Aanya Pradip has always been interested in finding ways to use technology for social good. That’s why, at 17 years old, she started her own nonprofit organization, Giving Tree Produce.
The initial idea for the organization came during Los Altos Hacks, a hackathon that Pradip participated in this past April. She and a friend developed a website that would help to reduce the amount of fruits and vegetables that go to waste each year in the community.
“The goal was to reduce food waste in the community and world in general,” said Pradip. “I’ve always noticed in my neighborhood and in backyards near my house that there are big trees full of fruit. And oftentimes families can’t eat everything, and that leads to waste.”
After the Hackathon, Pradip decided to continue developing the idea and to turn it into a nonprofit. The idea behind Giving Tree Produce is simple: to collect backyard surplus fruits and vegetables, and donate them to either local food pantries or other people who need them.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that around 30%-40% of the food supply goes to waste in the United States each year, with fruits and vegetables making up a significant share of that waste.
Pradip developed the Giving Tree Produce website and app so that whenever donors have extra produce, all they have to do is list it on the platform.
“Once they donate it, it will be displayed on a page called Marketplace. So customers can go on and claim what they like,” said Pradip. “Customers can go to the donor’s house, have one of our volunteers deliver it, or arrange to meet at a public location.”
Although all produce is completely free, people are able to make cash donations to the organization. All proceeds will go to local food pantries.
Pradip and her team of between 5 and 10 volunteers are all students from Milpitas High School. They recently soft-launched the program, and hope to officially launch some time in September or October. For now, Pradip and the other students have been working to spread the word on Nextdoor. Pradip hopes that awareness of the organization will continue to grow and that more Milpitas residents will use the platform.
“Tech has the ability to give life to our ideas,” said Pradip. “And that’s why I really wanted to pursue this.”
To learn more about Giving Tree Produce, visit its website here.
