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Trojan Food Finder: a web-based GIS campus food sharing application

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Trojan Food Finder: a web-based GIS campus food sharing application

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TROJAN FOOD FINDER:
A WEB-BASED GIS CAMPUS FOOD SHARING APPLICATION

by

Michele Fong

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC DORNSIFE COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)

December 2023

Copyright 2023 Michele Fong
ii

To Mom and Dad
iii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Sedano, Dr. Swift, Dr. Loyola, and Dr. Osborne for all of their support
and guidance throughout the life of this project. I am especially grateful to USC’s Office of
Sustainability for taking an interest in this project’s mission and for providing a platform where
the Trojan Food Finder can live on. I would also like to thank my employer HDR for helping me
fund my degree. I am incredibly appreciative of my amazing work team who have been nothing
short of supportive and understanding throughout this process. Lastly, I am immensely grateful
to all of my friends who have brought me comfort during stressful times – much love, always.
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Table of Contents
Dedication....................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii
Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. x
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background and Motivation ............................................................................................... 2
1.2 Study Area .......................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1 Intended Audience ..................................................................................................... 5
1.2.2 Existing Waste Prevention at USC ............................................................................ 6
1.3 Methods Overview .............................................................................................................. 8
1.4 Document Structure ............................................................................................................ 9
Chapter 2 Background Literature.................................................................................................. 11
2.1 Food Waste and Sustainability.......................................................................................... 11
2.1.1 Defining Food Waste ............................................................................................... 12
2.1.2 Addressing Food Insecurity ..................................................................................... 15
2.1.3 Food Waste Prevention Programs ............................................................................ 16
2.2 Wasting Behaviors and Sharing as a Solution .................................................................. 17
2.2.1 Psychology Behind Food Wasting ........................................................................... 18
2.2.2 Food Waste Behaviors of Young People ................................................................. 18
2.2.3 Evolution of Food Sharing ....................................................................................... 19
2.2.3 Digital Sharing Economy ......................................................................................... 20
2.3 Existing Food Sharing Applications ................................................................................. 22
2.3.1 Titan Bites ................................................................................................................ 22
2.3.2 PittGrub .................................................................................................................... 23
2.3.3 ShareMeals ............................................................................................................... 24
2.3.4 FreeEats.................................................................................................................... 26
2.3.5 OLIO ........................................................................................................................ 28
2.4 Introduction to Volunteered Geographic Information ...................................................... 30
Chapter 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 33
3.1 Application Requirements ................................................................................................ 33
3.2 Design and Development Overview ................................................................................. 37
3.3 Data Design and Publishing .............................................................................................. 39
3.3.1 USC DPS Patrol Area Boundary ............................................................................. 39
3.3.2 Food Donations Point Layer .................................................................................... 40
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3.3.3 Donation Interest Table............................................................................................ 41
3.3.4 Data Publishing ........................................................................................................ 42
3.4 Form Design...................................................................................................................... 42
3.4.1 Donate Food Form ................................................................................................... 43
3.4.2 Make Donations Unavailable Form ......................................................................... 46
3.4.3 Express Interest in Food Form ................................................................................. 46
3.5 Beta-Test Survey Design .................................................................................................. 48
3.6 Application Development and Design .............................................................................. 49
3.6.1 Web Map Customization ......................................................................................... 50
3.6.2 Dashboard Development .......................................................................................... 54
3.6.3 TFF Desktop Application Interface ......................................................................... 55
3.6.4 TFF Mobile/Small Screen Application Interface ..................................................... 60
Chapter 4 Results .......................................................................................................................... 63
4.1 Web Map ........................................................................................................................... 63
4.2 Application Configurations and Displays ......................................................................... 66
4.2.1 Web and Mobile Configurations .............................................................................. 66
4.2.2 Home ........................................................................................................................ 67
4.2.3 Donate Food! ........................................................................................................... 69
4.2.4 Find Food! ................................................................................................................ 70
4.2.5 Food Analytics ......................................................................................................... 72
4.3 Application Usage ............................................................................................................. 74
4.3.1 Application Link ...................................................................................................... 74
4.3.2 Application Access .................................................................................................. 74
4.3.3 Application Use Instructions.................................................................................... 75
4.3.4 Submit New Food Donation .................................................................................... 77
4.3.5 Make Donation Unavailable .................................................................................... 78
4.3.6 Express Interest in Food........................................................................................... 80
4.3.7 Browse Food Analytics ............................................................................................ 82
4.3.8 Feedback Survey ...................................................................................................... 83
4.4 Feedback ........................................................................................................................... 84
4.4.1 Participants ............................................................................................................... 84
4.4.2 Feedback Evaluation ................................................................................................ 85
4.4.3 Improvements .......................................................................................................... 89
Chapter 5 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 91
5.1 App Summary ................................................................................................................... 91
5.2 Software Challenges and Limitations ............................................................................... 92
5.2.1 Software Selection Dilemma ................................................................................... 92
5.2.2 OOTB Tool Limitations ........................................................................................... 92
5.2.3 Software Authorization Error .................................................................................. 94
5.2.4 Application Improvement Limitations ..................................................................... 95
5.3 Conceptual Limitations ..................................................................................................... 95
5.3.1 Trust and Communication Limitations .................................................................... 96
5.3.2 Purpose and Scope Limitations ................................................................................ 97
5.4 Future Work ...................................................................................................................... 97
5.4.1 Ownership Transfer and Public Launch .................................................................. 98
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5.4.2 Scope Expansion ...................................................................................................... 99
5.4.3 Platform and Functionality Updates ...................................................................... 100
References ................................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix A: Beta-Testing Email Invitation ............................................................................... 108
Appendix B: Beta-Testing Survey Questions ............................................................................. 109

vii
List of Tables
Table 1. Data Table ....................................................................................................................... 40
Table 2. USC Building Footprints Dataset ................................................................................... 90

viii
List of Figures
Figure 1. TFF Study Area ............................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2. Percent food waste generated, excluding industrial ...................................................... 13
Figure 3. US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy. .............................................................................. 14
Figure 4. Map and food posting survey of the Share Meals mobile application .......................... 25
Figure 5. FreeEats application free food form and map display ................................................... 27
Figure 6. OLIO application map view for non-subscription users ............................................... 29
Figure 7. Workflow Diagram ........................................................................................................ 37
Figure 8. Food Donation Point Layer fields ................................................................................. 40
Figure 9. Donation Interest Table fields ....................................................................................... 41
Figure 10. Donate Food Form XLSForm ..................................................................................... 44
Figure 11. Donate Food Form answer choice lists ....................................................................... 45
Figure 12. Make Donations Unavailable Form XLSForm ........................................................... 46
Figure 13. Express Interest in Food Form XLSForm ................................................................... 48
Figure 14. Beta-Test Survey developed within Survey123 Web Designer .................................. 49
Figure 15. Arcade expression for displaying interest count in pop-up ......................................... 51
Figure 16. Arcade expression for displaying comments in pop-up .............................................. 51
Figure 17. Arcade expression for displaying dietary information in pop-up ................................ 53
Figure 18. Arcade expression for changing donation point color ................................................. 54
Figure 19. Desktop Dashboard interface ...................................................................................... 55
Figure 20. TFF desktop home page .............................................................................................. 56
Figure 21. Donate Food! button and anchored window menu ...................................................... 57
Figure 22. Survey widget settings for Make Donation Unavailable form .................................... 58
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Figure 23. Find Food! desktop page configuration (editing view) ............................................... 59
Figure 24. Survey widget settings for the Express Interest in Donations form ............................ 60
Figure 25. Mobile application Home Page, Find Food! page, and Food Analytics Dashboard ... 62
Figure 26. TFF web map overview ............................................................................................... 64
Figure 27. TFF web map embedded within Donate Food form ................................................... 65
Figure 28. Food analytics dashboard web map ............................................................................. 66
Figure 29. TFF desktop configuration home page ........................................................................ 68
Figure 30. TFF mobile configuration home page ......................................................................... 69
Figure 31. TFF desktop configuration Find Food! page ............................................................... 71
Figure 32. Views of TFF mobile configuration Find Food! Page ................................................ 72
Figure 33. TFF desktop configuration Food Analytics dashboard ............................................... 73
Figure 34. Views of TFF mobile configuration Food Analytics dashboard ................................. 73
Figure 35. USC Sustainability Data Hub and USC Shibboleth login screens .............................. 75
Figure 36. Desktop configuration application instructions ........................................................... 76
Figure 37. Mobile configuration application instructions............................................................. 76
Figure 38. Donate Food form front-end view ............................................................................... 78
Figure 39. Make Donation Unavailable form default and after donation point selection ............ 79
Figure 40. Desktop Find Food! page filtered to “Candy” donation .............................................. 80
Figure 41. Donation details ........................................................................................................... 81
Figure 42. Food Analytics dashboard filtered by faculty donations ............................................. 83
Figure 43. Beta-testing participant summary ................................................................................ 85
Figure 44. Sample donation data heat map ................................................................................... 86
Figure 45. Feedback results summary .......................................................................................... 87
x
Abbreviations
AGOL ArcGIS Online
CSUF California State University Fullerton
DPS Department of Public Safety
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ExB Experience Builder
FFC Fit-For-Consumption
FPM Facilities Planning and Management
GIS Geographic Information System
ICT Information Communications Technology
MSW Municipal Solid Waste
OoS Office of Sustainability
OOTB Out-of-the-Box
PGIS Participatory GIS
SaaS Software as a Service
SSI Spatial Sciences Institute
UPC University Park Campus
USC University of Southern California
TFF Trojan Food Finder
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
VGI Volunteered Geographic Information
WashU Washington University in St. Louis
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Abstract
In the US, food waste is the largest category of material found in landfills, which directly
contributes to climate change and represents millions of lost opportunities to feed individuals in
need. On average, 22 million pounds of edible surplus food is discarded annually on university
campuses, elevating the need for more sustainable food waste mitigation practices within these
communities. The University of Southern California (USC) strives to promote sustainability and
reduce campus waste, but has yet to introduce solutions to mitigate the food waste produced by
individual consumers such as students, faculty, and staff. This thesis introduces the development
of the Trojan Food Finder (TFF), a proof-of-concept application designed to facilitate food
sharing as a way to mitigate consumer-level food waste within USC’s University Park Campus
(UPC). The main objective is to develop a browser-based volunteered geographic information
application using Esri ArcGIS products to allow USC students, faculty, and staff to crowdsource,
view, and analyze locations of free surplus food within the UPC. This study used USC
community members to beta-test the application and provide feedback for future improvements.
Feedback from 20 participants revealed that, overall, the interfaces and functionalities of this
proof-of-concept application were intuitive and easy to navigate. Suggestions for future
improvements included advancing donation filtering and search capabilities, developing better
in-application communication functionalities, and creating education and promotion strategies to
engage the community. By providing a platform to redistribute surplus food such as excess
groceries or food leftover from events, the TFF can not only prevent food waste, but also provide
individuals with alternative meal options and opportunities to form new connections.
1
Chapter 1 Introduction
Food waste is a dilemma that many universities face as they move towards creating more
sustainable campuses. At the University of Southern California (USC), waste diversion is a key
focus area of its Facilities Planning and Management (FPM) Waste Diversion Team and the
Office of Sustainability (OoS); specifically, composting has been championed as a way for
community members to help divert food waste from landfills (USC OoS 2023). Though the
university has found success in composting initiatives through zero-waste events and multi-
stream waste bins, introducing alternative ways to redistribute uneaten, fit-for-consumption
(FFC) food before it ends up in compost or landfill trash could broaden food waste reduction
efforts on campus. USC’s on-campus dining facilities have adopted some practices to reduce the
waste of FFC food, including going tray-less and reducing portion sizes. However, initiatives
geared towards helping individuals, clubs, and organizations on campus mitigate their food waste
have yet to be introduced. Research suggests that individuals favor food waste solutions that help
them share surplus food more easily (Fan, Ellison, and Wilson 2022). This thesis shows how a
geographic information systems (GIS) platform can be adapted to facilitate peer-to-peer food
sharing within the USC community.
Digital platforms such as community Facebook groups and publicly accessible
applications like OLIO and Too Good to Go exist to facilitate communications for food sharing
purposes at various stages of a food supply chain. However, only a small number of these
platforms are GIS-based volunteered geographic information (VGI) applications that allow
individuals to share location-focused observations and resources with one another. Overall, few
food sharing platforms have been created with university communities in mind, fewer
incorporate community-generated spatial data, and almost none are based entirely within GIS
2
software which would allow for easy collaboration, smart data visualizations, and seamless
analysis. Thus, the goals of this thesis are to (1) develop a proof-of-concept web-based GIS
application that supports food waste mitigation at USC by enabling community members to
share and view location-based data on food donations, (2) show how user-generated data on food
donations and donation interest can be collected, visualized, and analyzed in real-time, (3) gather
feedback on application design and functionality to inform future improvements.
The Trojan Food Finder (TFF) food sharing application described herein was built using
Esri ArcGIS products to collect, visualize, and analyze user-generated data on food donations
and donation interest in real-time. USC community members can use the application to donate
FFC surplus food or express interest in existing donations. With the goal of cultivating a
community of active food donors and food seekers, the TFF strives to promote food waste
mitigation while creating opportunities for individuals to obtain meals and forge connections
with one another.
1.1 Background and Motivation
Food waste is a broad issue expanding across industries and stakeholders, and individual
consumers play a key role. Food waste is produced at all stages of a food supply chain, which
comprises the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food (University of
Oxford n.d). In 2010, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service
estimated that 31% of the US food supply was wasted at the retail distribution or individual
consumer levels (EPA 2022b). Previous studies have also projected that within local food supply
chains, up to 60% of all food waste in a community waste stream is generated directly by
individual consumers (Griffin, Sobal, and Lyson 2008). Leftover FFC food that is thrown away
rather than redistributed not only contributes to increased levels of carbon dioxide emissions, but
3
also represents lost meal opportunities for those in need. With individuals often over-purchasing
food when grocery shopping or planning catering events (Aschemann-Witzel et al. 2015), food
redistribution opportunities should be encouraged.
FFC food waste generated by individuals, clubs, and organizations within university
campus communities could be prevented through food sharing. Students, faculty, and
staff/academic or administrative units frequently host events on campus that provide or cater
food, which can unintentionally lead to waste. Literature suggests that catered events at higher-
education institutions are especially significant generators of food waste due to over-ordering
and poor planning for overall event attendance (Monteiro, Brockbank, and Heron 2020). Young
adults are also some of the largest contributors to food waste due to tendencies towards
spontaneous purchasing, preferences toward convenience, and limited experience with food
management (Aschemann-Witzel et al. 2015). Utilizing technology to encourage food sharing at
a peer-to-peer level can be a way to support local sustainability efforts. By providing a platform
where individuals can notify others about free food, the amount of FFC food wasted in landfills
can be reduced.
Though some universities have developed technological solutions to share surplus food
within their communities (CSUF 2017; Silvis, Sicilia, and Labrinidis 2018; Chin 2021; Frank,
Finkbinder, and Powell 2021), USC has yet to leverage opportunities to do so. To prevent FFC
food from being wasted by USC students, faculty, staff, and the clubs and organizations in which
they are involved, GIS technology can be utilized as a novel solution for sharing surplus food
with others on campus. Therefore, the motivation of this thesis is to create a proof-of-concept
web-based VGI application that allows USC community members to submit and view real-time
location-based data on free surplus food available within the USC UPC. The TFF application can
4
also help bolster the university’s “Zero Waste” sustainability initiative which strives to achieve
zero waste through 90% waste diversion by 2028 (USC Sustainability 2022).
1.2 Study Area
USC is a top private research university located in Los Angeles, California, and serves as
the ideal setting to pilot a food sharing application due to its active campus community. In the
2022-2023 academic year, USC had an estimated 21,000 undergraduate students, 28,000
graduate and professional students, 4,600 full-time faculty, and 16,500 staff (USC 2023). The
geographic study area for this project is the USC UPC and its surrounding community defined by
the USC Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) patrol area (Figure 1). The USC UPC is
comprised of a 226-arce property with academic buildings, residential halls, dining halls, parks,
plazas, and more. The DPS patrol area includes a 2.5 mile radius surrounding UPC, and
encompasses other USC-affiliated housing and buildings as well as public and private spaces.
The patrol area is monitored 24 hours per day 7 days per week to ensure the safety of students
and other university-affiliated individuals. The TFF intends to target users from USC and
assumes that the DPS patrol area represents where a majority of individuals live, host events, and
have created communities.
5

