Go ask the app

Food Cloud, distributing food from restaruants and shops to charities

On Friday night at the food festival we had a talented group of people speaking about how they see the future of fishing and farming on the western seaboard.  One of the speakers was a young lady , by the name of Aoibheann O’ Brien, herself and her business partner, Iseult Ward, one of the Bric’s of Riasc,  recently formed a company called Foodcloud.  They have used technology, and in particular an app to address the issue of food waste in Ireland and further afield.

Food Cloud.ie is their start up company and the central part of their methodology is the use of an app to connect the people who have a food surplus with people who need food.  It is done by using their app, or through their website.  Food businesses who have registered with FoodCloud, upload details of their surplus food and the time period in which the food can be collected.  The app will locate the nearest registered charity send them a message to say that food is available and the type of food, the charity can choose to accept or pass on the offer.  If they pass on the offer the next nearest charity is contacted.  All organizations involved sign contracts which state their commitment to food safety.

The application shows what technology, especially web 2.0 technologies can do, and in fact, does very well.  Establishing a link between people with a product and people who want or need that product.  There are many examples here in Kerry of people using technology to connect with their market.  The Dingle-Peninsula tourism app, the GoKerry website, are all working to link potential customers with tourism products that are available in Kerry.

FoodCloud.ie is both a website and an app which for those of us who are not sure is an abbreviation for application. An app is a piece of software. It can run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your phone or other electronic device.   During her talk Aoibheann invited the audience to consider how networks and technologies can be used  to address some of the issues that are being faced by the farming and fishing communities.  If anything that you would like to do involves communicating with people, one of the cheapest and most reliable way to do it is directly using technology.