The Food Pantry is a student-run emergency food relief resource dedicated to fighting food insecurity on the UC Berkeley campus. Since our founding, we have been constantly changing and evolving to better meet the needs of our community. Many of the changes we have seen in the past, such as going from the point system to a “take what you need, as often as you need it” basis, have been a result of our village efforts in trying to improve the accessibility, convenience, and efficiency of our Basic Needs systems.
This summer, in partnership with a group of driven and hardworking UC Berkeley alumni, the Food Pantry will be testing a new checkout system and releasing a mobile app! This new system will help us increase pantry visibility, speed up communication with the community, and collect food data to increase our efficiency. As a mobile app user, users have:
a live-updating inventory
push notifications for pantry restocks and other communication
up-to-date pantry opening hours
While the mobile app will only be available on Android phones for testing, the live inventory can be viewed in a web browser on a phone or computer so that all pantry users can enjoy the benefit of the new inventory system regardless of what phone they use. We are working hard on getting an iOS app released soon, so stay tuned for updates!
As we begin testing the mobile app and checkout system in the summer, we want everyone to be aware that your Pantry visits may be subject to change in the following ways:
More detailed checkout procedure (shelf items will require barcode scanning in order to keep an accurate inventory)
A few extra minutes to accommodate for checkout changes and the Pantry team becoming familiar with the new system
Optional feedback form to tell us any comments or issues you might have with the new system
Thank you for your understanding while we work to improve the Food Pantry experience! We appreciate your continued support and encouragement.