Plated Pear App and Food Waste Reduction

May 2014

Student Investigator: Melissa Marie Taylor Advisor: Kim Beckman

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM SOLID WASTE RESEARCH PROGRAM Student Project Report

In the U.S. it is estimated that 40 percent of all edible food, from the farm to the grocery

store to the home, is not eaten (Gunders, 2012). 25 jpercent of food and beverages bought by the

average American family is thrown away (Gunders, 2012). Not only is this number startling for

fiscal reasons, the environmental impact of this enormous amount of food waste is astonishing: On

average an American throws away 20 pounds of food each month (Gunders, 2012). Uneaten food

rots in landfills as the "single largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste"; 25 percent of U.S.

methane emissions come from landfills, food waste being the main contributor to these emissions

(Gunders, 2012). Just a 15 percent food loss reduction annually would be enough food

to feed 25 million Americans (Gunders, 2012). By increasing awareness of the consumer, in

multiple facets, it stands to reason that their contribution to food waste can be reduced. The

question then becomes what types of awareness will enable consumers to reduce their food waste?

By evaluating the reasons food waste occurs in the American home, solutions to these

problems can be found. An average American consumer throws away ten times the amount the

average Southeast Asian does (Gunders, 2012). Food waste occurs in American households for a

number of reasons: lack of awareness, confusion over date labels, spoilage, impulse and bulk

purchases, poor planning, and over-preparation of foods (Gunders, 2012). In an issue paper

published by the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) in August 2012, author Dana

Gunders asserts "consumers can waste less food by shopping wisely, knowing when food goes bad,

buying produce that is perfectly edible even if it's less cosmetically attractive, cooking only the

amount of food they need, and eating their leftovers" (Gunders, 2012). In order for consumers to

become aware and stay aware of their food waste habits a reminder would need to be

set in place, a mobile app on a smart phone provides a viable solution.

The app Plated Pear has been developed as one solution that can contribute to the

reduction of the food waste problem in the United States. Focusing on the consumer end of the

food system, Plated Pear is not a project of original research, but is however a compilation of a

great deal of food research done by others set in a form even a child can use. By compiling

information on food in one location, users do not have to research everything themselves. The

belief is the simpler and more accessible information is, the more likely people are to utilize it.

This research project aims to create an app that the encourages smart use of food in the consumer's

household, reducing food waste and its effects on budget, energy, and methane emissions by

bringing attentions to consumer's food. This is achieved through alerts on expiration dates,

allowing input of groceries, & providing tips on food storage. This app will help reduce food waste

& improve our environment by lowering emissions from waste & can leave your pocket an

average of $1,200 fuller annually. Reduction in food waste is critical for the protection of the

environment. This research and mobile app project was conducted by two students, Anthony

Jesmok and myself, Melissa Taylor, along with the guidance of Kim Beckman.

Plated Pear has been developed for consumers of most ages who utilize smart phones,

from preteen to senior citizens, but has an emphasis on the member of a household who does the

grocery shopping and/or the cooking. This semi-food conscious demographic mainly focuses on

people who try to cook at home as much as possible, instead of going out to eat. In addition to

this, the demographic buys healthy foods, fruits, vegetables and other perishable items. The app

targets a range of people, from bachelors with little time to get creative with cooking to the stay at

home parent trying to keep a strict budget to the retired couple getting into eating right. Key

features of the app are designed to help these demographics utilize and store their food as best as

possible.

