When There Really Should Be an App for That

Between the App Store and Google Play Store, there are 5.8 million apps online, just waiting to be downloaded onto your phone.
Would civilization still be standing if there were only 1 million apps instead of 6 million? Probably.
After the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the phrase “there’s an app for that” became less of a statement filled with amazement and novelty and more of one filled with exhaustion and lowered expectations. “There’s an app for that” is like the digital-age version of “here we go again.”
An app, just like any other product, is supposed to be a solution to a problem. If there are 5.8 million apps available, are there 5.8 million problems that can only be solved by those apps?
My guess is no.
But what about FoodFinder?
Is a smartphone app (and matching website) really the best way to fight hunger?
It’s a question I’ve been asked countless times, and it’s one that deserves to be asked.
In my initial efforts to see how I could help hungry kids in my community, I spoke with teachers, counselors, operators at food pantries, and the homeless coordinator for my school system.
Back then, I had an idea that would eventually become FoodFinder. But it hinged on technology. Whether it was for kids on free/reduced lunch or the people who already visit food pantries, I simply asked one thing.
“How many have smartphones?”
The response I heard over and over?
“Most of them, actually.”
Quantified data backs up the common knowledge of these counselors and food pantry operators. Even among children from low-income backgrounds (<$30k/year household income), the rates of phone access is much higher than you’d expect.
In a study conducted by Pew Research, two-thirds of people from low-income backgrounds had smartphones.
How is that possible?

Well, think for a moment about how important your smartphone is to you. Then, triple it for someone who’s food insecure.
For kids, that phone is their only way to get in touch with their parents when they’re not in the same building. That phone is their computer. It’s also a flashlight, calculator, camera, and able to do whatever those 5.8 million apps do.
This technology is no longer a privilege. It’s a necessity.
Great smartphones like the Samsung I use for FoodFinder demos come as cheap as 15 dollars. But that’s not what most people think of when the word “smartphone” is thrown around.
It only seems impossible that someone could be food insecure while having a smartphone, but our world is changing quickly. And our world demands being connected to the internet.
The phones get cheaper and cheaper. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, remain out of families’ budgets.
FoodFinder approaches hunger differently, and we’re not an app for the sake of having an app. We use technology to offer information because 1) people need it, 2) they have the devices to look for it, and 3) existing platforms are outdated and difficult to navigate.
Sadly, technology has generally gone drastically under-utilized in impact work. We aim to change that, all so that hungry families can locate and receive help they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.
That’s why we do what we do, and why, in this instance, there really should be an app for that.
Jack