LOOF APP
What inspired you to create your project and how did you motivate yourself to keep going when things were difficult?
The whole project was initiated by one of the RSA Student Design Awards projects proposing to ‘Design a product, system or a service which uses sustainable food and farming to help improve people’s health or wellbeing’. I think this choice was a pure reaction to my background, interests and my involvement in the GoGreen group. At first, I wanted to create an urban community garden, however, after doing some research I changed the direction and ended up creating an app that brings all the information about local and organic produce into one simple platform, accessible anywhere and at any time. There was no other mobile app that did this beforehand and saw it as an opportunity. Having no previous experience in user-interface and user-experience design it was a challenge at the beginning. I did a lot of research on how to develop an app and everything that surrounds it, such as creating wireframes, making graphics, thinking of the animations, learning about colour psychology, etc. Luckily, one of my friends is a graphic designer who, in times of my prolonged uncertainty, provided me with immediate feedback. This was a great help that definitely helped me to continue developing and finalising the app.
Why do you think it’s important to encourage people to eat more locally?
As a person who was involved in a small-scale family business, I can confirm that there are numerous reasons why buying locally is beneficial for the community and the producer:
- The first and the most obvious reason is cutting down the carbon footprint. Buying local food reduces the travel distance, thus reducing the emissions.
- Secondly, buying local supports the local economy and the people living in the area. Instead of fuelling corporations, buying from local sources ensures the money goes to the people who produce or distribute the food. Having more money in the community creates space for job opportunities. Also, the whole community benefits from mutual support allowing people to network and create connections within the local area.
- Thirdly, the quality and the background is way more transparent as the buyer can visit the producer, immediately learning about the production/farming practices. Furthermore, the quality is often better as the produce is made or picked within the last 24 hours. This is an undeniable factor that improves the taste and nutritious values of the food.
- Lastly, buying more local means eating seasonal, which is beneficial for the environment and for the body too.
Overall, I would say that buying local food has a lot of positive impacts not only on the communal life but also on the individual’s health and well-being. I am aware that there are concerns about the amount that can be supplied like this, therefore, in my opinion, it is necessary to recognise that it is not about being extremist and buying local food only (which is ideal of course), but it is about practising this as much as possible.
Speaking to Kristian gave me hope that there are students making a significant impact within their university environment as well as in their projects. As previously mentioned in my blog post about my personal food waste project, I believe that students are the driving force to change and that we ourselves need to take responsibility to create action. Now more so especially since COVID has impacted us all, our views of how we buy food and how we eat in restaurants should change. We have also spoken of other zero waste restaurants that are at the forefront of this change such as Silo Restaurant in london. And now with the ‘grand’ opening of non-essential shops in the UK, I have begun to question, what is it in restaurants do we crave, and what must change for the greater of the planet and the virus. Do you have any comments or know of any groundbreaking restaurants in your area? Let us know by commenting below or get in touch with us via our contact page!
Honest Foods 