A significant issue regarding feeding people involves the distribution of food at the local level. There is a health risk that comes with shipping food internationally due to differences in regulation of sanitation, and as such we aim to tap into local produce. Also, the restaurant industry, a major source of demand for agriculture, is impacted by the coronavirus not only through closing outright but also, for those restaurants that do remain opening, through selling less food. When people pay for food they also pay for the experience at a restaurant and the brand name, which means smaller restaurants will be especially impacted.
As a solution we designed a platform to organize a network of ghost kitchens where restaurants can cook food at a lower cost than required for maintaining a brick-and-mortar location, and pair them up with local agriculture to meet both the needs of the restaurant and the supply of the farmers.
NASA satellites have detected a significant decrease in atmospheric NO2 due to the shutdown of industry, especially in New York and New Jersey, in Michigan, and in Southern California, where NO2 levels dropped from as high as 1500 billion molecules per square millimeter to less than 500 billion molecules per square meter, which amounts to a 67% decrease in operations in these areas. Based on the prevalent impacted industries in these states (i.e. retail, manufacturing, entertainment, healthcare; shipping; automobiles, health care; entertainment, tourism) we can target locations that are more impacted by shutdowns to hire people to deliver produce, effectively addressing unemployment numbers and allowing more people to have enough money to buy food.
We can have them deliver the produce to the kitchens, and to maintain environmental sustainability we will deliver the produce using bicycles or trucks that are fueled on used kitchen grease.
Next Steps:
We can design a system to give customers some part of the restaurant experience; for example meal kits can come with live cooking sessions with the chef, or instructions on setting the table to create the dining experience at home.
We would also expand our technology from simply owning an Android App to also having an Apple app and website domain.
Ghost kitchen pipeline distribution and the lack luster appeal of restaurants and how to tie into the local chef, local food suppliers for delivery into local markets via a food truck or an established distribution hub such as Grubhub or e-commerce or grab to go in grocery stores.
Video: https://youtu.be/dUje23XSKls
App Prototype (.apk download for androids): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bqxV8oCbsmQ2ldIeojxhvh1XYSWM6_VG/view?usp=sharing
Effects of COVID-19 on the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program was an area that was a focus do to high unemployment.
NO2 maps can be used to track industry levels; the greater the change, the more people are moving online, and depending on the bigger industries in the area, the more likely layoffs will occur; these data can be used to identify potential driver employees and endangered restaurants, and target the affected areas. We made our write-up specifically about the USA, but these concepts apply elsewhere in the world, including Europe and China.
Worldwide:
NASA Worldview on Nitric Oxide
NASA Earth Observations on Nitric Oxide
https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=AURA_NO2_M (heat map)
China:
Airborne Nitrogen Dioxide Plummets over China
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china
California:
New-generation satellite observations monitor air pollution during COVID-19 lockdown measures in California
New England/Northeast:
NASA Satellite Data Show 30 Percent Drop In Air Pollution Over Northeast U.S.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/drop-in-air-pollution-over-northeast