Stage one was completed before this research grant was awarded, this step included

conceptualization of Plated Pear. The second step of execution included the wire framing, how the

user visually and physically interacts with the apps layout. The home screen shows the viewer the

different functions the app provides. These include the "Fridge" page, "Recipes", "Add an Item",

"Add a Fridge", "Grocery List", "Alerts", "Food Tips", and "Settings". The "Fridge" page tells the

user what the fresh produce they currently have in their home. It is broken down into three different

organizational options for the user to find what they are looking for; these options are categorized

by food type, popular items, and search. By being able to catalog what is in their fridge, the user

has a greater awareness and potential for consuming these food items. To help the Plated Pear

app user utilize their produce, there is a "Recipes" page. Some days people are tired or do not

feel like thinking about what to make for dinner -- the recipes page is a perfect solution. The

recipe portion of the app connects to the site called recipepuppy.com to utilize the contents of

the users fridge to find recipes they can use. Users are able to save their favorite recipes in their

own recipe folders. A future addition to the app would be the ability for users to add their own

recipes, and share with others. These recipes could then be rated by other users. "Add an Item" is

a very simplistic way to add an item to the users fridge. Like the fridge portion of the app, "Add

an Item" is organized into the same three different options: food type, popular items, and

alphabetical search. This optimizes the rate at which someone can enter their groceries. Similarly

designed, the "Grocery List" portion of the app also has three ways of searching for an item. The

grocery list allows people to know about an item they are adding to their list, how they should

store it, and how long it will last before they buy said item again. This can be helpful in

determining whether ones time table for cooking certain meals will work with each items' shelf

life. In addition to this, having a grocery list when going into a store helps the user stay focused on

need when buying and reduce the expenses of buying what they do not need and will not use. "Add

a Household" allows users who might go between houses in the summer or have a significant other

to still keep track of their fridges. By switching which house the consumer is utilizing a perfect

record of food can still be tracked separately. "Alerts" are one of the more important portions of the

app. By being able to set the frequency of alarms and see what is going to go bad first, users can

plan meals to better use all of their groceries. "Food Tips" are an important part of the app. They

give recommendations to the user on how they can store produce better, what to do and look for

while grocery shopping, and other general knowledge about what reducing their food waste can do

for them and the environment. Lastly, is the "Settings" portion of the app. This portion allows users

to decide what tone their notification comes in and various other settings. This portion of Plated

Pear also includes a sources page and a page of recognition crediting Anthony Jesmok for coding

and myself for research and design, as well as a thank you and crediting to the University of

Wisconsin System Solid Waste Research Program. In later stages of the app Plated Pear, there will

also be a section called "Food with Friends". This portion of the app will allow users to share their

fridges with other users (friends and neighbors) so that they can create a community of like-

minded people trying to reduce food waste and eat healthy.

Due to the nature of coding and releasing coded material before it is completely tested, the

app will not be added to the iTunes store or other app stores yet. User testing will occur first. User

testing will include volunteers testing the app. Participants will be asked several questions about

the performance of the app, the design layout, functionality, and what kind of impact it did have or

how they managed their food, did it reveal new information to the user on their food consumption

habits, and how could the improve/reduce their food wast. Utilizing this research, additional

redesigns and changes will be made, and any other data that was found lacking by the users will

be added.

Researching the causes of food waste has multiple areas of concentration. What people do

with the produce and what the produce does naturally. What people do correlates to foods

longevity; how people store food, what produce they store by other produce, how it is handled and

other factors. But fruits and vegetables have their own behaviors, theirs are chemical reactions to

their environment and their surroundings. These reactions must be considered first if a consumer

is to understand how they can reduce their own food waste. Produce reacts to environmental

temperatures, to relative humidity, and to gases -- which they also produce themselves. Knowing

what environment a specific type of produce needs will increase its shelf life and will increases

likelihood of it being eaten. Asking why and how is very interconnected: food goes bad because it

over ripens, is damaged, or is stored incorrectly.

A great deal of food waste is produced by storing fruits and vegetables incorrectly. At a very

basic level, food will have a longer shelf life itf cold temperatures are used to slow the food's

respiration, or 'breathing' process, according to Dr. Marita Cantwell (Cantwell, 2002). Besides

needing to know what vegetables and fruits should be refrigerated or left out on the counter,

consumers need to know what produce will speed up the process of ripening and decay. In the

"Food Information Chart" attached there is an extensive list of culprits of decay.

