Healthy Baltimore

The Healthy Baltimore logo.
Screenshot of the Healthy Baltimore mobile site
Screenshot of the Healthy Baltimore Resources page, featuring links to information on local programs and healthy recipes
Screenshot of the Healthy Baltimore Resources page featuring information on local food banks
Screenshot of the Healthy Baltimore Resources Page

Inspiration

We were inspired by the location of Technica and by the persistence of food scarcity areas, or food deserts, in the United States. We took a look at publicly available data for Baltimore and found that, while they have an interface for finding grocery resources, it is not currently mobile friendly or accessible.

What it does

Healthy Baltimore is a mobile-first app built around accessibility to the community. Based on the user's location, the app shows nearby grocery stores and allows the user to calculate routes using public transit to those stores. The app can be viewed in list or map format to allow the user to save battery or avoid visual confusion. There is also an Assistance menu where users can find food banks, recipes, and other resources to eat well on a budget.

How we built it

Healthy Baltimore is built as a fronted-only application utilizing JavaScript with React and Redux/Redux Thunk for calls to the Baltimore grocery API. Long-term, we would concentrate on creating a backend to allow for greater security and continuous integration/continuous development, but for the short-term nature of this project we chose to focus on UI/UX and build a fully-functional frontend.

Challenges we ran into

The Google Maps JavaScript API is new to us, so tackling that and integrating it into the project was a challenge. Specifically, learning to place markers on a map, have them display useful information and respond to filters, and integrating the user's location were difficult tasks to accomplish in approximately 24 hours.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our interface is beautiful, accessible, and responsive. We have truly built a useful and functional app in what amounts to a single day.

What we learned

We learned a lot about the Google Maps JavaScript API, and members of our team learned a lot from one another. For example, one of us is a professional UI designer, so our team learned a lot from her about responsive and accessible design.