Please allow us to introduce the Bites Foodie App (www.bites.mobi) as an example of a Sharing Green Economy company. Here is a description of this business followed by our assessment matrix.
Foodies + Chefs + Farms = Bites Foodie App
So, what is Bites Foodie App? it’s a free mobile app for foodies…think Airbnb for farm-to-table dining experiences in your own home.
Here’s how it works: The Bites foodie app connects foodies with local chefs (professional chefs, culinary students, and home cooks) for in-home, farm-to-table dining experiences. These chefs support local growers by sourcing fresh ingredients from these local growers and then taking these ingredients into the home of the foodie to create a complete dining experience from scratch.
As part of the sharing green economy, the Bites Foodie App seeks to do good for people and the planet at three levels:
For Foodies: The people at Bites believe in making culinary adventures available at all budgetary levels so that more socio-economic levels can participate – inclusivity; the app is also about celebrating diversity through various people and cuisines that enter the foodie’s home – they seek to represent all cultures and ethnic backgrounds on this app through their cuisines; and the app is also about community building – neighbors cooking for one another; foodies connect with culinary talent in their communities and locally sourced foods, over meaningful, memorable, intimate dining experiences in their own homes.
They’re interested in getting more people to participate in becoming part of the sustainability solution. That’s why their app is designed to provide culinary experiences for all socio-economic levels. Bites wants to make farm-to-table a regular, normal way of life for everyone, at all budgetary levels. Many modes of thinking about how to change the food landscape are built on the “education” model of educating people about why sustainability is good for people and the planet. They take an entirely different approach. they want to engage people in the solution itself, making it fun and easy to support localized sourcing of our food. When people have farm-to-table dining experiences in their homes, they are giving jobs to people (professional chefs, culinary students, and home cooks) in their communities and they are also supporting local farms (because the ingredients for these farm-to-table meals are sourced from local farms by the chefs). So, people are becoming part of the solution without even knowing it. That’s the beauty of it. Once they become part of the solution, they are incentivized to continue on that path without separately being “educated” about it, as these intimate farm-to-table dining experiences are more memorable, meaningful and cost-effective for the foodies who are getting the ball rolling in this self-sustaining ecosystem of foodie –> chef –> farm –> chef –> foodie –> farm. You see, when a foodie reserves a chef’s services through they’re app, the chef goes to a local farm and sources ingredients and then takes those ingredients into the foodie’s home and cooks from scratch…during this dining experience, the chef talks about where he sourced his ingredients, designed to organically both educate the foodie and peek the interest of the foodie to go to that farm and source directly from that farmer.
For Chefs: Bites believes in economic empowerment – jobs; professionals, students, and homemakers all generate an income with zero overhead, doing what they love doing – cooking – and sharing that with the community; these chefs set their own pricing, availability and dishes they want to offer — this is essentially, Airbnb for chefs. Chefs share revenue with Bites Foodie App as follows: 80% to chef / 17% to app / 3% to credit card processor.
Bites is interested in empowering the 99% to become masters of their own destinies. Bites believes in empowering the 99% with the freedom to work for themselves, generating an income for themselves with zero overhead, on their own terms…setting their own pricing, availability and menus. When people are powerful in their own lives and can take control of their own schedules and work, they are happier people and better with their own families, have improved mental and emotional health, and are better for society as positive, contributing members. Moreover, food is the most fundamental, most primal source of connection we have with other human beings. From an evolutionary perspective, we’ve always come together as families, as tribes, as villages, as communities, over shared meals. It’s how we bond most organically. This bond can be instrumental in helping our communities’ building efforts, and it can also be instrumental in sharing our stories, our recipes, our vulnerabilities, our concerns as human beings. Beyond that, chefs are the initial bit of glue between foodies and farms, helping foodies understand why it’s important to source locally – for flavor and nutrition, but also for stronger communities. When we eat farm-to-table, we are promoting seasonal, more nutritious, more flavorful sensory experiences, better health, and stronger communities from an economic standpoint, as our dollars are going to support local growers in our own communities, rather than going to someone growing produce in Chile, Mexico, or California.
