Food4All - End Food Insecurity

A fully-functional web application designed to diminish the prevalence of food insecurity around the world through food redistribution.

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Inspiration

Despite being a global priority in the eyes of the United Nations, food insecurity still affects hundreds of millions of people. Even in the developed country of Canada, over 5.8 million individuals (>14% of the national population) are living in food-insecure households. These individuals are unable to access adequate quantities of nutritious foods.

What it does

Food4All works to limit the prevalence of food insecurity by minimizing waste from food corporations. The website addresses this by serving as a link between businesses with leftover food and individuals in need. Businesses with a surplus of food are able to donate food by displaying their offering on the Food4All website. By filling out the form, businesses will have the opportunity to input the nutritional values of the food, the quantity of the food, and the location for pickup.

From a consumer’s perspective, they will be able to see nearby donations on an interactive map. By separating foods by their needs (e.g., high-protein), consumers will be able to reserve the donated food they desire. Altogether, this works to cut down unnecessary food waste by providing it to people in need.

How we built it

We created this project using a combination of multiple languages. We used Python for the backend, specifically for setting up the login system using Flask Login. We also used Python for form submissions, where we took the input and allocated it to a JSON object which interacted with the food map. Secondly, we used Typescript (JavaScript for deployable code) and JavaScript’s Fetch API in order to interact with the Google Maps Platform. The two major APIs we used from this platform are the Places API and Maps JavaScript API. This was responsible for creating the map, the markers with information, and an accessible form system. We used HTML/CSS and JavaScript alongside Bootstrap to produce the web-design of the website. Finally, we used the QR Code API in order to get QR Code receipts for the food pickups.

Challenges we ran into

Some of the challenges we ran into was using the Fetch API. Since none of us were familiar with asynchronous polling, specifically in JavaScript, we had to learn this to make a functioning food inventory. Additionally, learning the Google Maps Platform was a challenge due to the comprehensive documentation and our lack of prior experience. Finally, putting front-end components together with back-end components to create a cohesive website proved to be a major challenge for us.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Overall, we are extremely proud of the web application we created. The final website is functional and it was created to resolve a social issue we are all passionate about. Furthermore, the project we created solves a problem in a way that hasn’t been approached before. In addition to improving our teamwork skills, we are pleased to have learned new tools such as Google Maps Platform. Last but not least, we are thrilled to overcome the multiple challenges we faced throughout the process of creation.

What we learned

In addition to learning more about food insecurity, we improved our HTML/CSS skills through developing the website. To add on, we increased our understanding of Javascript/TypeScript through the utilization of the APIs on Google Maps Platform (e.g., Maps JavaScript API and Places API). These APIs taught us valuable JavaScript skills like operating the Fetch API effectively. We also had to incorporate the Google Maps Autofill Form API and the Maps JavaScript API, which happened to be a difficult but engaging challenge for us.

What's next for Food4All - End Food Insecurity

There are a variety of next steps of Food4All. First of all, we want to eliminate the potential misuse of reserving food. One of our key objectives is to prevent privileged individuals from taking away the donations from people in need. We plan to implement a method to verify the socioeconomic status of users. Proper implementation of this verification system would also be effective in limiting the maximum number of reservations an individual can make daily.

We also want to add a method to incentivize businesses to donate their excess food. This can be achieved by partnering with corporations and marketing their business on our webpage. By doing this, organizations who donate will be seen as charitable and good-natured by the public eye.

Lastly, we want to have a third option which would allow volunteers to act as a delivery person. This would permit them to drop off items at the consumer’s household. Volunteers, if applicable, would be able to receive volunteer hours based on delivery time.

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