HomeMy WebLinkAboutCityShapersTeam Sky Reachers
# 45236
Aditya Mahajan
Arahan Balasubramaniam
Ayan Rai
Dhruv Tagore
Effective Food Storage
During Transportation
to Food Banks
Problem Identification
❖In the United States, over one-third of all available food goes uneaten as
a result of loss or waste
➢In New York, 12.5 percent of the people cannot get access to nutritious
food
➢In 2018, the United States alone had about $160 billion dollars in food
waste, created by companies, restaurants, and just American people.
❖Food waste can affect the environment
➢When food is dumped in the landfill, it produces tremendous amounts of
methane and carbon dioxide.
➢Around 1.4 billion hectares of land, which is 1/3 the total of the worlds
agricultural area is used to grow food that is wasted. Since a lot of water
is used to grow food, this is a great waste of freshwater as well.
Food Waste Statistics
Food Waste Statistics
Food waste can affect the environment
Percent of each type of harvested cropland wasted.
Total cropland wasted = 30.02 million acres (95% CI:
29.29–30.76 million acres), representing 7.7%
(7.5–7.9%) of total harvested cropland.
Percent of all harvested cropland wasted by category
Problem Identification
❖There are over 2.3 million companies in the US with 50 employees and
more.
➢With just 3 - 4 events per year and an estimate of 20% of food
served wasted, this adds up to over 46 million meals wasted (simply
thrown away) per year
❖Lot of food is wasted in companies post-production (after it is cooked but
before it is eaten)
➢Companies want to donate food to food kitchens and food banks,
but the food can get spoilt before it reaches these destinations
➢Keeping food preserved at or below 41 degrees for at least 3 hours is
economically challenging for companies
Research: Problem Analysis
❖Food waste
➢Lots of tech companies and
restaurants have unserved and
unconsumed food at the end of the
day. Typically, the food would go to
waste and get thrown away
➢For example, in Denver, around
2,539 tonnes of food is rescued from
companies in a given year
Research: Problem Analysis
Large
Manufacturers
Large Food
Distributors
Food Bank local
facilities
Eg. Feeding
America
Food Pantries
Soup Kitchens
Distribution via
Churches, Schools and
Community Centers
Large Companies
spare food
Potential
Spoilage
Research: Current Solutions
❖Current methods reduce food waste in the following ways
➢Pre-production - Optimization using software and analytics from
companies like LeanPath, using smaller plates and producing the
food as needed (v/s up front)
➢Post-production (but pre-consumed) - while some companies donate
to food kitchens, the process is still very inefficient and this area is
not being currently targeted
➢Post-consumed - composting
❖We are focusing our efforts on HOW TO AVOID WASTAGE OF FOOD
POST-PRODUCTION/PRE-CONSUMPTION
Research: Current Solutions
❖Keeping a big refrigerator (at the source) just for donation
❖Mobile refrigeration of food during travel, but it is expensive
Companies working on reducing food waste
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/16-apps-helping-companies-and-consumers-prevent-food-waste
❖Feedie turns food photography into a charitable donation. The app encourages foodies to share their passion while contributing
to a good cause.
❖Flashfood - The app prevents food waste in the United States and Canada in two ways: It re-sells grocery foods approaching
their best-before date at a discount, and it saves "not good enough" retail items and ships them to customers.
❖Food Cowboy arranges efficient communication between food donors and charities and fast delivery of excess food in the
United States.
❖Food for All - eliminates last-minute restaurant food waste in Boston and New York City. It connects customers to restaurants for
meal discounts
❖Food Rescue Hero & Food Rescue US - The app connects users with nonprofits who serve those who are food insecure.
❖Goodr picks up excess food from businesses and delivers it to nonprofits. Goodr perceives hunger not as a scarcity but as a
logistics issue. Restaurants, catering and events companies end up with a lot of leftover food, but rarely have the time to make
donations, so surplus food ends up in landfills.
❖Transfernation diverts 1.8 to 2.26 metric tons of food per week from landfills to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and church
feeding programs in the New York City metro area. Volunteers, Uber drivers and Lyft drivers pick up leftover food from offices,
receptions to redistribute to those in need.
Sources of Information
❖Source:
➢https://www.localfoodbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SHFB
-SHELF-LIFE.pdf
➢https://www.usda.gov/foodlossandwaste/donating
➢https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/
mobile-food-pantry-program(Uses food pantries)
➢https://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/latest-hot-meals-line-insulat
ed-containers-are-designed-for-safe-transportation-of-pre-cooked-fo
od-40020930
➢https://www.fbem.org/programs/mobile-pantry-distributions/
➢https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/
mobile-food-pantry-program
Product Idea
Product : Cool Fusion
❖Cool Fusion is a reusable cooling box that we have developed to help
address the problem of food storage during transportation
❖Our innovative design is a multi-layered insulated collapsible box
➢Companies can keep onsite in their freezers
➢Use it to preserve the food (that would have been thrown otherwise)
before and during its transportation from the building to the food
bank
➢Box contains a proprietary cooling gel inside the lining to keep the
food cool during transport
➢Box is reusable
Team Solution: Multi-layered Insulated Collapsible
Box - Cross Sectional View
Foil Packet of
cooling gel
Cardboard
box A
Foil inside the
second box
Food stored
inside the second
box
Cardboard box B
Team Solution: Multi-layered Insulated Collapsible
Box
Outer Box
Foil Gel pads
Inner Box
Food
Inner Box
Gel pads
Foil
Outer Box
Solution Development: Experimentation
Procedure I : Designing the box
1.Start with a collapsible cardboard box A
2.Cut and measure the foil to fit the interior of the box
3.Put a layer of glue to stick the foil to the interior of the box
4.Repeat steps 2-3 for all of the four interior sides of the box. Make sure
the box is still collapsible after attaching the foil
5.Attach the pre-made and frozen gel pouches to the four interior sides of
the box
6.Place another and smaller cardbox box B inside the foiled cardboard box
A
7.Repeat steps 2-3 for all of the four interior sides of the box B. Make sure
the box is still collapsible after attaching the foil
Solution Development: Preparing the cooling gel
pouches
❖Materials for cooling gel tested: Potassium chloride, sodium chloride,
and propylene glycol
❖Constants: Potassium Chloride (1 tbsp), Sodium Chloride (5 tbsp)
❖Control: Propylene glycol (40ml in 60ml water (40%))
❖Experiment:
➢Propylene glycol (50ml in 50ml water (50%), 60ml in 40ml water (60%); and 70ml in
30ml water (70%)
❖In 4 ziploc bags..