Certain produce releases a gas that speeds the ripening process of some fruits and

vegetables. These fruits and vegetables release a gas called ethylene. This gas essentially increases

the rate in which surrounding produce will ripen and decay. With the formula H2C=CH2, ethylene

is a hydrocarbon. There are two considerations to have with ethylene in relation to fresh produce:

the rate of production of ethylene and sensitivity to ethylene ("detrimental effects include

yellowing, softening, increased decay, abscission or loss of leaves, browning") (Cantwell, 2002).

Most fruits produce at least a minimal amount of ethylene, like blackberries, which is generally not

of much concern. Concern for other produce comes in when there are medium or high amount of

ethylene production and/or sensitivity in a specific type of produce. Avocados, for example, do not

produce any ethylene while growing; they must be picked to begin the process of releasing ethylene

(Cantwell, 2002). Avocados will ripen much quicker if exposed to other ethylene excreting

produce. In many fruits, damage will accelerate not only the fruits own ripening, it will also speed

up the decomposition of produce around it. Bananas, when scuffed or marked, will increase water

loss in that area and will turn brown; bruising of a banana, for dropping, will not mark the skin but

will damage the flesh inside (Cantwell, 2002). Based on research done by Dr. Marita Cantwell,

produce that releases ethylene include apples, apricots, cantaloupe, figs, honeydew melon, avocados,

banana, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, and tomatoes. For those who want to have their produce

last longer, knowing what produce releases ethylene and what produce is sensitive to ethylene is

critical.

Another consideration for maintaining fresh produce freshness is the amount of moisture

and the amount of carbon dioxide (C02) and dioxide (02) in their environment. The amount of

C02 and 02 in an environment is difficult to control in the home so the concentration will be on

moisture content (Cantwell, 2002). Moisture content is also a difficult thing to regulate, though

most fridges have crispers to try to help regulation. Data of the optimal relative humidity content

for each individual type of produce has been included in the chart. The inclusion of this data in the

app will not however take place because humidity is not particularly easy to do and I believe users

might take the percentages to mean a great amount of water should be put in to their crispers. It is

perhaps pertinent that I mention much of the research Dr. Marita Cantwell was for use in the

commercial setting. This poses another reason why data collected about C02, 02, and relative

humidity will not be included in the app Plated Pear.

Through comprehensive demographic research as well as extensive food research, the app

Plated Pear has been thoroughly designed to best equip its users with the necessary information

and solutions to reduce their food waste within their homes. Reducing the amount of food

consumers waste is important not only to their pocket books, but also for environmental impact

reasons. Reducing food loss in the United States by just 15 percent is enough food to feed 25

million people (Gunders, 2012). When the average U.S. household throws away 25 percent of

their food, a solution must be found – this is what Plated Pear aims to achieve (Gunders, 2012).

By arming users with facts on how long an item will last, how it should be stored, and what it

can be stored with they are more likely to reduce their food waste. Being educated about ethylene

and knowing its effects on other produce have already helped me reduce my own food waste.

Attached is a comprehensive chart outlining details to be included on each type of produce. The

"Food Information Chart" outlines what type of produce it is, how long it last, whether it should

or should not be stored in a fridge, whether or not the item produces ethylene and if said item is

sensitive to ethylene, the relative humidity an item should be stored at, its seasonality if it is a

local item, and tips on how to store the item better.

Bibliography

Cantwell, M. and T. Suslow. 2002. Lettuce , Crisphead: Recommendations for Maintaining Postharvest Quality. http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/pfvegetable/ LettuceCrisphead/

Chen, Emily. "Your Guide to Storing Every Type of Produce." Woman's Day. "Farm Fresh Atlas of Southeastern Wisconsin." Season Availability of Wisconsin Produce.

Fink, Leslie. "Food Q&A: Keeping Veggies Fresh." Food Q&A: Keeping Veggies Fresh.

Gunders, Dana. "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Landfill." Issue Paper. August, 2012. NRDC. <www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted- food-IP.pdf> "Seasonality Chart." City of Chicago.

"Spoiled Rotten - How to Store Fruits and Vegetables." Vegetarian Times.