Addressing Food Insecurity
Addressing Food Insecurity
As a member of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Students Association (SENSA), I participated in a “Social E Crash Course” this Fall, where I worked with a team of five to research a “wicked” problem in society and create a business model for a possible solution. We were given merely six weeks to come up with an innovative solution to world hunger without a clear roadmap of how to get there.
Needfinding.
To start off, my team decided to cut down our focus to a specific issue that we could address, which was food insecurity in agricultural communities. Although we were not given any direct instructions, we sought out information by conducting user interviews. I reached out to local leaders in my area who are involved with food distribution and spoke with the superintendent of the high school district. The need-finding stage showed us the real issue was that many low-income families often can’t afford to put food on the table, which leads them to rely heavily on the school lunch program.
Solution
As a result of our research and a plethora of brainstorming sessions, we decided to create a digital application that matches families in need with local restaurants and agriculture companies who have a surplus of food. While we are still in the process of acquiring partnerships, this experience taught me the importance of being proactive when delving into an unknown topic and inspired me to continue seeking out ways to make a positive change through technology.