Want to Address Food Insecurity in Your Community? There's an App For That.

To address the food insecurity problem among its low-income students, Columbia University launched Swipes, a meal sharing app in which students with a surplus of “meal swipes” could donate them to students in need. But when that app struggled to function and roll out properly, Columbia looked downtown to New York University, where student Jon Chin launched a similarly purposed but more effectively designed app, Share Meals. So far, the app has enabled over a thousand meal donations, and is hoping to work with Columbia to share its code and expand its donor services.

At the Fujitsu factory in Japan, a significant decline in demand for semiconductor computer chips meant the company had large empty factory space sitting unused. A new business approach allowed them to dually address both the need to evolve their business model with a global decline of viable agricultural space needed to grow the world's food. Now, the factory houses indoor vegetable gardens, soil free and less resource-heavy than traditional farmland.

Production agriculture has put many small town, local farmers out of business, changing the landscape of the communities they've been pushed out of. One town in Missouri is fighting against this by joining together to preserve the importance of local control by nurturing a tradition of canning tomatoes.

Prescription drug mointoring programs provide a doctor with information about a patient’s prescriptions and—in some states—drug-related hospitalizations and arrests. With this tool, doctors are better able to identify drug-seeking behavior and intervene with at risk patients.

As the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, the San Antonio Food Bank is working with other organizations to get more food out into the community. Although volunteer turnout has decreased, the Texas food bank has partnered with groups like Pre-K 4 SA to hand out food to students and their families. Every day, the food bank says it is sending $500,000 worth of food into the community.

An ophthalmologist has created a smartphone application that allows not just doctors, but also non-specialists such as teachers, to conduct eye tests. The application helps those living in remote areas to access a service they otherwise may not be able to get and also allows for the few ophthalmologists who live in the area to only see the cases that are deemed necessary.

The rapid development of emerging economies across Asia and Africa is lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty - but there is much debate as to how to best structure this growth. If these economies evolve in the same way as in the West - with unchecked, excessive resource consumption and heavy pollution - the planet may be on the fast track to disaster. Earthrise explores how these nations can grow sustainably using improved, eco-conscious technologies like renewable energy and eco-friendly farming practices.

The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has helped the town of Ajo in Arizona distribute affordable and nutrient-dense food to the community after the coronavirus pandemic created a significant financial strain on many families. Additional support has come from the town's participation in the Environmental Protection Agency's program Local Food, Local Places which "provides technical support and expertise to help towns leverage food systems to boost economic development."

Want to help fight food insecurity? There’s an app for that. Food Rescue Hero helps connect extra food with those who need it. Volunteers use the app to see if any food is available and when it is, they pickup and deliver the donation to a pre-approved recipient, all through the app.

Dion’s Chicago Dream addresses food insecurity through a community fridge filled with fresh produce and weekly home deliveries of fresh, healthy foods.