US-based researchers have developed a new app that they claim will tackle supply chain and food insecurity issues.
A group of genomics researchers and visual analytics researchers from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) have developed a new app that they claim can help people facing food insecurity.
The app, called HarvestHub, can be used on mobile devices and the researchers say it will “help repair supply chains damaged by COVID-19, increase farmers’ production, and get food to families in need.”
The app has already been recognized for its “outstanding efforts” at the Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Awards ceremony at the 2023 National Agricultural Marketing Summit in Arlington, Virginia, and was welcomed by a collaboration of state and local MarketMakers across the country that contributes to the advancement of local and regional food systems and helps farmers access new market opportunities.
NCSA worked with Google and MarketMaker to help develop HarvestHub as a way to make it easier for farmers to donate or sell surplus produce to local food assistance programs. The app will serve as a tool to support the Illinois Farm Bureau-led Farm to Food Bank pilot program, and ultimately all MarketMaker affiliate partners.
Commenting on the development of the HarvestHub app, NCSA Genomics Lead Christina Fliege said, “Our team designed HarvestHub to act as a tool to help in complex food security situations. By directly connecting consumers and producers, we allow them to negotiate directly and streamline this process.”
The researchers argue that Harvest Hub would allow food producers to sell defective or surplus produce at prices they set, and it would also allow food assistance programs, from large food banks to soup kitchens and food pantries, to be coordinated.
To improve the app’s functionality, the NCSA team met with farmers and food bank representatives to discuss the app’s initial parameters and ensure it would be useful to all involved.
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“We take a bottom-up approach, working closely with users – in this case, community members – to understand their daily lives, the pain points they face, and the needs that are not addressed by the current system. We continue to collaborate with community members throughout the design and development process, collecting and integrating their feedback into our digital products,” said Jessica So, NCSA research scientist.
“While this award is certainly a valuable recognition of the team’s efforts, Vliege is primarily focused on the impact Harvest Hub can have in the local community and beyond.”
“It was really exciting to receive the Innovation Award and to get to know the other finalists and their projects,” said Freege. “There’s a lot of really great work being done in this space right now. We’re all incredibly grateful that our work has been recognized and we’re really excited to see its potential impact realised – that’s a pun intended,” Soh concluded.
