I do some work with food banks and some additional work with my church to assist people with food. We will always prepare meals or give people a bag with specific ingredients and a recipe. It's basically “Cook what is in this bag for a meal”
I've noticed that food banks don't work this way. You get a bag of random stuff and people often struggle to use it – which benefits neither side as the food may get wasted.
We could significantly alter this process. We could create an online system to work with grocery stores to purchase meals. As you checkout, you could buy a meal for charity and specific ingredients are taken from the store according to the recipe that the buyer selects, placed into a bag, and donated.
The person receiving the donation could get a voucher from the food bank (virtual or otherwise) and pick up the food from the grocery store when needed.
From a monetary standpoint, a small amount could be taken from the purchase for the overhead of the company.
Another side of the platform could take the random items donated to a food bank and organize them into meals that are preset via an ingredient list. Workers at the food bank would simply find those items, and bag them with the recipe. The system could track any perishables and ensure that they are used first.
Technically, this would be really fun to do. However, there would be a lot of leg work involved and you'd need a YC type backer to get your name out there and get into stores and food banks.
Just something that has been on my mind. I'd love to do this, but I don't have the standing to pull it off something of this magnitude alone.
