Exploratory Project: Amanda Chang
Presentation
Subject: Increase the incomes of small-scale food producers
Technical Module: Databases
A. Exploratory Research
Imperfect Foods
Project Carriers
Beneficiaries
- Imperfect Foods - earns profit through this service
- U.S. based farmers - without this company, they would lose income due to the inability to sell imperfect produce to supermarkets and large grocers
- The environment - Imperfect Foods is able to lessen food waste generated by farming
- U.S. based consumers who want affordable, sustainable groceries delivered to their doorsteps weekly / biweekly
Users
- U.S. based consumers who want affordable, sustainable groceries delivered to their doorsteps weekly / biweekly
Need
- Increasing the incomes of farmers, eliminating food waste
Principle
- Imperfect Foods sources its groceries from over 200 different farms across the United States. 78% of their produce is sourced from family farms or cooperatives, 13% is wholesale, 6% come from grower representatives, and 3% comes from corporate farmers.
Main Technologies Involved
- Location services API - used to check whether or not Imperfect Foods delivers to a specific U.S. postal code
- eCommerce Payment API- used to process payment information, gather customer check out data
- Database - used to store customer information, such as food preference, household size, payment information, and delivery address
Sources
Farmstand
Project Carriers
Beneficiaries
- Farmers' market vendors
- Individuals looking to explore local farmers' markets and connect with other likeminded people through this common interest
Users
- Individuals looking to explore local farmers' markets and connect with other likeminded people through this common interest
Need
- Increasing the income of farmers by providing a shopping resorce to prospective consumers
Principle
- By gathering a list of farmers' markets, their locations, and hours of operation, Farmstand makes it easier for shoppers to explore the offerings of local vendors and other small-scale food producers
Main Technologies Involved
- Database - find farmers’ markets in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and more, add new markets and help keep the information up-to-date, sort farmers’ markets by distance or next open time, filter markets to show those accepting food and nutrition benefits such as SNAP/EBT/WIC
- Social media API - users can share their posts across Facebook and Twitter, give and receive likes and comments on posts, see what friends and other people are finding at the farmers’ markets
- Location services API - users can find farmers' markets closest to them based on their current location
Sources
GrownBy
Project Carriers
- Farm Generations Coop - “a company building fair technologies for farms”
Beneficiaries
- GrownBy - earns profit through this service
- Small-scale farmers - earn profit through partnering with GrownBy
- Individuals looking to shop directly from local vendors and small farms
Users
- U.S. based individuals looking to shop directly from local vendors and small farms
Need
- Increasing the income of small-scale food producers
Principle
- Enables small farmers to earn more money by cutting out the middleman (often a supermarket or large grocer) and allows consumers to support local farms by shopping directly
Main Technologies Involved
- Database - maintain and keep a record of GrownBy's partnered farm, their product offerings, contact information, social media profiles, etc.
- Map / Location service API - allows a user to filter partnered farms and pickup points by location respective to the user's current location
- eCommerce Payment API- facilitates online payments for shoppers, and both online and offline payments for farmers
- Database for farmer inventory management
Sources
TooGoodToGo
Project Carriers
Beneficiaries
- TooGoodToGo - earns profit through this service
- Partnered restaurants, supermarkets, food providers - without this company, they would lose income due to the inability to sell imperfect produce to supermarkets and large grocers
- The environment - Imperfect Foods is able to lessen food waste generated by farming
- U.S. based consumers who want affordable, sustainable groceries delivered to their doorsteps weekly / biweekly
Users
- Partnered restaurants, supermarkets, and food providers - list their leftovers on the app, thus providing inventory for TooGoodToGo to sell
- Individuals willing to receive "surprise" food grab bags in exchange for low prices
Need
- Increases the income of restaurants, supermarkets, and other smaller independent food providers
Principle
- TooGoodToGo allows its users to obtain items from the leftover inventories of restaurants, supermarkets, and other smaller independent food providiers at a discounted rate, lessening overall food waste and generating additional income for its partnered providers.
