The UK-based start up, EatBy App, has been named as one of the 24 finalists in the second annual Food+City Challenge Prize. The finalists have been chosen from 115 of the best entrepreneur submissions from around the world. The Texas based food start up competition awards up to $50,000 to finalists working on a wide range of projects that aim to making a positive change to the way we harvest our planet.
“We are thrilled to be taking part in the finals in Austin” said co-founder, Steffan Lewis, “being chosen as a finalist from so many worthy projects means a great deal to us.”
Available on Apple and Android devices, the EatBy App is a free mobile application that helps its users manage the food in their kitchen. Every feature of the app is designed to reduce food waste. It includes a shopping list that integrates with an “Eat By” list showing what’s in your fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards. It also reminds the user to eat food while it is still fresh. The EatBy App was developed by husband and wife team, Steffan and Barbara Lewis, initially to fulfill a personal need after they realized how much food they were forgetting and had to throw away because it had gone bad.
“We felt so guilty every time we threw food out,” said Barbara Lewis. “not just because it was costing us money but also the cost to the environment. We soon discovered that we were not alone.”
Steffan and Barbara Lewis at EatBy launch 112kb
Steffan and Barbara Lewis are committed to the EatBy mission. “After we realized how important this is, we decided to dedicate everything to our project and work on it full time,” said Steffan.
The need to reduce food waste has been highlighted in the press over the last year and is now being campaigned by celebrities in the UK.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s two part documentary, “War on Waste” has ignited a widespread interest in the UK since he has exposed some truths behind the amount of food wasted in the UK and around the world. The organization behind “Love Food, Hate Waste,” WRAP, has published figures reflecting the amount of food wasted and suggest that the average household with children wastes around £700 every year.
But it’s not just about saving money – the food waste has a terrible impact on the environment with almost one third of all the world’s food being wasted, amounting to 1.3 billions of tons of CO2 and Methane emissions contributing 10% of greenhouse gasses.
The idea behind the Food+City Challenge Prize is to identify and encourage startup businesses, products and/or processes that spark new solutions for problems within the global food system.
“This is a great lineup, and we’re excited to see this year’s participation expand well beyond the United States to include the United Kingdom, Israel, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Colombia,” said Dr. Robyn Metcalfe, director of Food+City. “A wide range of startups include urban vertical farming, commercial kitchen sharing, and curbside composting. We also saw an increase in food delivery services and waste reduction business models.
Information about EatBy App can be found at https://www.eatyapp.com. EatBy App’s founders, Steffan and Barbara, will travel to Austin, Texas, next February to compete against the international group of finalists. A full list of the finalists are as follows.
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47farms |
Princeton, New Jersey |
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Agruppa |
Bogota, Colombia |
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Bento+Picnic |
Austin, Texas |
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Bright Agrotech |
Laramie, Wyoming |
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Crickers |
Austin, Texas |
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Eat at Home |
Austin, Texas |
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EatBy |
Eyam, England |
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Garbage to Garden |
Portland, Maine |
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Go Fresh! |
College Station, Texas |
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Hurukuro Consultancy |
Harare, Zimbabwe |
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J.W. Hunt Organics |
Babson Park, Massachusetts |
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Lunch Bene |
Cambridge, England |
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MoFlo Aeroponics |
LaGrange, Georgia |
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OAL Group |
Peterborough, England |
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Piggy Bank |
Atlanta, Georgia |
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Real Food Solutions LLC |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
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Regrub |
Arlington, Texas |
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Robobutcher |
Healdsburg, California |
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St. Louis Metromarket |
St. Louis, Missouri |
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Steak Tzar Tzar |
Tnuvot, Israel |
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Tastography |
Austin, Texas |
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The Food Corridor |
Fort Collins, Colorado |
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Tree Adoption Uganda |
Kampala, Uganda |
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True Made Foods |
Delmar, New York |
About EatBy App
EatBy App is a free mobile application that has been developed in the UK by Steffan and Barbara Lewis. It is currently available on the App Store and Google play in most countries around the world.
EatBy App can found at www.eatbyapp.com and be followed on Twitter and Facebook.
About Food+City
Food+City grew out of The Food Lab at The University of Texas at Austin and is directed by Dr. Robyn Metcalfe. Based in Austin, Texas, Food+City is a platform for bold exploration of the global food system; it provokes fresh perspectives on the realities of how we feed cities, inspiring and fostering action. The Food+City stories, told in many forms, will raise awareness of the opportunities for improvement in our food systems and uncover the insights that will shape how we make our world sustainable. For more information on Food+City, please visit www.foodandcity.org. Follow and like on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Update:
We were sad to announce that due to Steffan facing unforeseen and serious health problems that we were unable to attend this year’s Food+City event. However, Steffan should have fully recovered for the event in 2017 which EatBy have been asked to attend.
