Long a Distribution Problem, Mobile App Helps Combat Hunger
Feeding Forward has fed close to 600,000 people by collecting leftover food and distributing it to food banks and homeless shelters immediately
America, a prosperous first-world country, is suffering from food wastage problems. Forty percent of food produced in the States is simply thrown away, while every one out of six Americans are looking high and low for their next meal. Komal Ahmad, founder ofFeeding Forward, is rallying up businesses and volunteers to help solve this hunger problem.
Ahmad believes that food wastage “is literally the world’s dumbest problem.” How can America, with an abundance of food supply, still have a food scarcity problem?
Ahmad’s realization came way back in 2011 when she met a 26-year-old homeless soldier at the University of California at Berkeley campus. Instead of giving him money, Ahmad opted to treat the homeless man out to lunch to get to know his story. Ahmad couldn’t believe his story and felt inspired to do something about America’s growing food problem.
From there, she started a food program at UC Berkeley, where she got the school’s approval to donate the leftover food from the dining halls to local homeless shelters. Little did Ahmad know that her program would be so successful, going as far as expanding to 140 different college campuses in the United States in a span of three years.
After graduating, there was no way that the 25-year-old Ahmad would stop trying to feed homeless people. She created Feeding Forward, a nonprofit service that makes use of a mobile phone app to collect on-demand leftover food and distribute it to food banks and homeless shelters immediately.
Through the app, the company provides details on where the leftover food will be picked up. Immediately, a driver is dispatched to pick up the food and deliver it to a nearby food bank.
In the process, Ahmad realized that food wastage isn’t the only problem to contend with, it is actually in how food surplus is distributed since food is perishable. “There’s no lack of people who are in need of food. This is not a hunger issue. This is a distribution issue,” Ahmad concluded.
Feeding Forward started in 2013 and today, it has collected 691,896 pounds of food and has fed close to 600,000 people. She also works with event planners so that excess food from events be used for feeding the hungry.
“Imagine a football stadium filled to its brim. That’s how much food goes wasted every single day in America,” Ahmad told CNET. With that, Feeding Forward is welcoming volunteers to help their cause and any donations that will help them push this program forward.
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