Inspired by big family gatherings and potlucks, in what ways could food bring us together?
Sharing food and communal eating are regarded as the height of hospitality and an important way of getting to know people in many cultures. In the US, willingness to share food with others has largely been complicated by late stage capitalism and the individualistic over-consumption it breeds. For example, 37 million people in the U.S. struggle with hunger, but 150,000 tons of food is wasted in U.S. households each day.
Trent and I talked to people within the Providence community about their perceptions of sharing food (see all interview data). Most people were excited about the idea and everyone could relate for food sharing in some way:
"I like the idea because I like to help as many people as I can... I would love to help somebody else rather than just helping myself."
"If someone gives me food they couldn't use, I would take it as opposed to it going in the trash."
"I'm trying to be more purposeful with my food, but I always have things that go bad because I buy too much."
But most people were also worried about possible hygiene issues and trust within their communities:
"Because the setting of a farmers market is like, 'oh it's like going to a store', but if it's an individual the context changes the level of trust."
"I’ve lived in the hood where we’re all aware of each other’s struggles and help each other out. But I’ve also been in communities where people aren’t willing to support each other at all. Communities can be so broken up."
"One neighbourhood may be okay because everyone knows each other, but other communities may be different because there may be a lack of commonality for example within college we are all students. Identity has a lot to do with trust."
We became interested in how might the opportunity to share a meal with others build community, reduce food waste, and/or increase food accessibility, which led to the development of this community food-sharing model:
To prototype our concept, we placed three university students in a group chat to plan a shared meal together. Their planning was natural, and the meal was tasty, but they had concerns about their safety if they were to do it again. This informed several conditions for our platform:
Groups must have three or more people
Ensure planning a meal is easy as possible
Profiles that allow people to get to know each other
OLIO is a platform that connects neighbours with each other and local businesses to share unwanted and unused food, rather than it go to waste. OLIO was a great inspiration to us, so we contacted them to talk food sharing and ask how do they build trust between their users? They suggested including users' data in their profiles such as when they joined and how many meals they have shared, and incorporating accomplishment badges.
Sum is a food sharing platform that saves money and food from going to waste through a shared meal with friends, neighbours, and maybe someone new.
Introduces Sum's mission to build community and reduce waste. Get checked in and verified so that others know you're a trustworthy member.
Browse through meals that people want to share with their community based on food preferences, proximity, and time. Join in on someone else's meal by bringing ingredients that they're requesting.
Host your own meal to enjoy with your local community.
Got a hosting hack? Or made some delicious noodles with your new friends on Sum? Share your experience and engage with others on the platform.
In-app group chats are created automatically once a meal share is confirmed. Polls to secure meal times are also automated to make the life of the host a little easier.
An interactive prototype developed on Figma
An interactive prototype developed on Figma
Special thanks to:
Barent Roth for bestowing his wisdom upon us
Trent for being an amazing project partner