Stone Soup

A text & webapp interface that puts restaurant owners with leftovers directly in contact with those in need

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Inspiration

There's a huge amount of food waste that typically goes on at restaurants. Additionally, the homeless and those in need typically prioritize access to a phone, enabling opportunities via SMS. We decided to put these two facts together and create an application that would connect these two parties together. Stone Soup looks to target accessibility to food and food waste by putting those in need directly in contact with those with surplus.

What it does

The product works on two different fronts, a react web-app and a Twilio text based interface. The react web-app operates as a portal for restaurant owners to register with our system and manage their reported surplus. The Twilio interface allows those in need to register themselves with our system and with other restaurants as subscribers. Subscription recommendations are typically based on proximity and dietary restrictions. As restaurants generate surplus food, they can self-report this information and generate 'tickets' for surplus servings. Subscribers are notified of these tickets and, when matched with one, are provided a QR code to claim it.

How we built it

Behind both of these interfaces is a REST API that manages restaurant and subscriber account systems. The API is built entirely in node.js and express. Certain points in the API (client account generation and ticket distribution) rely heavily on the Twilio SMS/MMS interface. The text interface was designed around a conversation/registration state machine. This is possible through the tracking of session data between calls to our client registration endpoint. Once registered and matched with a list of preferred restaurants, users will be included in the SMS mailing lists that are managed via cronjobs.

The MERN restaurant web interface provides straightforward web interfaces to allow restaurants to manage their own storefronts.

Challenges we ran into

Various components in our design rely on 3rd party APIs. Ensuring that all of these APIs are interfacing properly has required careful organization of our APIs and data sources.

Using new technology is always fun.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Our application features an easy to use, straightforward path for those in need and those with extra to get registered fast.
  • The structure of our API allows for smooth support of various interfaces.

What we learned

  • Trust your gut. Sometimes pivoting isn't such a bad thing.

What's next for Stone Soup

  • Better matching
  • Improved restaurant interfaces
  • Expanding subscription options for those in need
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