Google launches new website and resource bundle for food insecure Americans – TechCrunch


Google is launching a new suite of resources for people struggling with food insecurity in the United States today. The project includes the launch of a new website, “Find food supportWhich connects people to food aid resources, including hotlines, SNAP information, and a Google Maps location tool that directs people to their local food banks, pantries, and pickup locations. school meal programs, among others.

In one ad, Google explains how the Covid-19 pandemic fueled a worsening food crisis in the United States, which has led some 45 million people – or 1 in 7 Americans – to experience food insecurity at some point in 2020 That figure was up 30% from 2019, the company noted. And of those 45 million people, 15 million were children.

As the impacts of the pandemic begin to ease as businesses reopen and in-person activities resume, many children will still be hungry during the summer months when school lunch programs are no longer available.

To help address this and other food insecure need, Google’s new website available at g.co/findfoodsupport offers a combination of food aid resources, YouTube videos on the problem of food insecurity in the United States, and a Google Maps locator tool that will direct people to their nearby food bank or other places of interest. ‘food aid.

Google claims to have worked with organizations such as No Kid Hungry, FoodFinder and the US Department of Agriculture to capture 90,000 places offering free food assistance in all 50 US states. Using the online tool, website visitors can enter their location to see collection sites for school lunch programs, food banks and pantries in their area.

Image credits: Google

The tool will display the address, phone number, and other location details, such as opening days or opening hours.

While you can find this information directly in Google Maps, it can be more difficult if you don’t know the right keywords to use. For example, a search for “food support” returned a combination of charities, food banks, and public services alongside businesses with matching keywords, such as “Food Lion” and “Lowe’s Foods”. A search for “food assistance” was more complete, but also returned unrelated results, such as the “US Food & Drug Administration”. The online tool‘s search results will be more precise and accurate.

The new website also highlights other food support information, including information on SNAP benefits; support for specific groups, such as the elderly, children and families; state-by-state benefit guidelines; and food assistance lines. For those who don’t face food support issues, it offers information on how to give money, time or food to those in need.

The site also features a handful of YouTube videos posted by organizations across the country working to address food insecurity issues in their own communities. The videos aim to de-stigmatize food insecurity by showing how all types of people use food aid, including military families, children and the elderly. According to Google, 1 in 9 active-duty military families are food insecure, as are 1 in 6 children, 1 in 3 students and over 5 million seniors, for example.

The new site is the result of a Google “Food for Good” effort, led by Emily Ma. Food for Good originally started as an early stage moonshot project (from Alphabet’s X, formerly Google[x]) known as the Delta Project, which focused on creating a smarter food system. The team wanted to find ways to keep food waste out of landfills by better channeling food to those who need it most. In December 2020, Ma ad The Delta project would move to Google to step up its work. The core team then joined Google as “Food for Good,” while the food traceability team stayed at X to work on broader issues.

Google says it will continue to add more food support locations to the food tracker in the future, beyond the 90,000 it offers today.