Sustainability encompasses more than just environmental concerns—it also includes cultural, economic, and social sustainability which were all core areas the hosts encouraged participants to delve into with their projects.
At the time, I was taking a course that examined the anthropological aspects of food in France and was enamored with the initiatives that the French government took to decrease food wastes in grocery stores by obligating these stores to donate unsold food within its expiration date. To the right is a novel I read to learn more about this topic!
In 2022, according to UNEP, 19% of food available to consumers was wasted at the retail, food service, and household level, in addition to the 13% of the world's food lost in the supply chain, as estimated by FAO. link (United Nations)
KeepFresh is the application I created to target the primary issue of food waste while also making household food tracking much more efficient. The app's approach to reminding users when a food item is low in quantity allows them to be proactive in ensuring they purchase new ingredients, and it also keeps users mindful of the amount of waste the contribute.
