Flock Share

Inspiration

Flock Share was inspired by a past project that addressed the need to reduce food waste and improve food accessibility. About 60 million tons of food is wasted throughout the supply chain in America each year for a variety of reasons. On college campuses, food waste is a growing issue. Dining halls, campus events, and student organizations frequently generate surplus food, while individual students may overestimate their needs, leading to excess food being thrown away. Limited storage space, busy schedules, and lack of food-sharing networks further contribute to waste. At the same time, many students face food insecurity, unsure of where their next meal will come from. Flock Share was created to bridge this gap by providing an easy to use platform where students can share their excess food, find available meals, and reduce waste together. By fostering a culture of sharing and sustainability on college campuses, Flock Share empowers students to support one another, minimize waste, and create a more connected and resourceful community.

What it does

Flock Share is a concept that combines a mobile application with an integrated locker system. The mobile application serves as the main platform for users to engage with the system.

How Flock Share Works:

Mobile Application: When the user initially opens the app, they are prompted to create a profile. After this is done, they can list food items they have available for sharing and also browse what is being offered by others in their community.
Listing Surplus Food: To list the surplus food, a user must take a photo and describe the item.
Integrated Locker System: Once a user finds a food listing they want to claim, they can reserve it through the app. The app then provides them with access to a nearby secure locker system where the food is placed for safe retrieval. These lockers are strategically placed throughout the community to ensure accessibility.
Food Exchange: The person who listed the food will place it in a designated locker, and the receiver can then unlock the locker via the app to pick up the food.

For this hackathon, the focus was on developing the mobile application as the core of the system. The app provides a seamless interface for users to interact with the locker system, discover available food, list their surplus, and complete exchanges—all while promoting sustainability and reducing food waste.

How we built it

We used Xcode as our integrated development environment (IDE) and Swift as the programming language to build the Flock Share mobile application. The app is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, leveraging GPS functionality to allow users to find nearby food listings based on their location. We integrated image capture and the user photo library so users can easily upload images of food they want to share. To ensure secure access, we implemented special characters for user sign-up and login, providing a safe and seamless experience. The design focused on simplicity, making it easy for users to list or claim food with just a few taps, creating an accessible and engaging platform for college students to share food and reduce waste in their community.

Challenges we ran into

During development, our group faced several challenges. One of the main obstacles was Core Data not working as expected, which caused issues with saving and retrieving data within the app, requiring us to troubleshoot and find alternative solutions. Additionally, picking up Swift, a language many of us were new to, presented a learning curve as we worked to familiarize ourselves with its syntax and best practices. Another challenge was GitHub collaboration—coordinating push, pull, and commit actions while managing version control became tricky at times, especially when merging code and resolving conflicts. Despite these hurdles, we worked through them as a team, adapting and learning along the way to successfully build the app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re incredibly proud of how well our team worked together throughout the development process. One of our key accomplishments was being aligned on the overall design and interface of the app. From the beginning, we were all on the same page about creating a simple, user friendly interface that would be accessible to college students. We also had a Scrum Master who helped keep us organized and on task, and we effectively delegated responsibilities, ensuring that everyone had clear roles and deadlines. By breaking down our work into manageable tasks and setting strict deadlines within the 24 hour hackathon timeframe, we stayed on track and were able to make significant progress. Our strong collaboration and effective time management helped us stay focused and deliver a functional app prototype.

What we learned

Throughout the hackathon, we learned a great deal about both the technical and collaborative aspects of app development. One of the key lessons was having to learn Swift, a new programming language for some of us, and adapting to Xcode, a software environment that not all team members were familiar with. This forced us to quickly pick up new skills and become comfortable with tools that were essential to the project. Additionally, we learned valuable lessons in time management as we worked under tight deadlines. By setting clear goals and dividing tasks effectively, we were able to simulate a real time project environment and experienced the pressure of delivering within a short timeframe. This challenge helped us improve our ability to work efficiently and stay focused under pressure, which will be crucial for future projects.

What's next for Flock Share

If Flock Share were to be a fully realized project at Stevens, something our team wants to implement is a rewards system. With this system, every time a student shares or retrieves extraneous food with the community, they are rewarded with a duck. For every 5 ducks a student acquires, they receive $1 in DuckBills. Stevens is one of the few schools without a dedicated food pantry, and while we are not creating a food pantry, we are still actively working to tackle food insecurity in a different way. Flock Share provides a peer-to-peer food-sharing solution, allowing students to redistribute excess food instead of letting it go to waste. By incentivizing participation through the rewards system, we encourage more students to share meals, ensuring that those who need food can easily access it. This community-driven approach helps bridge the gap left by the absence of a pantry, making food more accessible in a sustainable and immediate way. If Flock Share is used in other communities, it would also be beneficial to refine the app by adding features like advanced search filters, a user rating system, and real time notifications to enhance the food sharing experience. These updates would make it easier for users to find food and communicate more efficiently, ensuring that the platform is both functional and user friendly.