Figure 1. TFF Study Area
1.2.1 Intended Audience
The intended audience for the TFF application is the USC community, which includes
students, faculty, and staff members. An assumption is made that these individuals are non-
experts without specialized knowledge in web applications or the field of GIS. Within the USC
community, there are three types of target users. The first target user is the “food donor.” Food
donors are community members who are in possession of surplus food that they would like to
make available to others. These individuals can use the application to donate excess food yielded
from club meetings or catered events, or pass along extra groceries that would otherwise go to
waste.
6
The second target user is the “food seeker.” Food seekers are community members who
are interested in claiming free surplus food from others. This group may include individuals
struggling with food insecurity, those looking for convenient meal or snack options, or those
interested in obtaining free food while making new social connections. These individuals can use
the application to browse real-time locations of where free food is available on the USC UPC
and express interest in listings that are appealing to them.
The third target user is the “sustainability stakeholder.” Sustainability stakeholders are
USC community members involved with OoS initiatives. This application was developed in
partnership with the USC OoS, which has spearheaded efforts to integrate sustainable practices
on campus since 1984. The OoS is comprised of teams and committees of students, faculty, and
staff who work closely with vendors and city officials to facilitate programs that address critical
environmental concerns (USC Office of Sustainability 2023). Sustainability stakeholders can use
the data generated from this application to better understand where and what types of food are
being shared, by whom, and how the amount of food donated may translate to amount of waste
mitigated.
1.2.2 Existing Waste Prevention at USC
USC’s FPM and OoS have existing initiatives and practices to reduce waste on campus,
but has yet to specifically address how to prevent waste of FFC food. In 2022, USC announced
its 2028 Sustainability Framework, “Assignment: Earth.” Among its goals is to achieve Zero
Waste by 2028 through reaching a 90% waste diversion rate (USC Sustainability 2022). USC’s
FPM, OoS, and others have been improving waste diversion practices through recycling,
composting, and metric analysis. Since 2018, zero-waste campus events, multi-stream waste
bins, water bottle refill stations, and increased composting across the university have
7
successfully diverted campus waste from landfills. As of December 2022, USC’s overall waste
diversion rate was 51.31% (USC Office of Sustainability 2023). The rate fell short of the 75%
waste diversion goal the university had hoped to achieve by 2022 as outlined in the 2020
Sustainability Framework, demonstrating that perhaps new solutions and new focuses should be
implemented in order to achieve the 90% goal in 2028 (USC Office of Sustainability 2015).
Students and faculty from USC’s Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) have supported the
OoS’s waste diversion efforts by collecting and mapping data on composting and bin
contamination. SSI has also worked to build a data hub site within USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise
Portal to organize data and information gathered through sustainability initiatives. Though SSI
and the OoS have yet to focus efforts specifically towards analyzing the waste of FFC food, there
is interest in incorporating the issue into future work. The intention is that the TFF will become a
tool offered to the USC community as a part of expanding the scope of the OoS’s waste
mitigation efforts.
USC students have expressed sentiments that the university should adopt better methods
to eliminate food waste, especially to better benefit individuals within the USC community
(Nakagome 2020). Food waste mitigation practices currently implemented by USC include going
trayless in on-campus dining halls to reduce portion sizes, committing to composting pre and
post-consumer food waste, and donating leftover food from dining facilities to a local food
rescue partner (USC Hospitality n.d). Composting has been heavily promoted to divert
consumer-level food waste, especially “plate waste” from finished meals. However, there are
several more preferred avenues for food recovery according to the US Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) Food Recovery Hierarchy (US EPA 2022a). For FFC surplus food such as
8
leftover catering or excess groceries that have yet to be consumed, sharing with others is
considered a more sustainable option than directly resorting to composting.
Although a formal peer-to-peer food sharing initiative does not yet exist at USC, some
student organizations on campus have successfully facilitated programs to redistribute meal
resources to those in need. Trojans Give Back, a registered student organization on campus,
facilitates a dining dollar donation program, which allows students to donate leftover dining
dollars at the end of a semester to food-insecure students, preventing the waste of meal
opportunities. In the past, the organization has also facilitated meal-swipe donation drives where
students used leftover meal-swipes to purchase prepared food for local food banks (USC
Annenberg Media 2021). Though the primary goal of the TFF is to mitigate food waste through
peer-to-peer food sharing, it does take into consideration that redistributing surplus food can
simultaneously provide valuable resources to those facing food insecurity.
1.3 Methods Overview
This project utilizes Esri ArcGIS products, including out-of-the-box (OOTB) application
building tools, to develop the TFF, a browser-based food sharing application. The TFF enables
USC community members to easily share surplus food with each other via an interactive map-
based GIS platform. The application itself is a multi-page Experience Builder (ExB) application
hosted within USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise ecosystem. It uses ExB’s OOTB widgets to integrate
interactive page elements, custom web maps, and application components developed separately
using Survey123 and Dashboards. All application components dynamically link to one another
through the same data layers.
The data layers for the TFF were first prepared within ArcGIS Pro and then hosted within
USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise Portal and stored as content within the USC’s Sustainability Data Hub
9
site. The layers were then utilized to store user-generated data on food donations and donation
interest, and served as the foundation for building dynamic application components. ArcGIS
Enterprise Portal was used as the primary application development environment for the TFF
because it can allow other organization members, like those that are a part of the Sustainability
Data Hub portal, to take ownership of the application and continue improving it following the
completion of this project. Within Enterprise Portal, a custom web map was prepared to visualize
the TFF’s user-generated donation and donation interest data. Arcade, Esri’s custom expression
language for ArcGIS, was used to create custom pop-ups and enable automatic symbology
changes within the web map.
Key user functionalities embedded within the ExB application were developed using
ArcGIS’s Survey123 and Dashboards platforms. Survey123 Connect was leveraged to create
sophisticated custom forms to collect data on food donations and donation interest from users in
real-time. Survey123 Web Designer was used to create a simple application feedback survey
provided to beta-testing participants. Dashboards was used to create a custom dashboard
interface that displays charts, graphs, and a heat map to summarize the running total of donation
and donation interest data submitted by users in real-time.
1.4 Document Structure
The goal of this project was to develop a web-based GIS food waste mitigation tool for
the USC community. Chapter 1 has provided an overview of the project including background,
motivations, study area, and methodology. Chapter 2 reviews literature related to food waste and
sustainability, food waste and sharing behaviors, existing food sharing applications, and
volunteered geographic information. Chapter 3 details the methods and tools used to build out
the application functionalities and interfaces. Chapter 4 walks through the final application and
10
discusses feedback from beta-testers. Lastly, Chapter 5 summarizes conclusions, limitations, and
future plans.

11
Chapter 2 Background Literature
Studies have shown that sharing surplus food can be a successful consumer-level food waste
mitigation strategy. Though there have been a handful of applications created to facilitate such
sharing, few incorporate GIS, and almost none are built using Esri proprietary software. This
chapter provides a review of literature on food waste and its effects on sustainability and food
security across the US and within university campuses. This section also includes studies
investigating some of the reasons behind food wasting and sharing behaviors, as well as
literature on the rise of digital communication platforms as resource sharing solutions. Lastly,
this section reviews existing geospatial and non-geospatial food sharing applications and
provides a summary of VGI.
2.1 Food Waste and Sustainability
Understanding what food waste is, how and where it occurs, and how it affects the
environment and local communities is important when developing new sustainable waste
management strategies. This section aims to address these topics. The first subsection provides
context on the issue of food waste by defining what it is and describing how and where it is
being generated, specifically emphasizing the role of individual consumers. It also describes how
food waste contributes to negative environmental impacts. The second subsection introduces
how solutions for reducing food waste are often linked to issues related to food insecurity. The
last subsection presents current food waste reduction programs promoted at global, national, and
local scales, and introduces literature on the effectiveness of food waste prevention initiatives
implemented at universities.
12
2.1.1 Defining Food Waste
Recognizing the nuances in the causes of food waste are important when designing and
implementing solutions for a specific target audience like individual consumers. Food waste
occurs at all levels of a food supply chain from manufacturing, processing, and distribution, to
retail and consumption. Food waste can be categorized in two ways depending on where the
waste occurs. Food “loss” occurs from issues during the production, storage, processing, and
distribution stages, before the food has reached consumers. Food “waste” refers to FFC food that
is consciously discarded by retailers or consumers (HSPH 2022). The US EPA estimates that in
2018, residential, commercial, and institutional sectors generated approximately 63.1 million
tons of food waste as municipal solid waste (MSW), making up 21.6% of the total MSW
generated. The residential sector, which includes individual consumers, produced 40% of the
annual food waste alone (US EPA 2020) (Figure 2). The root of the food waste problem at the
consumer level primarily concerns the lack of planning and management when purchasing,
preparing, and storing food (Aschemann-Witzel et al. 2015). The commercial and institutional
sectors, which include supermarkets, restaurants, and schools, produced 60% of the annual food
waste in 2018 (US EPA 2020). The causes of waste within these sectors often stem from over-
ordering, faulty storage, and the discarding of food items with flawed or “imperfect” appearances
(USDA n.d).
13

Figure 2. Percent food waste generated, excluding industrial. Chart from “2018 Wasted Food
Report,” published November 2020, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2020-
11/documents/2018_wasted_food_report.pdf
Food waste is an especially important issue within college communities, with thousands
of students, faculty, staff, and community members obtaining meals from retailers, dining halls,
and other caterers every day. According to Recycling Works, a program funded by the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the average college student in the US
wastes up to 142 pounds of food a year (RecyclingWorks 2020). The Food Recovery Network
estimates that universities as a whole discard up to 22 million pounds of edible surplus food a
year (Cather 2016). At USC, a 2020 campus-wide waste characterization study revealed that 50-
65% of all of the university’s landfill trash was compostable food waste (USC Office of
Sustainability 2023). Wasted food contributes to climate change and environmental burdens
resulting from increased greenhouse gas emissions. FFC food was not a variable considered in
the study, but may represent lost meal opportunities for those in need.
14
When food is wasted, the land, water, energy, and labor resources that go into bringing
that food down the food supply chain are also wasted, leading to negative environmental
consequences (US EPA 2020). Sustainable food waste management strategies aim to divert food
from landfills and incineration. The US EPA has developed a Food Recovery Hierarchy, which
prioritize actions that organizations and individuals can take to prevent or divert food waste (US
EPA 2022a). The infographic presented in Figure 3 displays a total of six food recovery actions
in descending order from most preferred to least preferred. Individual consumers can easily
partake in the second-most-preferred action of “Feeding Hungry People” by donating surplus
food to others. Technological platforms can be developed to help facilitate participation.

