Problem Statement
The food banks of Quebec reported between 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of food rescued and distributed in 2019; however, the food industry respondents reported just 23 thousand tonnes of surplus edible food is rescued for redistribution to vulnerable populations who are food insecure, which represents only 40% of the number reported by the food banks of Quebec (FBQ, 2019). Considerations should be taken in understanding that community food organizations purchase a proportion of the food they distribute (FBC, 2021)
The current methods of distribution and collection of food within the food banks in Montreal lack the efficiency and effectiveness of sustainable patterns, resulting in a substantial amount of food waste. The key factors identified to reduce food waste specifically within food banks are centered around minimizing expired goods, reducing traffic to food banks, and maximizing the type of storage and processing used.
With the large amount of food waste produced in Montreal each year, a more efficient and streamlined process for food in food banks is ideal in minimizing the amount of food waste. As food banks struggle with many difficulties such as the distribution, storage and overall process of receiving and donating food, the proposed solution of a mobile application titled Waste Watch Montreal has been designed to tackle these factors. In addition to those who rely on food banks, some of the stakeholders involved include employees and volunteers of the food banks, as well as any donating organizations. Initially aimed at those who rely on food banks, the application tracks the amount of food given with timed alerts to avoid spoilt food. Waste Watch Montreal develops a delivery route for volunteers to follow, based on close proximities and reducing car emissions. The application also includes a tracking system that monitors the inventory of food, while also monitoring the storage and equipment, ensuring the equipment is properly operated. The overall goal of the mobile application is to become an accessible tracking app, where users can be educated or can use to time when food is about to spoil. Waste Watch Montreal is designed to be multi-use within food banks, and overall create a simple yet user friendly method to reduce food waste.
The solution identified by the team is a software application that can minimize the time spent in traffic to food banks and increase the organization and communication. This is parallel to our overall problem statement which is to decrease food waste within the food banks in the Downtown of Montreal area. Our key stakeholders are Montreal Households, Food banks, various communities, families located near food banks and volunteers at the food bank. All of our stakeholders will benefit from the increased organization and online communication. The proposed Solution is operationally feasible because applications are everywhere and almost everyone in this day and age has a smartphone or access to internet. As well as financially feasible, with support research in the detailed explanation how affordable making a complex application is. This implementation will be welcomed without resistance as will notice that these upgrades solve “what matters the most” in regards to all surrounding components of food banks.
Though there has been a large increase in the demand for food banks, it is unclear what resources people who require these service have access to. This means with the creation of an app there may be a group that is unable to access this resource and will require a different source of aid. It will be assumed by the group the majority of this population has access to a smartphone or to the web in another way and the population that does not will benefit indirectly from other use of this application.
However, after implementations of this app studies may be conducted to determine the reduce traffic at food banks and with the number of people facing food insecurities in the area to analysis the effectiveness of the this solution. If the app has little effect methods that do not require the use of a smartphone will be researched.