Imagine a one-stop social platform that provides information and support for your plant-based diet. An encouraging environment where you can find answers to all your questions about clean eating: What restaurants nearby offer vegan food options? What is the best plant-based chili recipe? Which brand makes the best vegan cheese? How can I connect with a community that shares my desire for a plant-based diet?
These are the questions that team Pomona aims to answer – and more. Their app, “Good 2 Green”, will help reduce the time and stress of searching online to gather information about veganism. The app will provide consolidated and curated content to make plant-based food options more accessible to those who are already vegan or those who are motivated to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.
“A dietary shift toward plant foods and away from animal products is vital for promoting the health of our planet. Promoting a plant-based diet is also beneficial for both the health of the planet and people,” says Thet, an MBA and MSF dual-candidate at Portland State University.
A global move toward a plant-based diet has incredible implications for both people and the planet. It could reduce mortality and greenhouse gasses caused by food production by 10% and 70%, respectively, by 2050. Animal products, both meat and dairy, in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives. Reducing livestock herds would also reduce emissions of methane, which is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. Currently, animal farming contributes to about 60% of global greenhouse emissions.
“I watched a horrifying video about animals and the correlation between animal farming and carbon emissions,” shares Faith, also an MBA and MSF dual-candidate at Portland State University. “I decided to try a vegan lifestyle, but it was challenging because I had so few options for dining out. I realized we need a holistic, convenient way to access information within the vegan community, and this would also help drive a significant movement for the planet.”
Veganism is considered by most to be “ethical” for animal welfare reasons, and a more environmentally sustainable diet. In the US, the number of vegans went up 0.4 percent to almost 3.5 percent over the past two years. The Good 2 Green app provides a solution for one of the most difficult challenges in veganism, which is “inconvenience”. Team Pomona believes that easy access to tasty vegan options will drive significant and substantial changes in consumer habits.
“Our long-term goal is to increase the number of plant-based dieters by 10% in the US, currently at 2%. And, in general, increase the number of people interested in the plant-based lifestyle,” says Faith.
“And we plan to continue upgrading the app and adding new features,” shares Aditi Kumari, an MBA candidate at Portland State University. Utilizing her expertise in development and deployment of android and iOS applications, Aditi and the team have plans in the future to create a social community for their app users and to introduce gamification.
“We have so many goals, so many big dreams,” comments Hamdia Ibrahim, an MBT candidate at Portland State University. “We’re talking about plant-based food, but we also want to encourage sustainable lifestyle choices. The hardest part so far has been trying to prioritize the features and hone in on what we want to include at the initial rollout.”
The aim of this project is to create something that is good for people and the environment. Creating a social movement around food is a powerful way to address some of the environmental concerns arising from unsustainable agriculture practices, such as global warming. Pomona’s app encourages the vegan community, and attempts to make plant-based food ‘cool’, reliable, and affordable – helping to promote sustainable eating practices.