Reducing Food Waste: A Technology-Driven Solution to Connect Food Surplus Sources with Local Charities; Competing Responses to Food Insecurity in the United States

The technical project addresses the paradox of widespread food insecurity alongside substantial food waste through a real-time web application connecting food donors with local charitable organizations. With 41 million Americans experiencing food insecurity while stores discard 16 billion pounds of food annually, this technology-driven solution implements IoT sensors to monitor perishable inventory and automatically flag surplus items for donation. The system employs a cloud-based backend and sophisticated matching algorithm that optimizes donor-charity connections based on geographic proximity, storage capacity, and transportation logistics. The architecture ensures data security through encryption protocols and user authentication while maintaining scalability to accommodate increasing data volumes. The platform aims to reduce food waste, improve donation efficiency, and increase food access for underserved communities. Anticipated outcomes include redirecting billions of pounds of surplus food from waste streams to those in need, while potential future developments include machine learning optimization of the matching algorithm based on historical success rates, expanded platform scalability, and extended field testing to quantify long-term impact metrics. This technological intervention represents a critical step toward bridging the gap between food surplus and food insecurity using data-driven solutions that overcome logistical barriers in food redistribution.

The STS research examines the complex ecosystem of food insecurity in the United States through the lens of Actor-Network Theory, revealing how interactions between human and non-human actors shape food assistance outcomes. The analysis traces the historical evolution of food assistance from Depression-era programs to modern digital innovations, highlighting how competing interests create systemic barriers to effective solutions. The paper identifies an "iron triangle" of resistance to reform—comprising food industry lobbyists, antihunger advocates prioritizing income support over nutrition, and institutional inertia within government agencies—that maintains the status quo despite its limitations. In contrast, nonprofit organizations like Feeding America have developed innovative technological solutions and corporate partnerships that work to address immediate food access needs while revealing the tension between charity-based approaches and structural reform. The research further explores how emerging technologies serve as crucial mediators in the food assistance network, with digital platforms like OrderAhead reducing stigma and transportation barriers while data analytics optimize distribution systems. However, the digital divide threatens to create new inequities without targeted interventions. The paper concludes that sustainable solutions to food insecurity must integrate economic stability measures, realign agricultural subsidies, technological innovation, and cross-sector collaboration while challenging entrenched interests. By mapping the sociotechnical dimensions of food insecurity, this research demonstrates that effectively addressing hunger in America requires not just incremental improvements to existing systems but a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between technology, policy, and social equity.

My technical and STS projects approach the issue of food insecurity from complementary angles, creating a unified understanding of both technological solutions and sociotechnical contexts. While my technical work develops a real-time food waste reduction web application that uses IoT sensors and matching algorithms to connect food donors with charitable organizations, my STS research examines the broader network of actors and structural forces that shape food assistance outcomes in the United States.

The technical project offers a practical intervention to reduce food waste through innovative technology, addressing the immediate challenge of connecting surplus food with those in need. However, the STS analysis reveals why such innovations, while valuable, must be situated within a deeper understanding of competing interests, policy conflicts, and social dynamics that maintain food insecurity despite America's agricultural abundance. Together, these projects illustrate that effective solutions require technological ingenuity and systemic change. The web application I've designed could become an important non-human actor in the food assistance network, but its success depends on how it interacts with existing actors from government agencies and corporate interests to nonprofit organizations and food-insecure communities themselves. By combining technical development with sociotechnical analysis, I show how innovative tools can be designed not just for functional efficiency but for meaningful integration into the complex human systems they aim to improve. This dual approach demonstrates that addressing food insecurity requires both immediate technological interventions and long-term structural changes to our food systems.

School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Technical Advisor: Briana Morrison
STS Advisor: Joshua Earle, Peter Norton
Technical Team Members: James Tanner