Figure 3. US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy. Graphic from US EPA, “Food Recovery
Hierarchy,” revised August 28, 2022, https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-
recovery-hierarchy.
15
2.1.2 Addressing Food Insecurity
Solutions to promote the reduction of food waste are often intertwined with issues related
to food insecurity. The dichotomy is that while universities and their students are notorious for
producing high levels of food waste, many individuals on campus simultaneously struggle to
afford meals. It is estimated that reducing annual food waste in the US by 15% could feed up to
25 million Americans a year (HSPH 2022). Actions taken at the consumer level to redistribute
surplus food can benefit local communities by providing donations of FFC foods to those in the
community, especially (or specifically) those facing food insecurity. The goal of this thesis
project is to introduce one such avenue to do so.
Individuals can experience food insecurity at different levels and for different lengths of
time, with effects not only felt on physical health but also mental health. The USDA defines two
levels of food insecurity. Those who report reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet with
few to no instances of reduced food intake fall within the “low food security” range, while those
who report several instances of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake fall within the
“very low food security” range (USDA 2022b). An estimated 33.8 million (1 in 8) Americans
lived in food-insecure households in 2021, making up over 10% of the civilian population
(USDA 2022a). The national #RealCollege survey conducted by The Hope Center in the fall of
2020 gathered data on basic needs insecurities from 195,000 students from universities across the
US. Among respondents at two-year colleges, 38% reported food insecurity in the previous 30
days, with 22% experiencing very low food security. At four-year universities, 29% of students
reported experiencing food insecurity, with 17% experiencing very low food security. These
rates were observed to be similar to data collected from the same survey administered in 2019,
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before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (The Hope Center for College, Community, and
Justice 2021).
Each college or university may collect data on food insecurity at different capacities to
better understand and support their communities. The latest data on student food insecurity at
USC was collected from the 2020 Student-Well-being Index Survey. It revealed that among
5,300 undergraduate and graduate participants, 32.8% reported food insecurity in the previous 30
days, with 9.8% experiencing very low food security (USC Well-being Collective 2020).
Evidence of food insecurity is shown to be most prevalent among students who are low income,
receiving financial aid, of minority status, Hispanic or Black, or living without parents (Morris et
al. 2016; Payne-Sturges et al. 2017; Cuy Castellanos and Holcomb 2018; Owens et al. 2020). As
of 2023, approximately 4,400 low-income undergraduate students were enrolled at USC, and
more than 2/3 of all undergraduate students received financial aid (USC Financial Aid 2023).
With roughly 21% of USC’s undergraduate student body considered “low-income,” and many
graduate students also facing financial burdens, redistributing surplus food can not only become
a valuable resource as a food waste prevention tool, but also provide meal opportunities for food-
insecure students.
2.1.3 Food Waste Prevention Programs
Food waste reduction initiatives exist at global, national, and local scales. At a global
scale, target 12.3 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals aims to reduce global
food waste at both the retail and consumer levels. At a national scale, the 2030 Food Loss and
Waste-Reduction goal, announced by the USDA and US EPA in 2015, aims to cut food waste in
the US by 50% (US EPA 2022b). At a local scale, common food waste reduction initiatives
range from consumer education and portion reduction to food recovery and composting. Newer
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initiatives such as food sharing apps, cooking classes, and smart fridges (which allow individuals
to track purchased and stored items) are also on the rise (Reynolds et al. 2019).
Studies on local-scale food waste interventions such as changing plate sizes in hospitality
or school settings, adjusting nutritional guidelines, and promoting information campaigns, are
abundant and have provided evidence showing effectiveness in overall food waste reduction.
Fewer studies have been conducted on newer food waste reduction strategies such as food
sharing apps, cooking classes, and smart fridges. Despite lack of robust evidence, existing
studies have reported effectiveness of these newer strategies in reducing food waste (Reynolds et
al. 2019). Additional longitudinal studies must be conducted to build reproducible, quantified
evidence that provide credibility to these conclusions.
On university campuses, food waste reduction initiatives have primarily focused on
strategies to mitigate plate waste generated from on-campus dining facilities, which are often all-
you-can-eat. Interventions that have led to successful plate-waste reduction have included
introducing smaller plate sizes (Richardson, Pflugh Prescott, and Ellison 2021) and educational
campaigns informing individuals of the environmental, financial, and societal impacts of food
waste (Pinto et al. 2018; Ellison et al. 2019). Research evaluating the effectiveness of food
sharing tools and applications on university campuses is sparse, but some studies suggest that
although digital sharing tools are seen as “positive,” there is a need to improve user-accessibility
and incorporate additional transparency on shared food to build trust among users in the
community (Lazell 2016).
2.2 Wasting Behaviors and Sharing as a Solution
This section explores the motivations behind food wasting and food sharing behaviors
and introduces literature that supports the idea that food sharing can be a successful food waste
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mitigation strategy. It also touches on the rise of digital technologies and how these technologies
can play a role in facilitating food sharing. The following subsections detail literature on the
psychology behind food wasting, food waste behaviors of young people, evolution of food
sharing, and the digital sharing economy.
2.2.1 Psychology Behind Food Wasting
The psychology behind food wasting is a complex issue that should be examined when
looking at ways to promote behavior change. Food waste is typically the result of multiple
behaviors related to aspects of a food’s journey through a household such as: planning, shopping,
storage, preparation, and consumption. These behaviors often have a strong habitual element and
are unique to different individuals or households, making the adoption of waste-reduction
initiatives difficult (Quested et al. 2013). Moral attitudes and shopping habits of individuals have
been found to be important determinants of food waste. Individuals who see discarding food as
inherently wrong or against their self-image are likely to waste less. Strong moral attitudes
against wasting also significantly relate to more conscientious shopping and eating habits, as
well as awareness of food conservation (Aydin and Yildirim 2021). When considering food
waste behaviors, Thøgersen (2006) suggests that when an individual’s norms against food waste
are deeply internalized into their self-concept, they will be motivated to behave environmentally
responsibly.
2.2.2 Food Waste Behaviors of Young People
To date, research on food waste behaviors within university campuses has primarily
focused on students, though faculty and staff are also known to contribute waste through
personal means and the events they host. However, when looking at different types of
consumers, researchers have found age to be negatively correlated with food wasting behaviors,
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with young adults representing one of the highest-wasting groups (Quested et al. 2013;
Mondéjar-Jiménez, et al. 2016; Ellison and Lusk 2018). In a 2018 study, Nikolaus, Nickols-
Richardson, and Ellison researched food waste perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors of students
and young adults ages 18-24 living in a mid-size city in Illinois. Through focus group
discussions, they found that many of the young adults had a generally low awareness and
knowledge about food waste with many indicating that they had never thought about the issue.
Students placing blame on waste created by retail sources like university dining halls often
overshadowed the importance of personal waste-reducing behavior. The findings were consistent
with another published study focused on food waste attitudes and behaviors of university
students in Portland, Oregon (Alattar et al. 2020).
Insight into food waste perceptions and existing behaviors can lead to the development or
improvement of mitigation solutions. Some of the common reasons that students have given for
wasting food include convenience, reuse value, social influence, and expiration dates
(Aschemann-Witzel et al. 2015; Nikolaus, Nickols-Richardson, and Ellison 2018). Nikolaus,
Nickols-Richardson, and Ellison (2018) found that when asked about ways to reduce food waste,
many young adults reported sharing with family members, friends, roommates, or leaving food
in common areas and residence halls. Giving away surplus food was often used as an opportunity
to generate social connections. The researchers concluded that the high volume of people and
large number of interactions within the university campus facilitated food sharing behaviors.
2.2.3 Evolution of Food Sharing
Food sharing is a universal human behavior that has been observed in evolutionary
theory. Scientists have established that altruistic food sharing, defined as sharing food with
strangers at some cost to oneself, is a behavior likely unique to humans. Evolutionary experts
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propose that humans engage in this type of sharing to promote partnership and group cohesion,
which has helped the species succeed within the dynamic environment of evolutionary
adaptation over time (Bräuer 2020). In an early step, humans became obligate collaborative
foragers, meaning that individuals were interdependent with one another and had direct interest
in the well-being of others regardless of relationship (Tomasello et al. 2012). Building upon the
idea that humans carry an intrinsic tendency towards sharing food, this project intends to provide
a platform that helps improve the efficiency and accessibility of such efforts in order to better
benefit the community and environment.
Food sharing can bring together individuals with different backgrounds and motivations.
In a series of interviews with food sharing proponents, Schanes and Stagl (2019) found that
individuals’ motivation to share food could be driven by several types of factors: emotions and
morality, identity and sense of community, reward, social influence, or instrumentality. Both
positive and negative emotions played a role in motivating people to participate in sharing,
ranging from satisfaction and hope to frustration and guilt. New food sharing solutions should
consider individuals’ backgrounds, motivations, and emotions for success.
2.2.3 Digital Sharing Economy
In the twenty-first century, information communications technologies (ICT) have
contributed to the explosion of the digital sharing economy, transforming the way communities
are able to coordinate resource sharing (Sutherland and Hossein Jarrahi 2018). With digital
communication platforms, sharing is now possible among individuals across diverse and
spatially distributed groups with limited temporal, locational, and communications constraints
(Pouri and Hilty 2021). ICT tools are becoming an emerging trend for facilitating food sharing at
various levels of the food system. However, scientific evaluations on their usage and
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successfulness in reducing food waste are lacking due to a lack of quantifiable and reproducible
methodologies (Katzeff, Kanyama, and Zapico 2019). Nevertheless, new qualitative case studies
continue to emerge.
With the rise of web-based food sharing platforms, more studies are making the case that
ICTs can be more advantageous for food sharing than non-technological solutions like
community fridges and food pantries. In their 2019 study, Katzeff, Kanyama, and Zapico
introduced a prototype food sharing application within a university community. They found that
the prototype was successful during the testing period and argued that within built communities
like university campuses, ICTs may provide certain advantages. For example, while sources of
food donations to community fridges and food pantries may be difficult to recognize, ICTs can
build more trust by providing traceability of food shared and allowing extra layers of
information, such as availability timeframe and dietary information, to be added. Davies et al.
(2017) also makes the argument that when it comes to food, technologically mediated sharing is
well equipped to help address hunger and food waste disparities within and beyond our own
communities. Theoretically, ICTs can help stretch the spaces over which food sharing can occur;
however, trust is a key stipulation that must be considered for success.
Studies have shown that a sense of community and trust is needed among individuals in
order for ICTs to successfully facilitate food sharing (Farr-Wharton, Choi, and Foth 2014; Lim
and Yalvac 2014). University environments are ideal for prototyping such platforms as affiliated
individuals, like students, faculty, and staff, are part of the same built community. They also
have the ability to engage a critical mass of users, which is required for applications to gain
traction (Katzeff, Kanyama, and Zapico 2019). ICTs can better facilitate trust among food donors
and seekers within the built community because they can provide a digital trace of food shared.
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For example, they allow text information regarding a food’s source, availability time, potential
allergens, etc. to be added (Katzeff, Kanyama, and Zapico 2019). Peer-to-peer donations
facilitated using ICTs can also be beneficial in quickly redistributing prepared food, especially
from catered events, as these types of donations would unlikely be accepted by larger charities or
food banks due to perishability.
2.3 Existing Food Sharing Applications
Some universities and private companies have attempted to implement web- and mobile-
based sharing solutions to address issues related to food waste and food insecurity. Existing
applications range in scope, implementation, and interface, with most developed using custom
programming. This thesis introduces a novel approach to developing a food sharing application
by creating the TFF using Esri’s ArcGIS products and hosting it within USC’s existing Esri
infrastructure. This following section provides an overview of five existing peer-to-peer food
sharing applications: Titan Bites, PittGrub, Share Meals, FreeEats, and OLIO.
2.3.1 Titan Bites
Several universities across the US have developed announcement-based solutions to help
address food waste and food insecurity in their communities. California State University,
Fullerton (CSUF) developed the Titan Bites application in 2017 as a way to invite students to
claim surplus food on a first-come-first-served basis following catered events. At its original
inception, the application was tied to an existing campus portal messaging system. Only trusted
faculty, staff, and campus organizations of the university were authorized to use the system to
make surplus food announcements because once announcements were pushed out, they could not
be retracted. Interested students could opt in to receive push notifications about surplus food
events via SMS or email. According to a 2018 presentation summarizing the impact of Titan
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Bites, within the first year of implementation 1,584 students were enrolled for alerts, 77 faculty
and staff members were administrators, and 40 announcements were made (Curiel and Vigil
2018).
CSUF continues to offer Titan Bites as a resource to students on campus. In 2023, a
decision was made by CSUF’s information technology department to revive the application by
transferring it from the campus portal to the university’s official mobile app “iFullerton.” The
goal was to make it simpler for faculty, staff, and club advisors to register to make
announcements and alert students about surplus food. Students continue to praise the application
as an opportunity to lessen food waste on campus (Orta 2023).
2.3.2 PittGrub
Another announcement-based food sharing initiative was developed by a research team
from the computer science department at the University of Pittsburgh. The team attempted to
spearhead the development of PittGrub, a mobile application designed to feed students and
eliminate food waste by using artificial intelligence to intelligently select users to invite to events
with leftover food (Silvis, Sicilia, and Labrinidis 2018). University of Pittsburgh students could
create an account and set their food preferences (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc), while
approved users could submit food announcements. The developers used machine learning to
determine how many notifications to send out and a valuation model to determine to whom
notifications would be sent based on several factors including food preferences, probability of
attendance, fairness, and reported food insecurity. As of 2018, the application was in beta testing;
however, no additional feedback has been published and no further developments have been
made.
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2.3.3 ShareMeals
Share Meals is a geospatial food sharing application that is accessible via a web browser
or a downloadable mobile application. It was designed to tackle hunger on college campuses by
encouraging students to donate extra meal swipes and food to those who are food insecure (Chin
2021). Originally developed for students at New York University, the application is now
accessible to any university student in the US with a “.edu” email and works by allowing users to
submit and view locations, descriptions, and photos of free food that is available in their
communities. The application consists of three tabs, including a map derived from
OpenStreetMap (OSM), a form to submit meal swipe and food donations, and a page to view
account settings. The primary map and donation form display of the Share Meals application are
displayed in Figure 4.
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Figure 4. Map and food posting survey of the Share Meals mobile application
Share Meals is free for students at any American university to use at any time. To begin,
students must create a new account using their university email address. The application is
designed so that students can only interact with others in their university. To share meal swipes,
users are directed to fill out time and location details and provide a short note. To post free food
events, users are not only directed to fill out time and location details, but also encouraged to add
dietary information and event photos. If a user is interested in finding meal swipes, they would
use the real-time map to select nearby offers. Clicking on a meal swipe offer opens a chat so that
the user can connect with the donor. If a user is interested in attending a free food event, they
would use the real-time map and click on nearby events to view their details (Share Meals n.d).
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Launching the Share Meals application at USC could be an easy way to introduce food
sharing. However, users may be hesitant to use it because of its lack of customization. For
example, the application’s map display does not show details such as university building names,
which would help users more easily identify donation locations. The application is also not
managed by anyone directly affiliated with USC, so security issues or application bugs could be
more difficult to navigate and resolve. This project seeks to develop a USC-specific application
that promotes a sense of community that users can feel more comfortable trusting.
2.3.4 FreeEats
FreeEats is an iOS/Android food sharing application founded by Trey Rudolph and
Elijah Olasunkami, two students at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). Motivated
after seeing the amount of food waste on WashU’s campus, Rudolph and Olasumkami worked
together to develop an application allowing students to share real-time information on free food
on campus (Baek 2021). After a successful pilot launch at WashU, the application is now
accessible to any university student in the US. To use the application, users are first directed to
sign in using their university email address. They can post free food by filling out the “Free Food
Form” to share the location and details on available food. Users can also browse posts using the
application’s map display. Screenshots of the application’s “Free Food Form” and map display
are shown in Figure 5. The application also allows users to “check-in” to a free food post to
claim one of the available food servings. “Checking in” also allows others to know how many
servings of food may be left for a specific post. Users can also add comments to food posts to let
others know about current situations (Good Mobile LLC). This projects takes inspiration from
the “check-in” and comment features.
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Figure 5. FreeEats application free food form and map display
One unique aspect of the FreeEats application is the implementation of a virtual currency
called “Eat Tickets.” Eat Tickets are used within the application to incentivize food sharing.
When a user “checks-in” to a food post, one Eat Ticket is spent. When a user posts free food and
all of its servings are claimed or the post expires, ten Eat Tickets are rewarded. When a user runs
out of Eat Tickets, they are no longer able to view free food posts. Thus, they are encouraged to
participate in sharing (FreeEats LLC 2021).
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2.3.5 OLIO
First introduced in 2015, OLIO is a United Kingdom-based mobile application (available
on iOS or Android) that connects neighbors with each other and local businesses so that surplus
food and household items can be shared rather than thrown away. It is one of the most popular
publicly available peer-to-peer food sharing applications, boasting over 7 million users
worldwide (OLIO Exchange Limited 2023a). Users can download the application and create a
new account to begin sharing or claiming food and other items. To make items available, users
simply add a photo, description, and location for pick up. Others can browse available items
using the application’s listings page or map, and request to collect items they are interested in.
Once a collection is requested, a private message thread is initiated so that both parties can
coordinate. The application also provides waste reduction challenges and includes a forum where
users can ask questions. OLIO has reported that since its inception, over 96 million portions of
food and 8 million household items have been shared among its 7 million users. Among users,
75% reported that OLIO improved their financial wellbeing and 40% reported making new
friends through sharing (OLIO Exchange Limited 2023a).
A limitation of OLIO is that a subscription is required in order for users to unlock full
access to items available in their neighborhoods. The monthly and annual subscriptions are
currently set at $5.49 or $29.99 respectively (OLIO Exchange Limited 2023b). Figure 6
illustrates two locations where food is available near Los Angeles; however, details are
unavailable to non-subscription users. Limiting the access of free neighborhood resources to only
subscribing members may contribute to accessibility barriers. OLIO may be an easy way to
obtain free resources from neighbors, but those with financial difficulties may not have the
capacity to continue paying subscription fees.
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Figure 6. OLIO application map view for non-subscription users
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic from October 2019 through January 2021, OLIO
reported approximately 1.8 million food items listed worldwide. During that time, there were an
estimated 6 million registered users. Makov et al. (2023) found that activity levels on the peer-to-
peer food sharing platform not only rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also outperformed
previous projections. Analysis indicated that though activities rose, sharing did not seem to be
correlated heavily with higher numbers of food-insecure users. The authors suggest that OLIO’s
strengths lie in motivations to avoid food waste and build community rather than directly
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influencing food insecurity (Makov et al. 2023). These findings align with this project’s
objectives of mitigating food waste.
2.4 Introduction to Volunteered Geographic Information
The term VGI was first coined by Goodchild (2007) to describe the phenomenon of using
the Web to create, assemble, and disseminate spatial information contributed voluntarily by
individuals. Advancements in web and mobile GIS technology have brought a rise in VGI,
allowing everyday citizens to contribute to geospatial datasets and influence scientific research.
The primary goal of VGI is to collect and disseminate geographic data contributed voluntarily by
individuals from the public who do not necessarily share connections, while prioritizing the
contribution and communication of that data (Verplanke et al. 2016). VGI has become widely
used in various fields ranging from disaster management communication (Zook et al. 2010) to
connecting citizens to city services (City of Los Angeles 2022). VGI is now more frequently
used to aid in food sharing, with many applications including mapping features where users can
submit and browse donations (Chin 2021; FreeEats LLC 2021; OLIO Exchange Limited 2023b).
VGI is related to but differs from participatory GIS (PGIS). Similar to VGI, PGIS takes a
collaborative approach to collecting, managing, and utilizing geographic information; however,
it emphasizes community empowerment in a more thorough way. The purpose of using a PGIS
practice is to allow individuals to contribute to spatial decision making processes that affect their
own local communities. The practice is geared towards strengthening local identities by focusing
on sharing culturally sensitive spatial knowledge and perspectives through community voices
(Verplanke et al. 2016). Thus, while PGIS is focused on improving local planning through
spatial data gathered in collaboration with “experts” and local communities, VGI is focused on
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the public contribution and communication of spatial data regardless of identity (Verplanke et al.
2016).
This project integrates publicly contributed data into its design and development,
allowing anyone from the intended audience to contribute geographic information on food
donations on campus. Participants can choose how to utilize the data presented, whether that is to
claim donations or analyze trends. Though some levels of community cohesion are required to
facilitate successful food sharing, this project does not serve the purpose of facilitating inter-
generational knowledge exchange and has not engaged community members in the step-by-step
planning, so it would not be considered PGIS at this stage. Future improvements of the
application that derive from more in-depth community discussions could change its classification
to PGIS.
VGI initiatives source data from laypersons who lack professional training in GIS,
mapping, and data collection. Thus, data quality assurance can be a tricky issue to navigate.
Goodchild and Li (2012) introduce three approaches to quality assurance: the crowdsourcing
approach, the social approach, and the geographic approach. The crowdsourcing approach refers
to the ability of a crowd to validate or correct errors that an individual VGI contributor may
make. The social approach refers to the development of a hierarchal structure where a small
group of trusted individuals act as moderators of VGI data. The geographic approach refers to
the comparison of contributed geographic data with existing knowledge about a geographic area.
All of these approaches may be applicable in validating the data contributed within food sharing
applications. For example, allowing community members to leave comments on posts can
provide more accurate information on donation status, and giving moderators the ability to filter
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out inappropriate posts can improve user experience. Providing a labeled basemap can also allow
users to locate donations using textual details even if geometry is placed wrong.
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Chapter 3 Methodology
This chapter describes the process of building the TFF, including designing application
functionalities and developing the components of the final end-user application. The subsections
describe application requirements, overall workflow, data design and publishing, survey design,
and final application design and development.
3.1 Application Requirements
When planning the design and development of the TFF application, thoughtful
considerations were made to optimize user experience and ensure easy application maintenance
in the future. The following sections describe intended users, functional requirements, and
software requirements, which build the foundation of the application.
3.1.1. Intended Users
The intended users of the TFF are USC community members consisting of students,
faculty, and staff. Users fall into one of three categories: food donors, food seekers, or
sustainability stakeholders. Food donors can use the application to submit food donations located
on campus; food seekers can use the application to view and express interest in food donations;
sustainability stakeholders can use the application to gather statistics on both donations and
interest. For the purposes of this proof-of-concept, an emphasis was placed on testing and
gathering feedback on the core application functionalities developed specifically for food donors
and food seekers.
The participants of the application beta-test were USC students, faculty, or staff
associated with USC SSCI’s summer 2023 classes or the OoS. To participate in the beta-test,
users needed to have active USC NetID login credentials and internet web browser access.
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Though considered a non-expert audience, users were assumed to have some baseline familiarity
with web and mobile applications due to their affiliation with a university. Detailed instructions
on application navigation were also crafted and embedded within the TFF for users. An
invitation email forwarded to SSCI course instructors and the OoS’s data analyst specialist
invited intended participants to test key application functionalities (without engaging in real-life
exchanges of food) and to fill out an anonymous survey to provide feedback on application
experience and suggestions on future improvements.
3.1.2. Functional Requirements
Many functional considerations were made to develop the TFF into an application
capable of meeting the needs of intended users. First and foremost, the application needed to
collect spatial and non-spatial data generated by users. This meant providing an avenue for food
donors to submit food donations and edit donation availability status, and allowing food seekers
to submit indications of interest in donations. In order to capture user-generated data from food
donors and food seekers, it was necessary to design and integrate custom forms into the
application. The application also required interfaces that would allow users to view and interact
with submitted data in real-time. This implied the addition of custom web maps, dynamic charts,
and data filtering elements directly linked to the datasets populated from form submissions.
To organize all functionalities and interfaces into a single end-user application, the
development platform had to accommodate multiple pages and pop-up windows that could be
easily navigated through using buttons. As a food sharing application, it was also necessary for
the TFF to be accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, which required unique
optimizations to account for different screen sizes. Additionally, application access had to be
restricted to USC community members only in order to maintain security. To allow users to sign
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in using their USC login credentials to gain access, the application had to be linked to existing
USC infrastructure. Due to these functional requirements, Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise was chosen
as the ideal application development ecosystem.
3.1.3. Software Requirements
ArcGIS Enterprise is the foundational GIS that can be installed and deployed on existing
infrastructure owned and managed by an organization like USC. Unlike ArcGIS Online (AGOL),
a software-as-a-service (SaaS) managed and maintained by Esri, ArcGIS Enterprise gives
complete control of the GIS and its components to the organization, allowing for added levels of
security. Enterprise can be deployed on the cloud, on-premises, or on virtual machines, and each
deployment at USC has been customized by the university to meet its needs. Enterprise is also
tightly integrated with ArcGIS Pro, Esri’s desktop application for working with spatial data,
which was used in this project to prepare data layers.
ArcGIS Enterprise Portal, a front-end HTTPS website, is a component of ArcGIS
Enterprise that plays a key role in organizing and sharing information. It allows organization
members to create and store spatial data, maps, and applications, and share them with
collaborators. Content shared or created within Enterprise Portal is automatically stored within
an organization’s ArcGIS server. Enterprise Portal also provides access to OOTB application
building tools such as ExB, Survey123, and Dashboards, which were the foundational
components of the TFF application.
An ArcGIS Enterprise Hub Site is a custom web page experience built within Enterprise
Portal that serves as central location for non-GIS users to access hosted content relevant to a
particular department or project. Behind each hub site is a content library where site managers
and core team members can create and share new relevant apps, maps, and data. Adding new
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items to a site’s content library is equivalent to hosting the items directly within Enterprise Portal
and sharing them to a controlled group. Site managers and core team members can configure a
site’s web pages to allow others within the organization to access existing applications and
interact with or download data. Because this project involved USC’s OoS, the pre-established
Sustainability Data Hub served as the ideal hub site to house the TFF application and its
associated data.
The TFF application and its various components are hosted within USC’s ArcGIS
Enterprise Portal and are also part of the Sustainability Data Hub’s content library. The
Sustainability Data Hub site is actively used by the OoS and the USC community to share data
and resources to the USC community for experiential learning, research, and facilities
management; thus, adding the TFF to the content library would allow it to seamlessly integrate
into public-facing site pages in the future. In order to work within the hub site, the researcher
was added to the Sustainability Data Hub’s “core team” and was granted editing and publishing
permissions.
Ultimately, the goal of using ArcGIS products, Enterprise Portal, and the Sustainability
Data Hub to build and store the TFF application components was to allow for team collaboration
and to provide a solution for ensuring the application’s longevity following this thesis project.
With permissions, the Sustainability Data Hub’s core team members can access backend data
from the application through the content library, allowing them to use it to advance their work on
food waste. Furthermore, Esri’s highly configurable OOTB application building tools are not
only easy to navigate without coding experience, but are also accompanied by robust online
documentation. Thus, OoS team members can easily take ownership of the TFF and its
components within the hub site in the future to continue making improvements.
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3.2 Design and Development Overview
The TFF was developed using Esri’s proprietary ArcGIS software as an intuitive, user-
friendly application that can be easily navigated by a non-expert audience using a desktop or
mobile web browser. Careful consideration was put into the development of the TFF’s user
experience, the user interface, scalability, and manageability. The workflow diagram (Figure 7)
showing the overall development process is summarized in the following paragraphs.

