Cornell University systems engineers created an algorithm that can help food banks efficiently distribute food and improve nutrition among their patrons.
During the study, the algorithm analyzed data from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, which serves six counties in upstate New York. In 2019, this food bank distributed 10.9 million meals to around 21,700 people each week, of which 19% were seniors and 41% were children. In 2019, they distributed 2.8 million pounds of fresh fruit through 157 partner agencies. They also moved 3.4 million pounds of food through the local mobile partners.
The team’s new algorithm determined how to allocate to different food categories efficiently based on individual pantry requests. It found a 7.73% improvement in efficiency from 2018 to 2019 and a 3% improvement in nutrition with a wider variety of food distributed.
The team said this algorithm could be used as a baseline model to improve food bank practices with the ultimate goal of nutrition boosting and policies to help people at risk for hunger.
A paper on the algorithm was published in Omega.