste management, by forecasting product demand, redistributing excess food, smart inventory, and monitoring waste in real time. It supports personal recommendations from users based on past request patterns. AI will help collect data, and analyze data about food storage, help prevent spoilage, and improve product shelf-life.(Onyeaka et al. 2023). AI-powered tools in commercial kitchens track waste patterns, enabling data-driven decisions to reduce food waste.

Blockchain technology: It can ensure trust in the food-sharing process and help to verify the donors and the food recipients of foods. Blockchain technology can help with auto agreement between the donors and recipients. It is an advanced technology that can be programmed to reward contributors by offering incentives to the highest donors of food within a period.

Community building: The continuous use of Food Sharing Apps can propel engagement among users about the need to waste less food and shopping skills and intercultural cooking ideas that may reduce food waste and food insecurity.

Conclusion

To ensure food sustainability in our communities and the world, there is an urgent need to adopt an innovative and technology-driven approach to reduce hunger.  A food-sharing app has immense potential to address food waste and hunger while fostering community engagement. By preemptively addressing food safety, legal, digital accessibility, and sustainability risks, such an app can emerge as a transformative tool in the fight against food insecurity and environmental degradation.  The advent of Artificial intelligence will greatly influence the future of getting food from surplus to the needy. AI can help track goods' freshness, perishability, and expiration dates suggest discount sales or removal from shelves, help grocery and retail shops monitor inventories, and reduce waste. This innovation can create a ripple effect, with careful planning and community support inspiring global efforts toward equitable and sustainable food distribution systems.

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