![by Margot Tuchler
Food waste is an uncomfortable and often overlooked reality underlying the restaurant and catering industries. There’s always a pang of guilt that arises when a waiter comes to retrieve a nearly full plate of food and a distant sense of unease at the sight of too many prepared meals at a poorly attended catered event. Although FDA regulations prohibit (understandably) the redistribution of food that has left the kitchen, a group from Arizona State University is working to take advantage of excess food in an effort to alleviate food insecurity.
What began as an idea in a Fall 2011 course in ASU’s School of Engineering (in partnership with the business college) has materialized into FlashFood, now in the tenth week of its pilot program in the Phoenix Valley area, thanks to funding from ASU’s Edson Entrepreneurship Initiative. FlashFood uses a mobile app and text alert system to connect local businesses to locals in need, said Executive Director Eric Lehnhardt a recent ASU graduate and one of FlashFood’s founders.
FlashFood maintains a squad of drivers on call, responsible for picking up food from businesses that have alerted the organization to their excess. Drivers then deliver food to community gathering spaces, such as churches, schools or community centers, and the FlashFood network is notified via text of where and when food will be available.
Lehnhardt noted that historically, donating prepared food has posed quite a challenge—FlashFood provides a new system that operates on efficiency.
“More often than not, if it’s unexpected food it’s very difficult [to donate] so that’s where the FlashFood model makes it easier to respond to unexpected food donations and put food into the hands of community members,” Lehnhardt said.
FlashFood is currently collaborating with Kaleidoscope Juice, a business that focuses on fresh foods including organic juices and quinoa salads, which are certainly safe to eat hours after the restaurant prepares them, but aren’t valuable to the restaurant anymore. FlashFood, by collaborating with businesses like these, is able to extend the idea of food donation past cans and boxes.
The team comes from a variety of academic disciplines—Lehnhardt majored in biomedical engineering, while his colleagues’ majors included material science, computer science, a dual degree in business and sustainability, and two other sustainability majors. This array of expertise is one of FlashFood’s greatest strengths, Lehnhardt said.
FlashFood has spent the last ten weeks working to forge relationships with businesses in the Phoenix Valley, test out the mobile app and see how the community is responding. Since FlashFood is just getting off the ground, plans for future expansion are not yet on the table. However, the team seems to have created a pretty fruitful model. We look forward to tracking FlashFood’s success and we hope you do too.](../../../734fdab9911a54c46b116c5120df4e62/tumblr_mmy5ac9dkq1r1ye08o1_1280.png)
by Margot Tuchler
Food waste is an uncomfortable and often overlooked reality underlying the restaurant and catering industries. There’s always a pang of guilt that arises when a waiter comes to retrieve a nearly full plate of food and a distant sense of unease at the sight of too many prepared meals at a poorly attended catered event. Although FDA regulations prohibit (understandably) the redistribution of food that has left the kitchen, a group from Arizona State University is working to take advantage of excess food in an effort to alleviate food insecurity.
What began as an idea in a Fall 2011 course in ASU’s School of Engineering (in partnership with the business college) has materialized into FlashFood, now in the tenth week of its pilot program in the Phoenix Valley area, thanks to funding from ASU’s Edson Entrepreneurship Initiative. FlashFood uses a mobile app and text alert system to connect local businesses to locals in need, said Executive Director Eric Lehnhardt a recent ASU graduate and one of FlashFood’s founders.
FlashFood maintains a squad of drivers on call, responsible for picking up food from businesses that have alerted the organization to their excess. Drivers then deliver food to community gathering spaces, such as churches, schools or community centers, and the FlashFood network is notified via text of where and when food will be available.
Lehnhardt noted that historically, donating prepared food has posed quite a challenge—FlashFood provides a new system that operates on efficiency.
“More often than not, if it’s unexpected food it’s very difficult [to donate] so that’s where the FlashFood model makes it easier to respond to unexpected food donations and put food into the hands of community members,” Lehnhardt said.
FlashFood is currently collaborating with Kaleidoscope Juice, a business that focuses on fresh foods including organic juices and quinoa salads, which are certainly safe to eat hours after the restaurant prepares them, but aren’t valuable to the restaurant anymore. FlashFood, by collaborating with businesses like these, is able to extend the idea of food donation past cans and boxes.
The team comes from a variety of academic disciplines—Lehnhardt majored in biomedical engineering, while his colleagues’ majors included material science, computer science, a dual degree in business and sustainability, and two other sustainability majors. This array of expertise is one of FlashFood’s greatest strengths, Lehnhardt said.
FlashFood has spent the last ten weeks working to forge relationships with businesses in the Phoenix Valley, test out the mobile app and see how the community is responding. Since FlashFood is just getting off the ground, plans for future expansion are not yet on the table. However, the team seems to have created a pretty fruitful model. We look forward to tracking FlashFood’s success and we hope you do too.