A new app called LeftoverSwap premiered online Tuesday, with what sounds like a nightmare premise at first glance. The new app is designed to be a sort of Craigslist for leftover food. The app allows people to post free leftover food photos, and then other users searching for free food can meet them to pick the leftovers up, according to CBS New York on Sept. 25.
Here's how it works: There's one app for those looking to find food, they're the leftover takers. Then there's one for people looking unload their leftovers, they're the leftover givers.
A user simply hits "post" on the app, snaps a pic of the food they've had enough of, and taps "use". Fill in a description of the food, and a pin drops on a map telling food seekers where the food is located.
“LeftoverSwap is pretty much a Craigslist for leftovers,” said app co-founder Dan Newman. Users can post the leftovers they no longer want, and give them away for free to anyone who may be interested in eating them.
Newman added that leftovers can include all sorts of food, ranging from leftover pizza to canned or boxed items. The app site list recommendations for givers and takers alike.
Number one on the list is don't give away any food that you wouldn't eat yourself. Sounds about right. On the flip side, the site warns not to take any food without knowing how old it is, and making sure it was stored properly.
Click here to see the full list of how-to's and do's and don'ts.
The app's website notes its virtues as being for people who care about reducing waste, eating locally and building relationships within their community. Some say it could even be a new type of dating site.
Sounds good, and may be accurate. However, others have noted that when it comes to partially consumed food, it's akin to making out with a complete and total stranger!
As for those people who either wish to give away their leftovers so they don’t spoil or go to waste, or don’t want to end up eating it all themselves to avoid that fate, they now have an alternative.
Giving away leftovers can also reduce dependence on fossil fuels and fertilizer, according to the app site. But it used to be, before this golden age of technology, that sharing one's leftover food was a tradition reserved for close friends and family.
Lauren Evans wrote on Gothamist that eating someone else's leftovers involves an implied bond, that says you're familiar enough with their mouth's whereabouts so as to "gnaw" upon their food bits.
The app officially got off the ground on Tuesday. The first official leftover swap occurred in New York City for an exchange of a bag of Pop Chips.
"That was pretty cool - the person tweeted about it and sent a picture to us. That was very exciting", Newman said.
LeftoverSwap is currently available for iPhone and iPad. Developers are working on rolling out a version for Android and for the Web.
Do you think you'd use the app? Sounds perfect for dumpster divers.
