CheapChomps

Inspiration

The twin problems of poverty and poor diet are interconnected in underprivileged areas. People living in a food desert have limited access to affordable and nutritious food, negatively impacting their health and overall well-being. In 2017, 39.5 million people (12.8%) lived in low-income and low-access areas according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

What it does

We aim to help households save money and eat healthier by introducing a price-conscious recipe building platform. Several recipe platforms exist, but none of them put cost first. On our website, the first thing users are asked is their budget.

How we built it

We compiled food price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, adjusted for inflation. Then, we wrote a script prompting ChatGPT for nutritious recipes. For each recipe, we found a list of ingredients (for estimating cost) and cooking instructions. Then, based on the ingredients and our BLS price archive, we determined if each recipe met the user’s budget. To facilitate collaboration, we started a Node.JS project on Glitch. We designed our server to make requests to OpenAI.

Challenges we ran into

We exhausted our free OpenAI credits prior to building this project and, as a result, was unable to make requests to ChatGPT. Due to this obstacle, we decided to submit an entry to the ideathon rather than the hackathon.

What's next for CheapChomps

Importing community recipes - with money to pay for API use and collaborations with other companies like Food52 or Edamam, we’d love to integrate existing recipes

Food coupon opportunities - applying food coupons to ingredients can significantly lower costs of nutritious meals

Accounting for leftovers - accounting for leftover ingredients drives down meal costs, helping families plan ahead