For Local Farms: Bites supports local growers by giving them visibility and encouraging chefs and consumers to source directly from these local growers. These farms include urban farms, micro farms, co-ops, backyard gardens, community gardens, organic, family-owned small farms, and Arizona wineries. Right now, the vast majority of local growers are not in any directory and they are not on anyone’s radar. As the vast majority of populations live in urban settings, it makes a lot of sense to give visibility to small local growers within urban communities, in a move toward sustainability and reduction of food waste, so that we can move away from globalized, commercial food production, which has no upside for people in terms of nutritional content and only adds to the global carbon footprint. By sending chefs and foodies direct to growers, Bites can increase growers’ profits and decrease their waste (in metro-phoenix, they currently spend upwards of $2,000/yr just to participate in farmer’s markets, and yet they end up not selling more than 50% of the produce that they harvested and took to these local farmers markets). Bites has made it easy for farms to participate: Farmers simply need to go to the Bites website (www.bites.mobi) and click on “farms & wineries” to create a free grower profile. They keep 100% of their profits. no one takes a cut from them. Bites wants to incentivize locally sourced food and support local farming. Food that is grown locally gets picked ripe, and thus develops its full potential for nutrition, flavor and texture, in contrast to food that is flown in, shipped in, or trucked in from anyplace else – fruits and vegetables that are brought in from out of state had to be picked unripe to make the journey, or they’d rot in transport. Thus, they actually have very little to zero nutritional content in them when you buy them at the grocery store. There is something very wrong with that model.
With the Bites Foodie App, the people behind Bites are injecting money and support into their own communities, into their own economy, making their communities stronger, more vibrant, healthier, more economically empowered, and culturally inclusive. To join their tribe as a foodie or chef…download “Bites Foodie App” on the App Store or Google Play, or visit their website: www.bites.mobi to participate as a local grower. Bites Foodie App is available within the entire USA.
They’re interested in giving visibility and support to local growers. Why? Because the future of our health as human beings is dependent on it. Right now, produce and fruit that is grown conventionally and/or has to be transported from location X to location Y, has hardly any nutrition in it. Why? Because it failed to grow in nutrient healthy soil and it failed to go through the full photosynthesis cycle. Additionally, food that’s brought in from elsewhere only adds to the global carbon footprint. Food that’s sourced locally is green and sustainable in that it doesn’t have to travel and it doesn’t have to get stored anywhere. Local farms can help us get healthier in sustainable ways…when Bites sends chefs and foodies direct to growers, those growers know that there’s a financial upside for them through the demand for their produce. They become incentivized to grow more locally for local consumers. This is designed to move us away from globalized, commercial food production toward localized sourcing of our food.
Our Sharing Green Economy assessment matrix for Bites Foodie:
Is it Green? Yes.
How so?
– Less transportation costs to ship commercial food production to local communities
– Less food waste
Is it Sharing? Yes
How so?
– The local gardens and farms that are utilized wouldn’t normally be ‘shared’; such as urban farms, micro farms, co-ops, backyard gardens, community gardens, organic, and family-owned small farms. Right now, the vast majority of local growers are not in any directory and they are not on anyone’s radar.
– Chefs bring their own personal pots and pans and cooking tools. They share their own personal schedule, their own pricing, their own menus they want to offer, and their expertise that wouldn’t typically be tapped into outside of their regular job.
– The Foodie shares her home, kitchen, stove, counter top and sink with the chef who uses those to do the meal prep & cooking.
Is it Profitable? Yes
How so?
– Local growers receive 100% of their produce sales (with less overhead from a food-to-table process)
– For the profit on cooking events, Chefs receive 80% of the profits, Bites Foodie App receives 17%, and 3% for credit card processing
We wish Bites Foodie much success with their business!