APPetite: An App to End Hunger in LA

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

A third of Angelinos go hungry every night. And half of SoCal’s undocumented & Black population is food insecure. Yet, there is more than enough food to feed everyone in LA many times over.
Our research shows that food insecurity in LA is due primarily to:
Ignorance: where do I get food?
Fear: what will happen to me/my immigration status if I seek a food pantry or government assistance?
Embarrassment: Using free food services can be seen as a personal failure. Accessibility: Food pantries are open during inconvenient times and locations and require waiting in line.
Chronicity: Service providers remain disassociated from policy involvement. They end up feeding people, but not solving for systemic food insecurity.
Our solution solves these problems through 1) partnerships with Sodexo and Everytable, as well as food insecure communities & service providers & 2) developing an app to reduce the emotional, physical & policy barriers to food accessibility in Southern California noted above.

Students will engage food insecure communities by providing free & low-cost meals and then rapidly design & launch a multi-lingual app using Sodexo and Everytable’s networks & expertise to help LA food services 1) coordinate food resources, 2) make access to food pantries as easy as using Yelp 3) educate communities about nutrition and food preparation and 4) allow policymakers to communicate directly with food-insecure communities. The app will do this by:
Allowing food organizations to communicate with each other
Avoid food waste through a real-time inventory of food updateable by community organizations
Give individuals the ability to reserve private times to pick up food (solving accessibility & embarrassment problems)
Share information about healthy eating habits
Any other options communities would like to co-design
LA-based ASU students will lead the work & involve other local schools such as USC and Loyola Marymount. First, students will deliver healthy Everytable meals over the course of the semester to food insecure communities. In the process, they will conduct field research & learn from these individuals to inform the design of the app. The students will also work with and alongside community food service organizations, and city/county leaders to craft the app over the course of one semester. The app will be launched at an event at the ASU Herald Examiner Building in DTLA in November. Thereafter, the app will enter the pilot phase of launch for CY 2025 or 2026.

We imagine a Southern California where no one has to sleep hungry at night. In line with aspirations set by the County and City of Los Angeles and the Biden Administration, it is our hope that efforts like ours will help to end hunger in LA by 2030. Food insecurity affects individuals in numerous ways, with one of the most pressing being its inextricable link to various negative health outcomes. Systemic issues exacerbate food insecurity among BIPOC communities, placing them at a greater risk of experiencing food insecurity and the associated health consequences. Providing access to healthy, nutritious food, especially to Angelinos at the greatest risk, can significantly improve their health outcomes. This foundation of wellness will enable them to secure and retain employment, thereby enhancing their overall quality of life and contributing positively to the robust and diverse Angelino community.

How we will measure success:
Delivery of at least 2000 meals to LA County residents by our student team.
Field research conservations with at least 5% of these individuals to inform our app design.
Recruitment of at least 10 food insecure community representatives and 10 food services organizations and allies from the SoCal to participate in the app development process.
Recruitment of 40 diverse students from various academic backgrounds to work with communities over a 4 month period in our labs to build the app.
Successful integration of Sodexo and Everytable’s customer and social media networks.
Successful working application designed for all mobile platforms.
Launch of the app at an event to be held in November 2024.
Successful attendance of at least 200 community members, partners and supporters.
Completion of app launch pilot phase (CY 2025) culminating with at least 100,000 downloads on all app stores combined. App utilization rate of at least 33% by December 2025.