FoodChain

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Inspiration

Our inspiration stems from a fundamental realization about the critical role food plays in our daily lives. We've observed a disparity, especially in the United States, where the quality and origins of food are often overshadowed, leading to concerns about the overall health impact on consumers.

Several team members had the opportunity to travel to regions where food is not just sustenance but a deeply valued aspect of life. In these places, the connection between what we eat, our bodies, and the environment is highly emphasized. This experience ignited a passion within us to address the disconnect in food systems, prompting the creation of a solution that brings transparency, traceability, and healthier practices to the forefront of the food industry. Our goal is to empower individuals to make informed choices about their food, fostering a healthier society and a more sustainable relationship with the environment.

What it does

There are two major issues that this app tries to address. The first is directed to those involved in the supply chain, like the producers, inspectors, processors, distributors, and retailers. The second is to the end user. For those who are involved in making the food, each step that moves on in the supply chain is tracked by the producer. For the consumer at the very end who will consume it, it will be a journey on where the food came from including its location, description, and quantity. Throughout its supply chain journey, each food shipment will contain a label that the producer will put on first. This is further stored on the blockchain for guaranteed immutability. As the shipment moves from place to place, each entity ("producer, processor, distributor, etc") will be allowed to make its own updated comment with its own verifiable signature and decentralized identifier (DiD). We did this through a unique identifier via a QR code. This then creates tracking information on that one shipment which will eventually reach the end consumer, who will be able to see the entire history by tracing a map of where the shipment has been.

How we built it

In order to build this app, we used both blockchain and web2 in order to alleviate some of the load onto different servers. We wrote a solidity smart contract and used Hedera in order to guarantee the immutability of the record of the shipment, and then we have each identifier guaranteed its own verifiable certificate through its location placement. We then used a node express server that incorporated the blockchain with our SQLite database through Prisma ORM. We finally used Firebase to authenticate the whole app together in order to provide unique roles and identifiers. In the front end, we decided to build a react-native app in order to support both Android and iOS. We further used different libraries in order to help us integrate with QR codes and Google Maps. Wrapping all this together, we have a fully functional end-to-end user experience.

Challenges we ran into

A major challenge that we ran into was that Hedera doesn't have any built-in support for constructing arrays of objects through our solidity contract. This was a major limitation as we had to find various other ways to ensure that our product guaranteed full transparency.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

These are some of the accomplishments that we can achieve through our app

Accurate and tamper-resistant food data
Efficiently prevent, contain, or rectify contamination outbreaks while reducing the loss of revenue
Creates more transparency and trust in the authenticity of Verifiable Credential data
Verifiable Credentials help eliminate and prevent fraud

What we learned

We learned a lot about the complexity of food chain supply. We understand that this issue may take a lot of helping hand to build out, but it's really possible to make the world a better place. To the producers, distributors, and those helping out with the food, it helps them prevent outbreaks by keeping track of certain information as the food shipments transfer from one place to another. They will be able to efficiently track and monitor their food supply chain system, ensuring trust between parties. The consumer wants to know where their food comes from, and this tool will be perfect for them to understand where they are getting their next meal to stay strong and fit.

What's next for FoodChain

The next step is to continue to build out all the different moving parts of this app. There are a lot of different directions that one person can take app toward the complexity of the supply chain. We can continue to narrow down to a certain industry or we can make this inclusive using the help of web2 + web3. We look forward to utilizing this at some companies where they want to prove that their food ingredients and products are the best.