The expanded awareness of the average consumer of where food comes from has given rise to a new food app for iOS: Foodwaze. The Charlottesville-based startup guides people towards healthy living and eating by sending users right to the source where food is actually produced, NBC 29 reported.
The app would like to veer away from commercial and mass-produced food and introduce a more nutritious way of eating. Foodwaze features all kinds of food, including ice cream. The point of the app is to point to food that is sustainable. Co-founder Mike Reilly says that was inspired to make Foodwaze when he was traveling and had difficulty finding healthy food options.
"There's a lot of talk these days about where your food is coming from and we're trying to sort of walk that talk," Reilly said. "We essentially are listing restaurants and markets and any other food business that we feel meets certain criteria about where they're getting their food.”
Reilly and his business partner visit these food sources and, if the farm, restaurant or market fits Foodwaze requirements, then they will be included in the app. Foodwaze will then share everything they have learned about these sustainable producers to app users.
One of the prime candidates for Foodwaze is the Free Union Grass Farm in Abermarle County owned by Erica Hellen and her husband. According to her, many restaurants easily claim that their products are locally sourced. One advantage of the app is that it will hold these producers accountable to the consumers.
"So, this is a way for people to say well, I heard that restaurant sources locally, but let's see if they're actually like you know, doing that," Helen said.
WDBJ 7 reported that Foodwaze covers much of Virginia but it is quickly spreading to the rest of the East Coast. Reilly's goal, he says, is to reach users nationwide.