Figure 7. Workflow Diagram
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The TFF was developed using both ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Enterprise Portal. ArcGIS
Pro was utilized to prepare two spatial data layers and one non-spatial table. The two spatial data
layers included one polygon layer used to define the study area, and one point layer used to store
data on food donations. The non-spatial table was designed to store data on donation interest. As
part of the ArcGIS Pro workflow, a relationship was defined between the food donations point
layer and the donation interest table. This set the foundation for dynamic functionality allowing
food donations to be directly linked to specific expressed interest, and vice versa. After the data
were prepared, the layers were published to the Enterprise Portal and simultaneously added to
the Sustainability Data Hub’s content library. For the remainder of this paper, it can be assumed
that any items published to the Enterprise Portal are also stored in the Sustainability Data Hub’s
content library.
The application development workflow within Enterprise Portal can be broken into four
separate components: web map development, form development, dashboard development, and
overall application development. Web map development included using custom ArcGIS Arcade
expressions to customize pop-ups and symbology. Form development included using ArcGIS
Survey123 Connect to develop three custom forms designed to allow users to submit new food
donations, make donations unavailable, and express interest in donations respectively. It also
included using Survey123 Web Designer to develop a simple feedback survey. Dashboard
development involved using ArcGIS Dashboards to summarize food donation and donation
interest data in charts, graphs, and a heat map. Finally, overall application development included
embedding all previously mentioned elements into a final multi-page ExB application
framework.
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3.3 Data Design and Publishing
Data design and organization are important factors that build the foundation of any VGI
application, including the TFF. The TFF centers its functionality around crowdsourcing data on
donations and donation interest from users in real-time. Thus, building data constraints and
defining data relationships were a vital step to maintain data integrity and to ensure smooth
integration of user-facing functionalities. The following section describes the data layers
developed for use within the application.
3.3.1 USC DPS Patrol Area Boundary
The USC Department of Public Safety (DPS) Patrol Area boundary was used to delineate
the study area in web maps used in the TFF. The boundary encompasses a 2.5 mile radius of
USC-owned property as well as other public and private spaces (including housing complexes)
that may be affiliated with the university. The USC DPS website provides a static map that
visualizes the boundary area. In order to digitize the area into a feature layer usable within web
maps, the map was downloaded as a .png image and brought into Esri’s ArcGIS Pro as a raster
for georeferencing.
To georeference the image, a total of three control points, located at street intersections,
were added to tie locations from the source image to the corresponding locations on the “streets”
basemap within ArcGIS Pro. Once the image aligned with the basemap, a new polygon feature
class was created and projected to NAD 1983 (2011) StatePlane California V FIPS 0405 (US
Feet). The polygon boundary was manually drawn to align with the boundary presented in the
georeferenced image, and then stored in the project geodatabase. It was then published to
Enterprise Portal as a hosted feature layer.