➢Add the sodium chloride, potassium chloride to the right amounts of water and
propylene glycol
❖Repeat the steps to make 4 pouches each for 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70%
propylene glycol solutions
❖Freeze all the cooling gel pouches for 24 hours
Solution Development: Testing for cooling
1.Take the cooling gel pouches out of the freezer
2.Tape four pouches for 40% PG concentration to the inside walls of the
cardboard box A (one for each side of the box)
3.Repeat step 2 for each of the four 50%, 60%, and 70% PG pouches
separately assigning one box/four pouches of certain concentration
4.Put a thermometer inside each of the four boxes and close each box
5.Check the temperature of each box every 15 minutes
Experimental Results
Conclusion
●Our insulated collapsible box works!!
●We were able to demonstrate that an innovative low-cost and
collapsible box insulated with our proprietary cooling gel can be used to
keep the box at temperatures below 41 F for an extended period of time
●The 60% propylene glycol mixture has the ideal balance of ingredients
to maintain the temperature below 41F
●For future work,
○We plan to increase the amount of propylene glycol mixture to
extend the period of time temperature is maintained below 41 F to
more than 3 hrs
○We also plan on testing the box with real food inside
Outreach: Soliciting the opinions of experts
Video-conference call with Dr
Kasra Farsad (Material Scientist)
He said the collapsible box is a
very innovative idea!!
Outreach: Sharing with others
Saratoga City Council ❖COMPANIES
❖Cisco Cafeteria Manager
❖Paypal Cafeteria Manager - Katya
❖Dana Gunders - Advisor/Expert, Food System Efficiency
& Waste Reduction
➢https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-gunders/
❖Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley - Bobby -
Manager
➢750 Curtner Avenue, San Jose, 408-266-8866
Video-conference call with Dr
Kasra Farsad (Material Scientist)
He said the collapsible box
is a very innovative idea!!
Outreach
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Food-Banks
❖Cisco Cafeteria Manager
❖Paypal Cafeteria Manager - Katya
❖Dana Gunders - Advisor/Expert, Food System Efficiency & Waste Reduction
➢https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-gunders/
❖Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley - Bobby - Manager
➢750 Curtner Avenue, San Jose, 408-266-8866
Our Survey and Outreach
Donors Donate uneaten food?
Tech Companies
Google Yes
Facebook No
Restaurants
Red Robin Gourmet No
BJ's Brewery Yes - to food banks
PF Chang No
Olive Garden Yes - second Harvest Food Bank
Cheesecake Factory Yes - copia
Supermarkets
Safeway Yes
Wholefoods Yes
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/07/where-does-all-the-uneaten-free-tech-food-go/
We contacted many Restaurants, Big Tech Companies Cafeterias, Supermarkets to know if
they are using any process to donate uneaten food.
Appendix
Experimental Results and Conclusion
% of P.G.Temperature of the box (every 15 minutes)
40%41º35º44º52°
50%37º38º48º55°
60%30º30º42º51°
70%35º35º48º55°
Solution Development: Experimentation
Procedure II: Preparing the cooling gel pouches
❖Materials for cooling gel tested: Potassium chloride, sodium chloride,
and propylene glycol
❖Constant or independent variable:
➢Amount of potassium chloride (1 tbsp)
➢Amount of sodium chloride (5 tbsp)
➢Amount of water (60ml, 50ml, 40ml, and 30ml))
❖Control:
➢Propylene glycol (40ml in 60ml water (40%))
❖Dependent variable:
➢Propylene glycol (50ml in 50ml water (50%), 60ml in 40ml water
(60%); and 70ml in 30ml water (70%)
Solution Development: Experimentation
Procedure II: Contd.
1.Take half quart size ziploc bags
2.Take propylene glycol in water sufficient to make 40% propylene
glycol solution (40 ml PG + 60 ml water)
3.Add 5 tablespoons of sodium chloride (table salt) in the solution
4.Add 1 tablespoon of potassium chloride
5.Mix the salt in the solution
6.Add the final solution to the ziploc bag
7.Repeat the steps to make 4 pouches each for 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70%
propylene glycol solutions
8.Freeze all the cooling gel pouches for 24 hours