FreshBay

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Inspiration

Food insecurity affects millions of people, while vast amounts of food go to waste daily. We were inspired by the inefficiencies in the current food distribution system, where food banks struggle with demand forecasting and equitable allocation. Seeing how AI has revolutionized logistics and supply chains, we wanted to apply technology to ensure that food reaches those who need it most.

What it does

FreshBay is an AI-powered food redistribution platform that connects food donors, food banks, and food pantries to ensure surplus food is efficiently distributed to those in need. Key functionalities include:

AI-Powered Demand Forecasting: Predicts food demand in different regions using demographic and economic data.

Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery Integration: Analyzes agricultural index data to determine food production trends and combine it with statistical models to calculate high-need areas.

Smart Matching & Routing: Uses AI to match food donations with food banks and pantries based on perishability, storage capacity, and urgency.

Real-Time Inventory Management: Tracks available food supplies and ensures equitable distribution.

Community Feedback System: Allows food pantries and individuals to report shortages, delays, and food quality issues to refine the AI model.

How we built it

We designed FreshBay as a multi-tier AI-powered food redistribution system that integrates food banks and food pantries seamlessly.

AI & ML: Used TensorFlow.js and Scikit-learn to forecast food demand and optimize distribution.

Satellite Data Analysis: Integrated Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to assess agricultural productivity and correlate it with food demand trends.

Backend: Built with Supabase (PostgreSQL) to manage users, food donations, and real-time inventory tracking.

Frontend: Developed using React (TypeScript) for a user-friendly interface.

Logistics & Mapping: Integrated Mapbox to optimize delivery routes and visualize food demand trends in real time.

Real-Time Updates: Utilized Supabase Realtime to notify food banks, pantries, and volunteers about food availability.

Challenges we ran into

Data Collection & Integration: Sourcing accurate hunger data and integrating it with our AI models was a challenge.

Logistics Optimization: Balancing real-time food distribution with limited transportation resources required advanced routing solutions.

Equity-Based Distribution: Ensuring fairness in food allocation while optimizing efficiency was a complex problem we had to solve with AI.

Satellite Data Processing: Leveraging Sentinel-2 imagery to extract meaningful agricultural data and integrate it into our AI models required extensive preprocessing and analysis.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Developed a fully functional AI-powered food distribution system that can scale to real-world implementation.

Successfully implemented real-time food matching and routing, significantly reducing food waste.

Built an equity-driven food distribution model that prioritizes marginalized communities.

Created interactive hunger heatmaps that visualize real-time food insecurity trends.

Integrated satellite imagery analysis to enhance food demand prediction and distribution efficiency.

What we learned

Throughout the development of FreshBay, we learned about the challenges food banks and pantries face in distributing food efficiently. Understanding social justice aspects, such as food deserts and systemic inequality, helped shape our AI-driven equity-based model. We also gained hands-on experience working with AI/ML demand forecasting, database optimization, and real-time updates for logistics.

What's next for FreshBay

Expand Partnerships: Collaborate with local food banks, government agencies, and nonprofits to scale impact.

Enhance AI Models: Improve demand forecasting accuracy with more datasets and deep learning models.

Introduce Mobile Food Pantries: Deploy pop-up food distribution sites in high-need areas based on AI insights.

Public API Development: Allow third-party organizations to integrate FreshBay’s food redistribution model into their systems.

Advanced Satellite Data Utilization: Further refine our use of Sentinel-2 data to dynamically adjust food distribution strategies based on crop yield predictions.

Built With

• google-earth-api
• gps
• javascript
• mapbox
• python
• react
• typescript