Redistributing excess food — there's an app for that
An app, appropriately named ReFood, has been developed by researchers at Edith Cowan University. The smartphone app makes donating excess food simple by linking food businesses with not-for-profit organisations that redistribute their excess food to those who need it.
ReFood has been trialled in the City of Swan, where it connected local restaurants and cafes with charities who were keen to accept even small volumes of food.
The app fills a gap in the market so smaller volumes of excess food can be redistributed to charities. Most larger food producers and retailers have arrangements with food banks already.
The ReFood app was developed by ECU School of Medical and Health Sciences PhD candidate Ele Stojanoska, with a $12,798 grant from the Waste Authority WA’s Community Grants Scheme.
“The main aim of the ReFood app is to both reduce the amount of food waste going into landfill and also making it much easier for small businesses to link up with not-for-profits to share food,” Stojanoska said.
“The app is very simple to use. All a business has to do is download the app, then when they have excess food they can enter it into the app along with a time that it can be collected. Then a not-for-profit organisation can see what’s available and, if the food is suitable for their needs, come and collect it.
“It even shows what food has been donated so businesses can have a record of what they have given away.”
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