Inspiration
Of our 5 team members, 1 is allergic to dairy, one is vegetarian, and one is vegan. We all have encountered situations where we had trouble finding restaurants that fit our dietary restrictions or were unable to pick menu items for fear that they didn't meet our needs.
Finally, we all are people who are passionate about food, want greater transparency in the food industry, and want to create a platform where restaurants and food retailers are incentivized to share more information about what we are eating
How it works
The website provides access to a database of local restaurants and allows users to search based on personal preferences and conscious eating. Additionally, with ingredient information readily available, we show where each ingredient comes from, how sustainable our food choices are, and create a platform that allows us to make more informed decisions. How great would it be to see which restaurants had the lowest average food miles, used the most organic produce, or had the most sustainable farming practices?
Challenges I ran into
We were unable to find any existing datasets. While there are some restaurants that provide some information on ingredients and food sources, none were comprehensive enough for our purposes. This meant we had to create our own datasets and collects large amount of information that isn't easy to get at
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We are proud of Eat Aware's potential to impact different portions of the market. As the number of users and participating restaurants grow, there is the potential to drive customers to more sustainable food vendors, let restaurants cater to more specific market segments, and even help farmers develop greater relationships with their end customers.
What I learned
Integration of all the steps in the process takes time and syntactical challenges.
What's next for Eat Aware
Conduct ethnographic studies of end customers. Research how people make food choices when faced with eating restrictions. Work with local restaurants to understand the value they would capture and how they can benefit. Work with local experts to understand the nuances of many dietary restrictions and medical conditions. Secure initial funding for
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