Hungry Elephants

Recipe inspiration for users of food banks

Hungry Elephants is brought to you by

Ania, Martyna, Summer and Madieson age 14 and 15 from St Paul’s RC Academy in Dundee.

Tell us more!

What is your product and who is it for?

An app to help people that receive food parcels keep track of what they have and suggest new healthy recipe ideas so that they don’t waste food and they can eat healthily.

What inspired your idea, and why is it important to you?

One of our team has a brother that volunteers in a food bank on Saturdays and we know there are a lot of people that rely on foodbanks in our community. We think that our app could help people.

How does your product solve the problem?

People that receive food parcels might get lots of random items that they don’t know how to use to make healthy meals. This means that food might sit in people’s cupboards because they don’t know what to do with it. Our app would help people by giving them interesting and healthy meal ideas based on the food bank items that they have scanned into their digital larder. When users cook a recipe the items they use will be removed from their larder so the food bank will know what items to send next time and what not to send so there will be less waste.

How does it work?

Users or families will make a user profile in the app noting down any food allergies and other dietary requirements. The user’s nearest food bank can see this profile and will send items that fit the profile. When users receive their food parcel they can use the camera on their phone to scan the items in. The app can then make recipe recommendations to the user and if they accept the suggestion the food they use will be removed from their digital larder. The food bank can see what the user has used and will only send items that are needed so there isn’t any waste.

Meet the team

Why vote for Hungry Elephants?

More and more people rely on foodbanks. We think our idea is unique and that it could help lots of people young and old.

The Ethical Innovators category is sponsored by Sage

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