Feed the Needy- An Application for Minimising Food Wastage

Abstract

The 2019 Global Hunger Index indicates that India is at a serious condition with range of (20.0–34.9) out of 100 points scale. On the other hand lot of food is wasted in restaurants, marriages, social gatherings and hostels, especially when the quantity of food exceeds the number of guests. This project is an attempt to minimize the food wastage by feeding the needy rather than throwing away. “Feed the Needy" is an internet-based mobile charity application to connect receivers and donors. Food donors are typically the owners of restaurants, hostels and party halls, whereas the receivers are orphanages, old age homes and people living in slum areas. When there is an excess food availability, the donor will update the information in the App. As the cooked food spoils within hours at room temperature and becomes unsafe to eat, our app uses Dijkstra's algorithm to find the nearest receiver and send alerts about the food availability. Once the receiver accepts the request, the food availability details along with the location is intimated to the receiver.

 Keywords: Smartphone app, Online food donation, Firebase Authentication, Shortest Path, Dijkstra’s algorithm