Plateful

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Inspiration

As university students in Kingston, we’ve witnessed the city's vibrant community, but we’ve also become aware of the growing issue of food insecurity. Learning about the struggles faced by many in our city, we felt compelled to act. This inspired our project, Plateful, aimed at connecting grocery stores with food banks to optimize food donations and help alleviate food insecurity in Kingston.

What it does

Our solution is tailored to everyday individuals who are willing to volunteer to make deliveries. At the heart of Plateful’s solution is our AI-powered route optimization system, which aims to address the inefficiencies in food distribution to food banks from grocery stores. Our machine learning model determines where food is needed the most, what groceries have a significant surplus in leftovers, and will optimize the routes for volunteer drivers.

How we built it

We built Plateful by combining our skills in technology and a deep commitment to addressing food insecurity. We started with a clear goal: to create a platform that connects grocery stores with food banks to efficiently route donations. Our backend was built using PostgreSQL to manage data, and Python for the ML model, while the frontend was developed with Next.js for a seamless, responsive user experience.

What's next for Plateful

With our existing machine-learning model, we will continue gathering and storing data from food banks and grocery stores in our database. As users generate routes, the model will refine its accuracy by analyzing trends and assigning more precise weightings between food banks and grocery stores. This will further enhance route prioritization, helping us combat the food insecurity crisis more effectively.

Future developments include the addition of a volunteer point-based incentive system, allowing volunteers to redeem points for rewards at participating stores. As well, an expansion of the model’s functionality to send email notifications to volunteers, informing them of upcoming routes and opportunities.

Lastly, Plateful can be scaled and used in any city. Food insecurity is a worldwide problem and every plate matters.