40
Table 1. Data Table
Data Description Temporal Scale
USC DPS Patrol Area
boundary (static imagery)
Boundary representing USC
DPS Patrol Area
2019
Source: USC Department of Public Safety 2019
3.3.2 Food Donations Point Layer
A custom point feature class was prepared within ArcGIS Pro to store spatial data and
attributes on food donations submitted by users. To start, the Create Feature Class geoprocessing
tool was run to generate the new point layer within the project geodatabase. The layer was then
populated with a specific set of fields (Figure 8). These fields represented the food donation
details expected to be filled in by food donors before submitting. In order to allow users to
include an image of their donation in their submissions, the layer needed to authorize photo
attachments. Authorization was accomplished by running the layer through the Enable
Attachments geoprocessing tool.

Figure 8. Food Donation Point Layer fields
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3.3.3 Donation Interest Table
A table was also prepared within the project geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro to store data on
interest associated with each food donation submitted to the point layer. Several custom fields
were added to the table to prepare it for data collection and to set up a foundation to relate it to
the point layer (Figure 9). Required fields included GlobalID, which auto-assigns a unique
identifier to each new data submission, and GUID which is populated with a food donation
point’s GlobalID when a food seeker submits their interest in a specific donation using the
application. Three other fields, “interested_donation” and “if_other,” used to populate the table
with a specified food donation point’s name, and “donation_details,” used to populate the table
with a specified donation’s details, were also added as necessities for functionality associated
with expressing interest in food.

Figure 9. Donation Interest Table fields
To define a relationship between the food donation point layer and the donation interest
table, a new one-to-many relationship class was created between them within the project
geodatabase. Doing so prepared an organized structure that allowed one food donation to be
associated with several indications of interest. The GlobalID field served as the primary key
42
within the food donation point layer while the GUID field served as the foreign key in the
donation interest table. The “interested donation,” “if_other,” and “donation_details” fields in the
table served as composite foreign keys pulling data from the “donation,” “note,” and
“location_description” fields in the point layer respectively.
3.3.4 Data Publishing
Once prepared, the food donation point layer and the donation interest table were
published together to the Enterprise Portal as a single hosted feature layer called
“TFF_Donations_Interest.” This layer, along with the study area boundary layer, was added and
saved within a web map to visualize the data within the TFF.
3.4 Form Design
Three unique forms were required to create the functionality allowing users to submit and
manipulate donation and donation interest data within the TFF. The forms are listed as follows:
Donate Food Form, Make Donation Unavailable Form, and Express Interest in Food Form. The
previously published food donation point layer served as the template for the Donate Food and
Make Donation Unavailable forms, while the donation interest table served as the template for
the Express Interest in Food form. All three forms were developed using ArcGIS Survey123
Connect, a Microsoft desktop application that allows for the creation of complex customized
surveys via an XLSForm file.
An XLSForm is a form standard developed to simplify the creation of forms in Excel.
When opened, an XLSForm contains three worksheets: survey, choices, and settings. The survey
worksheet is where the overall structure of the form is designed. It is where all survey questions
are contained, and allows for customization of how each survey question should appear to the
end-user. The choices worksheet is used to define the answer choices for multiple choice
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questions. It is equivalent to designating coded value domains for fields within a feature layer.
Lastly, the settings worksheet is used to assign a form’s name and specify the data layer the
form’s submissions will populate within a server. The following sections describe the design and
development process of the TFF’s three forms.
3.4.1 Donate Food Form
The Donate Food Form allows users to submit data on free food available within the USC
UPC. To build the foundation of the form, the previously published “TFF_Donations_Interest”
feature layer described in Section 3.3.3 was selected. When using an existing service as the
foundation of a new form, Survey123 Connect auto-generates a form that is populated with
questions based on the layer’s previously defined fields. The auto-generated Donate Food Form
included all of the food donation point layer’s pre-defined fields, as well those of the donation
interest table. The fields from the donation interest table and the “Expired” field from the food
donation point layer were not relevant to the Donate Food Form, so they were deleted from the
survey worksheet of the XLSForm. A geopoint field was subsequently added to enable a map to
be included within the survey, allowing users to record point data representing the locations of
food donations. An image field was also added to enable users to upload photos to their form
submissions.
Using the worksheets in the XLSForm, each survey question was customized further by
specifying field type, field hint, appearance, requirement, default, and relevance as shown in
Figure 10. Multiple choice fields assigned as “select one” or “select multiple” required pre-
populated lists of potential answers to choose from. Lists were defined in the choices worksheet
shown in Figure 11 and assigned to fields within the “type” column of the survey worksheet. The
appearance of the multiple choice fields was designated as “minimal” so that they would appear
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in neat dropdowns in the form. The free response “Other” field was programmed to appear only
if the food donor selected “Other” as the donation type. Several of the survey questions included
hints to help guide users, and several questions were designated as required before the form was
published to Enterprise Portal.

Figure 10. Donate Food Form XLSForm (as if scrolling left with column A frozen)
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Figure 11. Donate Food Form answer choice lists
After the Donate Food Form was successfully published to Enterprise Portal for the first
time, Survey123 Connect was used again to connect the form to the previously created TFF web
map. The web map was added as “Linked Content,” allowing it to be used as a basemap within
the form. Under the “Map” tab, the TFF web map was selected as the default basemap to ensure
newly submitted data would be visualized in real-time. Within the “Form” tab, the basemap of
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the survey map was also changed to ensure that Food Donors would be able to reference the
locations of all real-time donation submissions while adding their own. The form was
republished to save the new changes.
3.4.2 Make Donations Unavailable Form
The Make Donations Unavailable Form allows users to select a donation point that they
previously submitted and change its status from available to expired. The form was built using
the existing “TFF_Donations_Interest” feature service as the data source, but only retains the
“donation,” “location_description,” and “expired” fields from the food donation point layer
(Figure 12). The “donation” and “location_description” fields are assigned as read only, and are
auto populated in the form with information on a specific donation when a user clicks on the
point in a map. The “expired” field is presented as a button, which users are required to select to
tag their food donation point as expired. The mechanism of this form is described in further
detail in Section 4.3.5.

Figure 12. Make Donations Unavailable Form XLSForm
3.4.3 Express Interest in Food Form
The Express Interest in Food Form allows users to select existing donation from a map
and submit a declaration of interest for that specific donation. The form was developed using the
same process as the Donate Food Form, but with a few specific customizations as users would
not be contributing any new spatial data. Similar to the Donate Food Form, the
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“TFF_Donations_Interest” feature service was used again to build the default Express Interest in
Food Form. However, in this workflow, all fields in the XLSForm associated with the donation
interest table were preserved, while all other fields were deleted.
To ensure that all of the donation interest data submitted by food seekers maintained its
relationship to the original food donation point, it was necessary to include the GUID field in the
form as a hidden field (that users were unable to view or edit) with the field type “GUID.”
Further, the “interested_donation” and “donation_details” fields were added as a “read only” text
fields in the form to allow donation name and details from the food donation point layer to be
auto populated based on the selected point (Figure 13). The name of the interest table was used
as the form id in the “settings” tab of the XLSForm in order to ensure that data submitted
through the form would be diverted to the donation interest table rather than the food donation
point layer. The finalized form was published to Enterprise Portal.
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Figure 13. Express Interest in Food Form XLSForm (as if scrolling left with column A frozen)
3.5 Beta-Test Survey Design
The Beta-Test Survey was created and published using the Survey123 Web Designer tool
within the Enterprise Portal. Survey123 Web Designer allows for the quick development of
surveys using pre-created design elements. The web designer contains four tabs: add, edit,
appearance, and options. The “add” tab includes a variety of widgets that can be dragged and
dropped into a survey to create different types of questions (Figure 14). The Beta-Test Survey
contains a total of three demographic questions and fourteen application feedback questions
(Appendix B) that were developed by the researcher. All questions appear as single choice,
multiple choice, Likert scale, rating, or short answer. Some questions were designed using logic
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to only appear if a participant answered previous questions a certain way. For example, if a
participant selects that they tested the application only using a mobile device, they will be
presented with questions related to the mobile experience and not the desktop experience. After
publishing, the survey was embedded within the final application.

Figure 14. Beta-Test Survey developed within Survey123 Web Designer
3.6 Application Development and Design
The TFF application was built using ExB, and integrates the data layers and forms
described in previous sections as well as other custom interactive components. This section
details the processes used for web map customization and dashboard development, and outlines
how all components were brought together into final desktop and mobile interfaces.
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3.6.1 Web Map Customization
The TFF web map was developed to allow users to view the locations and details of food
donations within the USC UPC. The layers added to the web map included the
“TFF_Donations_Interest” hosted feature layer as well as the study area boundary layer. ArcGIS
Arcade was used in the web map to customize pop-ups and generate automatic symbology
changes based on data attributes. Arcade is a lightweight expression language used exclusively to
create customizations in ArcGIS applications. The three pop-up customizations incorporated into
the web map using Arcade include adding a live donation interest count, displaying comments
submitted by food seekers, and listing dietary information. A single symbology expression was
written to change the color of food donation points on the map from green to red when the
availability time is over or when the food donor marks the donation as expired.
Arcade FeatureSets were used to pull data on donation interest from the donation interest
table into the food donation point pop-ups. FeatureSets are a set of Arcade data functions that
allow multiple features from different layers to be manipulated at once. To display a running
total of interest count within the pop-up, a simple expression defining a variable for related
records was created, and the related donation interest table was called using the
FeatureSetByRelationshipName function. The count function was called to return a count of the
related records (Figure 15). Adding the completed expression in the pop-up allowed users to
view interest count for each donation in real-time.
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Figure 15. Arcade expression for displaying interest count in pop-up
To display comments submitted by food seekers in pop-ups, FeatureSets were used again
to access the “date” and “comments” fields from the related table. The data was sorted
descending by date, ensuring newer comments would be displayed at the top. After accessing the
data from the donation interest related table, defining a new string would allow the comments to
appear within the pop-up. A “for" loop was used to define how each comment entry in the
related table would appear in the pop-up with the date and time in one line and the comment
itself in a line below the date (Figure 16).

Figure 16. Arcade expression for displaying comments in pop-up
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Arcade can be used to reorganize how information from multiple choice questions are
displayed. When submitting a new donation, food donors can use a multiple choice field to check
off boxes indicating dietary information that may apply including potential allergens and diet
restrictions. By default, pop-ups will list the selected choices side-by-side using their stored
values rather than alias labels. This is because Survey123 stores multiple choice questions as
comma separated values within a text field. Within an Arcade expression, variables were defined
to substitute stored values from the “dietaryrestrictions” field with cleaner labels. The
formatLabels function was created and called to add a check mark next to each label for aesthetic
purposes. The formatMulti function was created and called to display new labels in a vertical list
rather than in a single line (Figure 17).
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Figure 17. Arcade expression for displaying dietary information in pop-up
Arcade was also used to auto-configure the symbology of the donation points in order to
better inform users on donation availability. Within the expression, an if-else statement was used
to set the conditions for when each donation should be shown as “Hidden,” “Expired,” or
“Available.” “Hidden” is returned if a donation was not submitted on the current day. “Expired”
is returned if a donation’s availability timeframe is over or if a user marks their donation as
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expired. “Available” is returned as default if none of the above conditions apply (Figure 18). The
donation points were visualized using unique symbology. Donations that meet the conditions for
“Hidden” are automatically removed from the map, while those that meet the conditions for
“Expired” and “Available” are displayed as red points and green points respectively.

