Ideaz

One urgent real-world issue is the inefficiency and wastefulness of food consumption systems in cities, which result in hunger, environmental damage, and economic losses globally. Even as most cities produce huge quantities of food waste every day, much of their populations remain food insecure. Current solutions such as food banks and donation programs partially solve this problem but are hindered by logistics, a lack of real-time information, and limited scope, ultimately resulting in gaps within minimizing food waste and effectively feeding the needy.

ReFresh an intelligent, technology-based platform for redistributing food that brings local food companies—restaurants, grocery stores, and markets—together with socially disadvantaged groups in real-time through an AI-based application. This app would use machine learning to forecast surplus food availability from sales history, weather, and events and match this with the needs and preferences of surrounding recipients. Computerized coordination of logistics through collaborations with neighboring delivery providers or volunteers will provide for timely redistribution, greatly minimizing food waste and enhancing access to healthy meals for underprivileged groups.

Major beneficiaries are food-insecure households who receive access to healthy meals, companies that cut down costs of disposal and improve their corporate social responsibility image, local communities that experience less environmental footprints, and municipal governments who are working to achieve sustainability targets.

This issue is very important to me because food is a human right, and the irony of happening hunger and waste lays bare system inefficiencies that technology and collaboration can address. My technical strategy includes the adoption of IoT sensors to track inventories, AI for predicting demand and supply, and cloud infrastructure that is scalable to manage dynamic flows of data, making the solution robust and agile. This project not only fosters social justice but also advocates for environmental sustainability, and therefore it's a wholistic solution to urban food issues.