Pantry Helper

Food pantry inventory system to target food needs & reduce waste.

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Inspiration

Inflation have pushed people to choose between putting food on the table or gas in the car. At Broward College, students can get help at the college food pantries. Generous donations come from the local grocers. However, students do not know what food items are in stock at the pantries. Some students have food allergies, special diets, and favorites/preferences. Also, some of food items have a limited shelf life before turning inedible and have to be thrown out as waste.

Having a food inventory for the pantries will help students who need the food be able to decide whether to make a trip that day for food based on the current inventory or pre-select food items available for pick up that day. The food pantries would be able to better serve the students and make better use of the food based on needs and reduce food waste.

What it does

The Broward College food pantry website would allow students to log in and access the food inventory available at each pantry location. The food inventory would display the food item, food name, and quantity available at that location. A filter option would allow students to choose fridge or pantry food items as some student may not have refrigerator to store the food. Student may preview what is available at that location or pre-select the food items and check out to pick up at the pantry location that day.

The Broward College food pantry associate can take a picture of the food and the system would identify the food item with a picture and food name. Some of the food donations do not come with labels or names for associates to identify the food item. Once the system identifies the food item, the associate can enter the available quantity. The system would automatically categorized the food item as a refrigerated item or pantry item. As students are selecting items at the pantry or upon pick up, the associate can update the system to reflect the current food quantity available.

Data can also be tracked to show: -how many students have been helped at the food pantry, -number of food items checked out to show specific food item demands, and -food waste.

How we built it

We used the following technology: HTML (HyperText Markup Language) to create the website base. JavaScript to program the interaction within the website. CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) to design such as fonts and colors. Figma to design a prototype of the product. GitHub to host and work on the various versions created during the project.

Challenges we ran into

  1. Developing and agreeing on a project idea as there are many humanitarian causes we can use technology to help improve human welfare.
  2. Learning curve to implement and combine different technologies available as our team have varying degrees of experiences with the technology.
  3. Ensuring the website accessibility functions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Having a functional prototype.
  2. Opportunity to work in a team.
  3. Homepage design and implementation of Google map.
  4. Ability to forge on for 24-hours to meet time deadline.

What we learned

  1. Develop focusing techniques while other ongoing events and group discussions were around us.
  2. Being able to push our mental and physical limits.
  3. Organization and planning helps the team better target our objective.

What's next for Pantry Helper

Additional features and uses can be developed to help further meet food needs and reduce food waste such as: -tracking the amount of food waste that can be converted into compost for school to use on campus or to sell compost for revenue. -tracking the amount of food received that was not usable for the pantry due spoilage. -tracking food trends/preferences to better direct food items to specific campuses. -including nutritional data with food item. -expanding use to County and State levels to implement.

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