MealMates

Inspiration

We wanted to reduce waste by facilitating the food donation process.

What it does

This MealMates app connects users to each other so that a provider can give food to a receiver. By logging in as a chef (provider), the user can submit a food that a receiver can come to pick up. By logging in as a gimme food user (receiver), the user can browse through food submitted by providers and choose the food to pickup. The user can also chat with the foodbot Clara to schedule a food pickup appointment. You can also track how much food you saved by looking at the graph.

How we built it

We built this app using Python and ngrok for the backend, JavaScript XML and Node.js for the frontend, and Ollama for the chatbot.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges that we ran into include: setting up the development environment and API endpoints, coming up with project ideas, and syncing up after working on the frontend and backend separately to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to create an app that is intuitive and helpful in promoting sustainability by both reducing waste and helping people come together to share their food with each other.

What we learned

We learned that it is challenging to brainstorm use cases and design and come into a consensus about the direction of the project. We also found collaborating and communicating to create a product within 24 hours to be hard as well.

What's next for MealMates

Our next steps are implementing new features such as allowing users to post comments to each other and having a form for users to submit feedback for the app. We welcome inputs by everyone!