FoodShare: A Surplus Food Donation Platform

Abstract

The worldwide problem of food waste generates massive amounts of discarded surplus food while numerous people struggle to access sufficient nutrition. The problem reaches its peak intensity in cities. The FoodShare project develops a complete web application that enables real-time food donation connections between surplus food providers and charitable organizations that distribute food to those in need. The platform is structured with React (Vite) for frontend development and Firebase for backend operations to build its modern serverless infrastructure and for easy maintaining. The system has a secure access control system that allows donors, NGOs, and admins to use the platform through their given roles by the system and admin. The platform enables users to authenticate through email or Google while providing a donation submission form that uses Google Maps APIs to add precise location information. The admin dashboard is the place for approving or rejecting donations after reviewing and moderation. The system operates through a protected donation process that starts with submission and ends with claiming and it is structured by Firestore rule structure. The project presents an affordable method to solve this essential social issue by using technological solutions to optimize food rescue operations