Urban Food Nexus: A Smart Community-Driven Platform for Food Redistribution and Crisis Management

Abstract

Urban areas across the world face a paradoxical challenge of food scarcity and food wastage
occurring simultaneously. While some communities struggle with food shortages, others
generate surplus food that often goes unused and is eventually discarded. This imbalance
highlights the need for an efficient system that can bridge the gap between excess and
demand. The proposed system, Urban Food Nexus, is a web-based platform designed to
address this issue through real-time monitoring, community participation, and intelligent
resource allocation.
The system leverages a centralized dashboard that aggregates data from multiple food hubs
such as government warehouses, non-profit organizations, and community gardens. These
hubs maintain information regarding their storage capacity, current stock levels, and
location. The application continuously calculates overall stock utilization and provides
insights into available resources. In parallel, users can report food-related issues in their
locality through a feature called “Community Signals,” which classifies reports into two
main categories: shortfall (lack of food) and excess (surplus food availability).
A key feature of the system is its ability to prioritize reported issues based on urgency
levels. This enables administrators or authorized users to respond efficiently to critical
situations. When a shortfall is reported, the system allows the allocation of resources from
nearby hubs with sufficient stock. Similarly, surplus food can be redirected to areas
experiencing shortages, thereby minimizing waste and maximizing utilization.