Figure 18. Arcade expression for changing donation point color
3.6.2 Dashboard Development
ArcGIS Dashboards was used to develop an interactive dashboard displaying a dynamic
heat map, charts, and graphs to summarize data on food donations and food interest submitted by
users in real-time. Although ExB allows for the addition of maps, some charts, and other metrics
indicators, Dashboards was chosen as the preferred tool to display these items within the TFF
because it offered more chart display options and interactive capabilities. The dashboard includes
two pie chart widgets, one configured to show the distribution of food types donated and one
configured to show the distribution of donor types. It also includes two bar graph widgets that
display total donation and total interest submissions by day respectively. A copy of the TFF web
map was used to display donation points symbolized as a heat map, and a number indicator was
used to present the running total of food servings donated (Figure 19).
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Figure 19. Desktop Dashboard interface
3.6.3 TFF Desktop Application Interface
ExB was used to develop the main user-facing application interface of the TFF. The
OOTB tool is designed for creating highly configurable, no-code, GIS web applications for
presenting 2D and 3D data. ExB allows for the creation of multi-page applications using drag
and drop widgets with the option to customize the user experience for both desktop and mobile
screens. Though ExB offers many pre-created templates that can be used for application
development, the TFF was created from the ground up using a blank template. The desktop
configuration of the application defaults to a home page and contains three main buttons in its
header that take users to separate pages and windows with key functionalities.
The home page of the TFF’s desktop view was organized into four fixed panels which
separated the application instructions, food safety information, feedback survey, and USC OoS
website (Figure 20). Under the “Instructions” heading, each key application functionality was
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listed on a separate button widget. Each button widget was linked to a separate anchored
window, which contained detailed instructions on the functionality in question. Under the “Food
Safety” heading, a simple text widget was added to include a use disclaimer and quick notes on
food safety. The beta-test feedback survey was embedded directly into the home page using the
“Survey” widget and was enabled to allow users to submit new records. The OoS’s website was
also embedded directly into the interface using the “Embed” widget.

Figure 20. TFF desktop home page
The header in the TFF’s desktop view contains the USC logo and application title, as well
as Donate Food, Find Food, and Food Analytics buttons. The logo and application title are
overlayed by an invisible button, which was configured to take users back to the home page
when selected. The Food Analytics button links to a separate application page, which uses the
“Embed” widget to display the dashboard (Section 3.6.2). The Donate Food button links to an
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anchored window containing a menu with two buttons that direct users to embedded Survey123
forms (Figure 21).

Figure 21. Donate Food! button and anchored window menu
Within the anchored window, the New Donation! button was configured to open a fixed
window containing the Donate Food form. The form was embedded using the “Survey” widget,
and enabled to allow for new submissions. The Make Donation Unavailable button was
configured to open a fixed window containing an embedded TFF web map and the Make
Donation Unavailable form. Using the “Survey” widget (Figure 22), the Make Donation
Unavailable form’s mode was set so that it could be used to update existing features rather than
create new ones. The TFF web map embedded within the fixed window was selected as the
target map and the food donations point layer was selected as the layer that would be edited
through the form submissions.
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Figure 22. Survey widget settings for Make Donation Unavailable form
The Find Food! button was configured to take users to a new page containing the TFF
web map, donation details, donation list, and the Express Interest in Food form. The page uses a
sidebar layout in which the TFF web map, donation details, and donation list are arranged on the
left and the Express Interest in Food Form is embedded into a sidebar on the right (Figure 23).
The donation list was added to the application using the list widget, and was connected to
dynamic content from the food donations layer including donation name, description, access
instructions, and attachments. Web map pop-ups showing the details on submitted food
donations were displayed on the page through the Feature Info widget. Images associated with
donations could be displayed on the page using the “Image” widget, which was configured to use
attachments from the food donation layer as a dynamic data source. Map and widget action
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triggers were added to allow all page elements to behave together and filter donation information
based on user selections and map zoom.

Figure 23. Find Food! desktop page configuration (editing view)
The Express Interest in Food Form, which sends data to the donation interest table,
required four field connections to auto populate its hidden and read-only fields with data from
the food donation point layer. Using the “Survey” widget, the form was set to allow new record
submissions and to use the food donations layer as the source layer which data would be derived
from. When a field connection is set, a form field will populate with data from the connected
field in the source layer when a feature from the source layer is selected in the map. The
connections are displayed in Figure 24 with the field on top representing the source field and the
field on the bottom representing the form field being populated.
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Figure 24. Survey widget settings for the Express Interest in Donations form
3.6.4 TFF Mobile/Small Screen Application Interface
A custom compact interface was designed to optimize the TFF for mobile devices and
small screens. Within the ExB editor, an application is built for web browser screens by default;
however, there are buttons at the top of the editor that allow an application to be viewed and
reconfigured to better fit smaller screens. When opening the small or medium screen view in the
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editor, the “auto” button is automatically toggled on, which brings in all of the application design
elements from the default web browser application. In the case of the TFF, the default elements
appeared cluttered within the smaller screen layout. In order to create a separate layout better
suited for mobile devices and small screens, the “custom” button shown in Figure 25 was toggled
on to allow widgets and page elements to be re-customized. A key step was to clear out the
cluttered default design elements, like buttons and text, brought in from the web browser
application by moving them to the pending list. Once cleared, new widgets could be incorporated
to re-create the application specifically for the smaller screen layout.
For the TFF, all of the key user functionalities and application views were translated from
the desktop configuration to the mobile configuration with some slight modifications for user
experience. As show in Figure 25, the application home page of the mobile interface differs from
the desktop configuration as it was designed to serve as the main navigation menu. Additional
buttons were added the menu to link to fixed windows containing application instructions, food
safety information, the OoS home page, and the feedback survey which were previously directly
displayed in the desktop interface. Other page views, including the Find Food! page and Food
Analytics dashboard, were also reorganized to fit mobile screens as displayed in Figure 25.
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Figure 25. Mobile application Home Page; left, Find Food! page; center, and Food Analytics
Dashboard; right

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Chapter 4 Results
This chapter discusses the results of the TFF application development and beta testing. Section
4.1 describes the TFF web map, which is the foundation of many of the application’s interactive
components. Section 4.2 introduces the application’s web and mobile configurations and walks
through each page and window display. Section 4.2 provides a link to the application and
outlines application usage instructions. Lastly, Section 4.3 discusses the feedback provided from
application beta-testing.
4.1 Web Map
The TFF web map displays user-generated data on food donations and donation interest,
and serves as the foundation for many of the application’s interactive functionalities. When a
food donor submits a new food donation, a point representing the donation appears in real-time
within the TFF web map at its specified location. Details on the donation, including any
submitted comments and indications of interest, are stored within the point’s pop-up. Pop-ups are
configured within the web map. If a donation is available, its point appears green within the map.
If a donation has expired, its point appears red within the map. Each point is also labeled with the
food donation type, which donors select from a set of options, to make it easy for those browsing
to identify what they may be interested in (Figure 26). All points are automatically cleared from
the map at 12:00 AM each night to ensure each day’s donations are fresh.
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Figure 26. TFF web map overview
The main TFF map display is embedded within the “Find Food!” page, which food
seekers navigate to browse and express interest in food. Within the page, the map is dynamically
linked to interactive widgets, allowing seekers to easily filter and zoom into points and view their
details. The map is also dynamically linked to the embedded “Express Interest in Food”
Survey123 form, allowing seekers to select a donation point to express interest in it. Additional
details on the “Find Food!” page are described in Section 4.2.4.
The TFF web map is also used to support functionalities related to donating food and
making donations unavailable. The map is embedded directly within the “Donate Food”
Survey123 form, which is used for submitting new donations. When filling out the form, food
donors use the map to drop a pin indicating the location of their donation. All previously
submitted donations from the day are also visible in the map for donors to reference (Figure 27).
The map is also utilized in a separate window where donors can make their previously submitted
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donations unavailable. It is dynamically linked to the “Make Donations Unavailable” Survey123
form, allowing users to select a specific point to change its availability status.

Figure 27. TFF web map embedded within Donate Food form
An altered version of the TFF web map, which displays all current and past donation
data, is embedded within the “Food Analytics” dashboard. The purpose of the map is to allow
sustainability stakeholders and other users to view the spatial distribution of donations across all
time. The donation data is visualized as individual points as well as in heat map form to allow
users to easily view trends. Unlike the main TFF map display, which uses the color of points to
indicate donation availability status, the dashboard map uses color to indicate the different types
of food donated (Figure 28).
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Figure 28. Food analytics dashboard web map
4.2 Application Configurations and Displays
The TFF is a VGI ExB application centered around functionalities that allow USC
community members to donate and browse surplus food on campus. It is designed to be
accessible via web and mobile browsers, and simple to use by individuals with limited
experience with geospatial applications. The application collects and displays data on food
donations and donation interest using web maps, data-centric widgets, and dynamic Survey123
and Dashboards components. All application components feed from or into the same data layers,
ensuring displays are accurate in real-time. This section introduces the TFF’s web and mobile
configurations and walks through each page and window display.
4.2.1 Web and Mobile Configurations
The TFF is accessible on both desktop and mobile browsers. To optimize user
experience, two different application configurations were developed to accommodate varying
screen sizes. The key user functionalities remain the same between the two configurations;
however, there are differences in overall application navigation and content display. One distinct
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feature of the desktop configuration is the application header, which houses the four key
navigation buttons: “Home” (accessed via clicking the application name in the left corner of the
header), “Donate Food!”, “Find Food!”, and “Food Analytics” (Figure 29). Unlike the desktop
configuration, the mobile configuration only contains a single home button in its header. This is
because the home page itself serves as the main menu containing all other navigation buttons.
Details on differences in presentation and navigation of various application pages and windows
are provided in following subsections.
4.2.2 Home
The application home page is the first page that users encounter when accessing the TFF.
Within the desktop configuration (Figure 29), the page is broken into four distinct sections:
instructions, food safety, provide feedback, and explore the OoS. Instructions are organized in
separate windows that can be opened by clicking buttons. The beta-testing feedback form and
OoS website can be accessed directly within the home page interface. The application header can
be accessed from the home page and all other pages. The header contains the USC logo,
application name, and three yellow menu buttons which provide users access to functionalities
for donating food, finding food, and viewing food analytics.
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Figure 29. TFF desktop configuration home page
Within the TFF’s mobile configuration, the home page itself serves as the main
navigation menu. The three yellow buttons that provide users access to functionalities for
donating food, finding food, and viewing food analytics are large and center on the screen. The
application use instructions, food safety note, feedback survey, and USC OoS website can be
accessed by clicking each of the four red buttons at the bottom of the screen (Figure 30). Unlike
the desktop configuration, the mobile configuration lists all application use instructions in a
single separate window for better display. The food safety note, feedback survey, and OoS
website are also accessed within the application in separate windows. For a better site navigation
experience, clicking the “Explore USC OoS” button in the mobile configuration takes users
directly to the OoS website in a new browser.

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Figure 30. TFF mobile configuration home page
4.2.3 Donate Food!
Donating food and making donations unavailable are key functionalities of the TFF that
users access by clicking the “Donate Food!” button. When a user clicks the button, it takes them
to a separate menu where they can choose whether they want to submit a new donation or make
one of their existing donations unavailable. If a user selects the option to submit a new donation,
a fixed window will appear displaying the “Donate Food” Survey123 form. If a user selects the
option to make an existing donation unavailable, a fixed window will appear displaying a copy
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of the TFF web map and the “Make Donations Unavailable” Survey123 form. The navigation
and displays described above are the same in both the desktop and mobile configurations.
4.2.4 Find Food!
The “Find Food!” button takes users to the Find Food! page, where they can browse
submitted donations and express interest in them. In the desktop application configuration, the
page is split into three main sections (Figure 31). The sidebar on the right contains the embedded
“Express Interest in Food” Survey123 form. Users can toggle a button to hide the form to get a
larger view of the TFF web map, which is embedded in the center of the page. The left column
contains a help button and dynamic widgets that are used to display donation details. At the top,
the help button takes users to a window with page navigation tips. Below the help button, all
current donations are captured in list form and sorted from newest to oldest. Each listed item
contains the donation’s name, an image of the donation, and the location details. Below the list
are the image and feature info widgets, which auto-display the image and details of whichever
donation is currently selected. The feature info widget inherits the pop-up content configured in
the TFF web map. The details included are donation name, description, location details, number
of servings, dietary information, availability timeframe, interest count, and comments.
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Figure 31. TFF desktop configuration Find Food! page
In the mobile application configuration, the content of the “Find Food!” page is organized
within a single scrollable column (Figure 32). One notable difference of the configuration is that
it does not include the list widget, which was excluded to simplify the interface. The main view
of the page is the TFF web map, which serves as the primary source for browsing current
donations. The feature info and image widget (same as those in the desktop configuration) are
embedded below the web map. Lastly, the “Express Interest in Food” Survey123 form is
embedded at the bottom of the page.
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Figure 32. Views of TFF mobile configuration Find Food! Page (as if scrolling down)
4.2.5 Food Analytics
Clicking the “Food Analytics” button takes users to the Food Analytics dashboard. The
dashboard contains six elements including two pie charts, two bar graphs, a web map, and a
number indicator. These elements serve as examples of different ways the TFF data can be
summarized to help users capture trends. In the desktop configuration, all elements are displayed
separately and can be viewed at the same time (Figure 33). The two pie charts, which summarize
donation data by user type and donation type respectively, use unique colors to differentiate
categories. The two bar charts summarize daily donation and donation interest data respectively.
The web map visualizes donation data as individual points and as a heat map. A legend is
provided to differentiate points by donation type and estimate heat map density. All of the
dashboard page elements in the desktop configuration are the same in the mobile configuration.
However, the pie charts and bar graphs overlay one another in the mobile configuration so the
user must toggle a button to view them one at a time (Figure 34).
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Figure 33. TFF desktop configuration Food Analytics dashboard

