Food deserts are communities where healthy food options are difficult to obtain due to costs, lack of transportation, or limited number of grocery stores. These communities are usually made up of people of color with low-incomes.
Mobile markets are one of the current mechanisms addressing food insecurity. They buy produce from local farms and then deliver it to communities in need. However, there are many obstacles that prevent them from being sustainable.
The mission of OAZA is to optimize mobile markets in order to facilitate a sustainable solution to food insecurity. OAZA uses machine learning to identify and predict food deserts and food insecure communities. That information is put into an inclusive application that mobile markets and other volunteers can use to optimize their efforts. They will have access to information about the communities such as average income, demographic, and regulations. They will also get information about nearby small farms such as owner, costs, and produce type. Mobile markets can use that information to aggregate produce from small farmers and set up in a food insecure community.
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