Main Technologies Involved
- Database - maintain and keep a record of TooGoodToGo's partners, their categories and information, locations, hours of operation, current inventories, and ratings from previous customers
- Map / Location service API - allows a user to filter partnered restaurants by location within a radius of a user input
- eCommerce Payment API - facilitates online payments through Paypal, Apple Pay, credit card
Sources
B. Deepening
GrownBy
Carriers and Actors
- Farm Generations Coop - “a company building fair technologies for farms”
- Farmers that partner with GrownBy - provide product inventory
Research Question
- How can we harness the power of technology to connect users that want to grocery shop locally and seasonally with a network of local small-scale farms, while maximizing convenience by organizing CSAs (community supported agriculture) or subscription boxes for groups, as well as delivery services and pickup points for individuals?
The Reason I Selected It
- I think that GrownBy's products (for both shoppers and farmers) aim to make the process of shopping small and local as pain-free as possible. Often, I find myself reluctant to shop at farmers' markets due to concerns of convenience - I don't want to have to travel far for my groceries. I also like to be able to check off a weekly grocery list as I shop, and plan my recipes in advance. GrownBy's app addresses all of these concerns, and is able to empower consumers to shop locally, while maintaining the ease of online shopping that we have all gotten so used to.
User Scenario
Users
- U.S. based millennials residing in both rural and urban areas, with interests in health and looking to shop directly from local farms
Persona
- Needs / desires / dreams: Anna hopes to practice more farm-to-table cooking, and create more healthy dishes for herself and her partner using local, seasonal ingredients.
- Problems and frustrations: Due to the busy nature of her job, along with the fact that she lives in a city, Anna does not always have the time to shop at farmers' markets for ingredients. Additionally, she likes to plan her recipes in advance at the start of each week, and not having a definite idea of what she'll be able to buy at the market (even if she does go) makes meal planning impossible.
- Major issue related to the subject: Anna has read a bit about participating in a CSA, and has wondered whether or not some of her coworkers at the consulting firm (who share her interest in healthy cooking and living) might be interested in sharing a box with her, as she and her partner cannot finish that much food on their own.
Key Features
- Browse through a list of local farms based off of shopper location
- Browse through a list inventory
- Order grocery items for local pickup or delivery
UX Storyboard
Technical Analysis
General Principle
- GrownBy outputs a list of farms local to a shopper's location, and shows the inventory available at each farm. Next, after adding products into their cart, the shopper is invited to select a pickup point from a list of locations, also local to their area. Finally, the payment is processed online seamlessly.
Technical Overview: Database Version
- Farms Database:
- farm id (stored once)
- farm name (stored once)
- farm address (stored once)
- farm customer rating(updated in real time)
- farm inventory id (stored once)
- farm bank account for payments(stored once)
- Shopper Database:
- shopper id (stored once)
- shopper name (stored once)
- shopper address (stored once)
- shopper payment information (updated regularly)
- Inventory Database:
- inventory id (stored once)
- product name (stored once)
- product id (stored once)
- product price(updated regularly)
- amount available(updated in real time)
- For each of the following types of action, describe at least one example occuring in the project:
- Data is created: a new farm becomes a GrownBy partner
- Data is read: a user clicks on a specific farm and browses through their inventory
- Data is updated: a user completes a purchase, and the remaining inventory count must be updated
- Data is deleted: a farm closes down and must be removed from GrownBy's database
- For each of the following types query, describe at least one example occuring in the project:
- Search: a user searches for a farm by name in the search bar
- Filter: a user inputs his / her location and the application shows nearby farms
- Sort: a shopper browses a farm's inventory for avaiable product by ascending price
Added Value Thanks to Databases
- The use of databases in this project allows the shopper to search and filter through a large list of farms (based on location) and browse their inventories. Databases are also used as a powerful inventory management tool, on the farmer end. Additionally, the customer rating data field allows the shopper to make a more informed purchase decision based on the experiences of fellow shoppers, and allows farms to build trustworthiness. However, to improve this product, I would suggest adding a specific id field to each type of product, thus enabling shoppers to instead search for specific grocery items instead of just browsing through a list of local farms in hopes of finding what they're looking for.