Figure 34. Views of TFF mobile configuration Food Analytics dashboard
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4.3 Application Usage
This section describes the instructions on how to access and navigate the TFF application.
It provides detailed steps users can take to submit new food donations, make donations
unavailable, and discover food analytics.
4.3.1 Application Link
Users can access the TFF application through a secure HTTPS URL. The URL can be
used to access the application on both desktop and mobile browser windows. A link is provided
below:
https://sustainabilitydata.usc.edu/arcgis/apps/experiencebuilder/experience/?id=b1dfceea571348
92acbe7809fed398cb
4.3.2 Application Access
The TFF was designed specifically to be used by USC students, faculty, and staff
members. Because it was developed within USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise ecosystem, there are
existing security measures that prevent anyone from outside of the organization from gaining
access to data and applications. When accessing the application, users are directed to sign into
the USC Sustainability Data Hub. After they press the blue button, they are redirected to the
USC Shibboleth login page where they are prompted to enter their USC NetID username and
password. Figure 35 shows the two login screen displays. After signing in, users will gain full
access to the TFF. Those without USC login credentials are unable to access to the application.
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Figure 35. USC Sustainability Data Hub; left, and USC Shibboleth; right, login screens
4.3.3 Application Use Instructions
After accessing the application, users are encouraged to browse the home page to read
usage instructions and food safety information before participating in donating food or
expressing interest in food. In the desktop view of the application, instructions are listed on
separate buttons by each key functionality: submitting new donations, expressing interest in
donations, making your donation unavailable, and discovering food analytics. When a button is
selected, a separate pop-up window will appear with detailed instructions (Figure 36). In the
mobile view, all instructions are listed within a single pop-up window to accommodate the
smaller screen size (Figure 37). A short disclaimer on food safety can also be accessed via the
home page on both desktop and mobile displays.
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Figure 36. Desktop configuration application instructions

Figure 37. Mobile configuration application instructions
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4.3.4 Submit New Food Donation
Food donors fill out a custom form to submit new food donations. To access the form,
donors will first select the “Donate Food!” button and then select “New Donation!” from the
menu. In the form, they are prompted to provide details on the food they are making available to
others (Figure 38). Some questions are open answer, while others are single or multiple choice to
maintain data integrity. Information that donors are required to provide when submitting a new
donation include the following: selecting a donation type, providing a brief description of food
item(s), providing instructions on accessing food items, indicating donation location on a map,
selecting a donation category, indicating number of servings, designating availability start and
end time, and indicating what type of user they are (student, faculty, or staff member). Optional
information that donors can provide include dietary information and an image of the food
donation, which can help with transparency and building credibility with food seekers. Once a
donor submits a new donation, its location and details are auto populated in the web maps,
dashboard, and dynamic widgets in real-time. If a donor’s food becomes unavailable, they can go
back to change the availability status to let others know listing has expired.
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Figure 38. Donate Food form front-end view
4.3.5 Make Donation Unavailable
If needed, donors can make their previously submitted donations unavailable by
submitting a form to change its availability status. To access the form, donors will first select the
“Donate Food!” button and then select “Make Donation Unavailable” from the menu. In the
window, they will see a map displaying all of the current donations, as well as a simple form
with one required field. By default, the form displays a message indicating that “editing is not
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possible because the globalid parameter was not provided” (Figure 39). This message simply
means that the user must select a donation point from the map in order to activate the form.
A donor can only update the status of donations that they previously submitted, so they
must select one of those points from the map. After selecting a point from the map, the
donation’s name and details will auto populate in the form to allow the donor to confirm that it is
the donation they intend on editing (Figure 39). Donors can submit the form after clicking the
button to indicate that the food is no longer available. The submission will not go through if a
donor attempts to update the status of another person’s donation. When the form is successfully
submitted, the donation in question will automatically appear red in the map, indicating it has
expired. Due to platform limitations, food seekers cannot use this form to make donations
unavailable even if they have already claimed items.

Figure 39. Make Donation Unavailable form default; left, and after donation point selection;
right

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4.3.6 Express Interest in Food
Individuals looking to obtain surplus food can use the TFF to view and express interest in
donations. Food seekers select the “Find Food!” button to access the main map, donation details,
and the “Express Interest in Food” form. To browse donations on a desktop browser, seekers can
either navigate the donation list or the map itself. When an item in the donation list is selected,
the map will automatically zoom into the point and the donation details will dynamically reflect
the selection. Similarly, when a point is selected in the map, the donation list and donation
details will also filter dynamically. The donation list view is unavailable on mobile browsers, so
users are expected to rely on the map to browse donations. Figure 40 shows the filtered Find
Food! page web display when the “Candy” donation is selected.

Figure 40. Desktop Find Food! page filtered to “Candy” donation
To express interest in a particular food donation, food seekers can submit the “Express
Interest in Food” form, which is directly embedded within the application interface (See Figure
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40 above). Seekers must select the point on the map that reflects the donation that they are
interested in. Once selected, the donation’s name and details will populate in the form so that the
seeker can confirm it is accurate before confirming their interest. Seekers are required to click a
button to confirm interest in the selected donation and indicate whether they are a student,
faculty, or staff member. They can also provide an optional comment. A running count of total
interest and any comments are recorded and auto populated in each donation’s details for others
to see (Figure 41). Donation interest data is also summarized within the Food Analytics
dashboard.

Figure 41. Donation details
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4.3.7 Browse Food Analytics
Sustainability stakeholders and other TFF users can click the “Food Analytics” button to
view a dashboard with statistics on food donations and donation interest over time. The
dashboard contains six elements including two pie charts, two bar graphs, a web map, and a
number indicator. When users submit a new donation or expresses interest in a donation, the data
is fed into the dashboard’s elements in real-time.
The dashboard elements serve as examples of different ways the TFF data can be
summarized to allow viewers to capture trends and visualize participation impact. The top pie
chart breaks down the distribution of donations among students, faculty, and staff, while the
bottom pie chart breaks down total donations by donation category. Users can select pie chart
segments to filter other dashboard elements by categories of interest. For example, a user may be
interested in looking at data on submissions made by faculty members (Figure 42). When
looking at the bar graphs, the top graph shows daily donation submissions, while the second bar
graph shows daily donation interest submissions. Users can toggle a slider to view changes in
daily submission totals over the life of the project. The dashboard web map visualizes the spatial
distribution of current and archived donation data using a heat map, and also displays all
individual donation points. A legend is provided as a guide that users can reference to estimate
point density and differentiate points by donation type. Lastly, a number indicator is used to
display the running total of food servings donated across all time.
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Figure 42. Food Analytics dashboard filtered by faculty donations
4.3.8 Feedback Survey
Beta-testing participants are asked to complete a short anonymous survey to rate their
experience with the TFF and provide feedback on future improvements. Participants can access
the survey from the application’s home page. The survey contains a few demographic questions
and a series of feedback questions related to improving the application. Feedback questions ask
for opinions on application interfaces, ratings on overall experience with desktop and mobile
configurations, and ideas for future improvements. The survey was designed so that certain
questions only appear if a specific selection is made. For example, if a participant rates the
application’s mobile configuration as neutral, user-unfriendly, or extremely user-unfriendly a
short answer box will appear asking them to elaborate on how it could be improved. A full list of
survey questions is found in Appendix B.
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4.4 Feedback
This section describes the feedback received from application beta-testing, which was
conducted over the span of several weeks. After the testing period, the researcher reviewed the
application feedback collected from the voluntary survey and used it to make improvements to
the application.
4.4.1 Participants
To beta-test the application, an invitation email (Appendix A) was sent to students
enrolled in three of SSCI’s 2023 summer graduate courses as well as individuals from the OoS.
The application link was made available to participants for a month and a half. However, within
this period, issues with the Sustainability Data Hub site license prevented access and thus stalled
testing for two weeks. During the testing period, a total of 20 unique responses were recorded in
the feedback survey. Among respondents, 15 identified themselves as graduate students and one
identified themselves as “other,” specifying that they were both a graduate student and staff
member. The age breakdown of participants was as follows: 56% between the ages 18-24, 38%
between the ages 25-34 and 6% between the ages 45-54. Among the respondents 35% tested the
application while on the USC UPC, and 75% tested the application elsewhere. These results are
summarized in Figure 43.
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Figure 43. Beta-testing participant summary
4.4.2 Feedback Evaluation
Although only a small population of the USC community participated in the application
beta-test, very detailed and constructive feedback was provided. In total, 50% of participants
tested both the functionality of donating food and expressing interest in food, 44% tested only
donating food, and 6% tested only expressing interest in food. A heat map showing the location
distribution of sample donations submitted is show in in Figure 44.
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Figure 44. Sample donation data heat map
Out of all respondents, 62% used a laptop or computer to test the application while 38%
used a mobile device. All participants who tested the application on a laptop or computer
reported that the desktop interface was user-friendly or extremely user-friendly. Four participants
who tested the application on a mobile device reported a user-friendly mobile interface while two
reported an extremely user-unfriendly interface. Overall, users found the application use
instructions provided to be clear. The feedback results are summarized in Figure 45.
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Figure 45. Feedback results summary
Using the open-ended questions, participants were able to comment on what they liked
about the application and what they think could be improved. When asked about what they liked
most about the application, several participants indicated that they enjoyed the “simplicity” of
the overall application layout and map components. Many respondents also indicated that they
liked that the navigation and functionalities were “intuitive” and “easy to use.” Two participants
reported appreciation for the food analytics dashboard with one commenting: “The inclusion of
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food analytics is a fantastic feature. Being able to browse a heat map to identify popular donation
areas and filter dashboard elements based on user types or food categories donated provides
valuable insights and enhances decision-making.”
When asked about what features were missing from the application and how to increase
user-friendliness, participants provided constructive criticism and ideas on improvements. A few
responses suggested that some of the existing application components could use additional notes
for clarity. Concepts needing clarity included how to drop a pin on the map when submitting a
new donation, how to return to the home page in the desktop application, and how to identify
external links. Some participants also indicated that the application could include better filtering
and search functionalities to make browsing for donations more efficient. For example, one
respondent suggested adding a drop down list with pre-populated USC building names and
another suggested having a drop-down list to specify a particular USC campus if the scope of the
project expands. Two participants expressed desire for the ability to track their donation history.
One stated that: “Including a donation history and tracking section for users would allow them to
keep track of their past donations and view their impact. It would also serve as a motivator and
recognition for their contributions.” If the software allows, donation tracking would be a
valuable addition to the application experience.
Some additional comments on future improvements touched on better in-application
communication functionalities and implementing promotion and education strategies. In terms of
better communication, one respondent expressed concern about trust between food donors and
food seekers and asked about ways to better vet donors. Another respondent wished to see a way
for users to communicate status of donations more easily with one another so those interested
can better gauge whether or not food will be gone by the time they reach the destination. Three
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respondents addressed the need for promotional and educational activities to capture user
engagement within the USC community. Two participants suggested integrating the application
with popular social media platforms to increase reach. One participant described the need for a
solid marketing campaign to launch the application, as well as a need to better define and
educate users on the purpose of the application. They commented:
I think there needs to be more education for USC students because when I think of food it
brings up issues of equity and people with food insecurity…the messaging needs to angle
away from those who are food insecure to just those who are co-existing with this
abundance of available food resources and how seeking out these meals or snacks aligns
with the university sustainability mission.
Based on this feedback, additional steps should be taken in the future to solidify a mission
statement for the application and spread awareness about USC’s sustainability goals before
promoting the TFF to the broader campus community.
4.4.3 Improvements
The researcher implemented one of the application improvements suggested in the
previous section. Using participant feedback, the OoS’s Campus Building Footprints layer
(Table 2) was added to the TFF web map to allow for better filtering and map navigation within
the Donate Food form and Find Food page. In the Donate Food form, a new short-answer field
was added and configured to auto populate with a specific building’s name depending on the pin
location a donor drops on the map. On the Find Food page, the search bar was configured to
allow users to search for and zoom into specific campus buildings.

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Table 2. USC Building Footprints Dataset
Data Description Coordinate System Temporal Scale
Campus Building
Footprints with
Centroid (polygon
feature layer)
USC building
footprints for both
University Park
Campus (UPC) and
Health Sciences
Campus (HSC)

WGS 1984 Web
Mercator
(auxiliary sphere)
Last updated July
2023
Source: USC Facilities and Planning Management 2022
A couple of the existing application functionalities were made more intuitive through
updating the application instructions and making slight navigation adjustments. To provide
additional guidance to inexperienced food donors, a description on how to drop a pin on the map
when submitting a new donation was added to the usage instructions. Previously in the mobile
application configuration, the “Explore USC’s OoS” button took users directly to the OoS
website in a new web browser, which led to confusion among a couple of beta-testing
participants. To improve the mobile application experience by ensuring that users do not have to
leave the application itself to access information, the USC OoS website was embedded into a
new application window that can be accessed by clicking the “Explore USC’s OoS” button.
When looking at the sample food donation data submitted by testers, the researcher
noticed that several participants were able to input unrealistic numbers into the “number of
servings” field of the Donate Food form. For example, one participant input a number over one
billion, skewing the information presented in the Food Analytics dashboard. To prevent users
from being able to input non-realistic numbers in the future, a field constraint was added to the
servings field that limits servings to a range of 1-100. A note on this field constraint was also
added in the form itself.
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Chapter 5 Conclusions
This project developed the Trojan Food Finder, a proof-of-concept food sharing application
designed for the USC community. The application beta-test provided both positive evaluations
on the novel resource and valuable feedback on how it can be improved in the future. Section 5.1
begins with a summary of the project and its achievements. Section 5.2 discusses the challenges
faced during the planning, development, and testing stages of the application. Section 5.3
describes limitations regarding application scope and functionality. Finally, Section 5.4 discusses
plans for future work.
5.1 App Summary
This thesis project developed a proof-of-concept food sharing application that allows
USC community members to mitigate food waste through sharing surplus food. The TFF was
built solely using Esri ArcGIS products, which was a novel approach in comparison to other
university food sharing applications. The application and its associated data were hosted within
USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise Portal and incorporated into the content library of the OoS’s
Sustainability Data Hub. Developing the application using OOTB tools such as ExB, Survey123,
and Dashboards, allowed for the creation of simple and intuitive interfaces compatible with both
desktop and mobile devices. With the TFF, users can not only share and browse food donations
in real-time, but can also view food analytics that summarize donation distributions and user
engagement. Overall, application beta-testers showed positive attitudes towards the application
and introduced many ideas for future advancements.
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5.2 Software Challenges and Limitations
Software challenges and limitations affected the planning, development, and testing of
the TFF. Most of the challenges related to the Enterprise Portal environment and the functional
abilities of the OOTB application building tools. Some workarounds had to be implemented in
order to achieve desired design and functionality of the final application. This section details the
software and application development issues faced and some of the solutions implemented.
5.2.1 Software Selection Dilemma
Choosing an application development environment was a dilemma that arose in the early
stages of planning the TFF. Although the goal was to use Esri proprietary software, a decision
had to be made whether or not to use AGOL or ArcGIS Enterprise. The initial application was
built within AGOL because it was the most accessible to the researcher. However, after the OoS
expressed interest in leveraging the TFF as an official resource for the USC community, the
decision was made to re-create the application within USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise Portal. Doing so
allowed the application to be added directly to the existing Sustainability Data Hub site. By
switching the environment, the application went from being hosted on an Esri-managed cloud
environment to a USC-managed ArcGIS Enterprise server. Though both AGOL and Enterprise
Portal offer access to the same OOTB tools, it was quickly revealed that the tools in Enterprise
Portal were not as up to date and lacked some functionalities. The out-of-date tools led to some
challenges in the process of designing the overall user experience.
5.2.2 OOTB Tool Limitations
Many of the OOTB tools offered within Enterprise Portal were significantly more limited
in terms of functionality than the same tools in AGOL. This is because ArcGIS Enterprise is
updated once or twice a year while AGOL is updated four times per year (Esri 2022). Thus, to
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achieve some of the desired functionalities, workarounds had to be used in many instances. For
example, in the TFF web map created within Enterprise Portal, donation image attachments
could not be directly displayed alongside donation attribute information in map pop-ups. Instead,
attachments could only be accessed via a URL in the pop-up that took users out of the
application when clicked. This was not only unaesthetic, but also inconvenient for users. As a
workaround, the decision was made to turn off map pop-ups and present attachments and
donation details using ExB’s image and feature info widgets respectively. These widgets were
directly embedded in the ExB and configured to dynamically change based on donation
selection.
Enterprise Portal’s ExB tool provided significantly fewer widgets and customization
elements than AGOL’s. When attempting to create a dashboard to summarize the TFF’s data, it
was discovered that the “chart” widget was significantly limited. It did not provide the option to
display data within pie charts, and instead only offered bar or column chart displays. The
workaround was to use the OOTB Dashboards tool to create a dashboard app and embed it into
the ExB application. However, even Enterprise Portal’s Dashboards tool was limited as it did not
include the filter widget, which would have been useful in allowing users to narrow down
statistics. Embedding the dashboard app within the ExB app also contributed to a slower loading
time, which one beta-testing participant noted.
Overall, Enterprise Portal’s ExB tool seemed to encounter more display issues than
AGOL’s. The researcher speculates the issues could be related to unresolved bugs or lack of
updates. One major hurdle was the inability to organize application elements and information
into section views. Typically, an app developer is able to use the “section” widget to create
separate containers that house different information or dynamic content. A user can then use
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navigation buttons to toggle through the different section views. During this project, several
attempts were made to use the “section” widget; for example, to display application instructions.
However, there were issues with the contents of each section not aligning with the corresponding
navigation button. Many times, sections would also appear blank. The issue could not be
resolved so the decision was made to not use the “section” widget at all. Instead, the “button”
widget and fixed windows were used to organize content into separate containers.
5.2.3 Software Authorization Error
Although hosting the TFF application and its associated data within ArcGIS Enterprise
Portal had benefits including security and internal collaboration, it also resulted in some
challenges involving system errors that were out of the researcher’s control. The backbone of
Enterprise Portal and consequently the Sustainability Data Hub are the local servers that are
directly managed by USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise administrators. In the midst of the beta-testing
period, the Enterprise Portal encountered a software authorization error, which barred any user
from logging into the Sustainability Data Hub site and accessing the application. Because of the
login issue, the researcher was unable to make edits to the application and review feedback
responses, putting a significant delay on project progress. The issue ended up being related to
versioning and could only be corrected by USC’s ArcGIS Enterprise administrators. The process
of getting the site up and running again took almost two weeks. The amount of time it took for
the technical issues to be resolved was a big limitation of building the application within the
USC-managed ArcGIS Enterprise system. In contrast, AGOL is less likely to encounter these
types of catastrophic system failures, and issues that do arise are typically resolved very quickly
because the software is managed and owned by Esri.
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5.2.4 Application Improvement Limitations
Although beta-testing participants provided valuable feedback on application
improvements, many of the ideas offered could not be immediately executed using the OOTB
tools that currently serve as the foundation of the application. For example, a couple of
participants suggested that adding a way for users to view and track their own donation history
would be beneficial. Because this donation tracking would need to be unique to each individual
user on the front-end, it is unlikely that OOTB tools would be able to achieve the desired
functionality. A custom database and programming would be required to create a smart display
that can present users with account-specific data while protecting the data of other users.
Similarly, implementing push notifications and creating more streamlined chat and direct
messaging functionalities for better communication and vetting is also not possible without more
sophisticated software and programming.
5.3 Conceptual Limitations
The TFF serves as a proof-of-concept food sharing application that focuses on peer-to-
peer donations of surplus food. The goal of the application is to encourage USC community
members to be more waste-conscious by sharing FFC surplus food with others in the community
rather than throwing it away. Theoretically, sharing is a great way to bring community members
together; however, there are certain limitations that can prevent it from being successful.
Furthermore, food waste is a sustainability issue expands far beyond just individual consumers
and their behaviors, which was the focus of the TFF. This section details some of these
conceptual limitations.
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5.3.1 Trust and Communication Limitations
Food safety and mistrust of strangers were concerns that were brought up as part of the
TFF feedback. Previous research has suggested that building trust between food donors and food
seekers is something that is necessary for food sharing applications to be successful within a
community (Farr-Wharton, Choi, and Foth 2014; Lim and Yalvac 2014). During the application
development process, a few strategies were implemented in an attempt to build trust. For
example, the application requires users to login using their USC credentials to ensure they are
university-affiliated and also requires food donors to provide specific details on donations. One
thing missing in this proof-of-concept was the inclusion of user information such as a name or
email in donation and donation interest submissions. Identifying information was purposely left
out for this project to protect the anonymity of beta-testing participants; however, allowing users
to include their names and contact information in the future would be a way to improve trust.
It is understandable that even individuals within the same university community may still
have reservations when it comes to sharing food, and especially meeting up with strangers to
exchange food. Along with ensuring every donation is submitted with detailed information,
communication is one way to help individuals gauge the situation. However, due to the
constraints of the ArcGIS environment, the TFF does not provide an efficient way for users to
directly message one another with questions about potential food exchanges like custom-coded
applications like OLIO and Share Meals do. The TFF does allow food seekers to leave comments
on donations and food donors to change donation status in real-time; however, it is not a direct
communication channel so miscommunications could occur. Future improvements to the TFF
should consider how and if direct messaging functionalities can be incorporated so that users can
feel more comfortable with food exchanges.
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5.3.2 Purpose and Scope Limitations
The purpose of this project was to develop a proof-of-concept food sharing application
specifically for mitigating individual consumer-level food waste through peer-to-peer sharing.
One limitation during this project was that the purpose and overall motivations could have been
better explained to users. Because this was not an official application launch, there was no time
for promotions or marketing campaigns that would have better educated users on USC’s
sustainability initiatives and given them better background knowledge on how an application like
the TFF could be used as a resource. Fortunately, the goal of beta-testing was to gain feedback
on technical functionalities, so evaluating purpose and scope were not a top priority. However,
better evaluating these items is something that needs to happen in the future should the
application be launched as an official campus resource.
While focusing only on food sharing interactions between individuals is a good start for
encouraging sustainable practices, the issue of food waste extends far beyond just individuals.
For example, on-campus dining halls and retailers may be tossing out surplus FFC food that
could be redistributed to community members given the right opportunity and platform. When
considering these other potential food waste contributors, the overall scope of this project is
could be seen as limited. Those who may work on advancing the TFF in the future should assess
whether or not the application’s objectives should be expanded from just focusing on sharing
between individuals to also involving interactions with other entities.
5.4 Future Work
The TFF application was developed with the future work of USC’s OoS in mind.
Because it was built within ArcGIS Enterprise Portal and is part of the Sustainability Data Hub’s
content library, other OoS students or staff members can easily take over the application to make
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improvements and ensure its longevity. This section discusses plans for ownership transfers and
public launch, ideas for potential scope expansion, and thoughts on platform and functionality
improvements.
5.4.1 Ownership Transfer and Public Launch
The TFF was developed with the goal that it would be transferred to another user within
USC’s OoS so that it could be launched as a live tool for students in the future. While
completing this project, the researcher was informed that another student at USC was also
interested in food waste issues and implementing some sort of digital solution. After consulting
with the OoS’s data analyst specialist and the researcher’s advisors, the decision was made to
wait until the completion of this project to collaborate with the other student. The intention will
be to transfer the ownership of the application to the other student and to allow them to continue
development and bring it to public launch. The researcher has plans to stay connected with the
other student and members of the OoS and SSI to provide support as they work towards getting
the application approved by the university’s ethics committee and launching it to the community.
Once the TFF is transferred to an OoS user, a few application updates and further beta-
testing is recommended in preparation for a public launch. Currently the Food Analytics
dashboard does not support dynamic filters; however, if new functionalities are added to OOTB
tools in future Enterprise Portal updates it would be beneficial to include the ability to filter data
by day, week, and month. ExB does currently have a filtering widget, so another option would be
to include a new page solely for this purpose. Another round of beta-testing would be
recommended to gather feedback on any additional elements and functionalities added. Once the
application is finalized, the currently embedded beta-testing survey should be removed and
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replaced with a different survey developed by the OoS. This survey should be designed to allow
users to report issues and any recommendations.
Before publicly launching the TFF to the USC community, a solid marketing and
education plan should be considered. Typically, a critical mass of users is necessary for
applications to gain traction and become successful within a community (Katzeff, Kanyama, and
Zapico 2019). Further, literature has provided evidence that educational campaigns on the
environmental, financial, and societal impacts of food waste have been successful in getting
more individuals involved in waste reduction initiatives (Pinto et al. 2018; Ellison et al. 2019). It
would be beneficial to generate educational materials on the impacts of food waste, USC’s
sustainability initiatives, and the TFF’s purpose as a food sharing resource. These materials can
then be shared to campus clubs, Greek organizations, and popular social media platforms to help
spread the word.
5.4.2 Scope Expansion
Though this project’s scope was purposely narrow, there are many opportunities for
growth to help address the issue of food waste more wholistically. Within the USC community,
dining halls and nearby retailers are also contributors to surplus food waste. Considerations
should be made on whether or not to expand the TFF’s scope to include sharing surplus food
from these entities. There have been applications developed specifically for facilitating surplus
food redistribution at the retail level of the food supply chain. Two popular applications include
Food Rescue Hero and Too Good to Go, which may serve as valuable examples to reference
when improving the TFF. Bringing retailers or dining facilities into the TFF’s scope would also
require additional stakeholder meetings and re-evaluation of application functionalities.
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5.4.3 Platform and Functionality Updates
The TFF was developed within the Esri ArcGIS ecosystem using OOTB tools. As
discussed in previous chapters, this had benefits, but also many limitations in terms of
functionality and customizability. Incorporating more complex front-end functionalities such as a
personal donation tracking interface or a direct messaging system would require more
sophisticated software or creative workarounds. As an example, one workaround for personal
donation tracking would be to create a donation leaderboard where all users could see how many
donations they have contributed compared to others. This could also be a motivator for others to
participate.
To add more complex application functionalities to the TFF in the future, like those
mentioned previously in section 5.2.4, new development platforms within and outside of the Esri
ArcGIS ecosystem can be considered. Keeping within the Esri ArcGIS ecosystem, ExB
Developer’s Edition is a version of ExB that allows users to program custom widgets.
Rebuilding the TFF within the developer’s edition would be a great way to retain the same look
and feel of the current application with the added bonus of more complex widget actions.
Another alternative would be to custom program the TFF application outside of the Esri
ecosystem. This would require existing programming knowledge, access to software
development tools, and an extensive time commitment to build both a web and mobile friendly
application.

101
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108
Appendix A: Beta-Testing Email Invitation
Hello!

My name is Michele Fong and I am a current student in the M.S. in Geographic
Information Science & Technology (GIST) program here at USC. I am reaching out to
invite you to beta-test a browser-based application that I have developed as part of my
master’s thesis project.

About the App:
Trojan Food Finder is a proof-of-concept food sharing application that lets the USC
community easily share surplus food with each other via a map-based platform. The
application’s goal is to reduce consumer-level food waste by serving as a central
platform for individuals to share and locate perfectly good food that would otherwise be
thrown away.

Your Role as a Beta-Tester:
We are currently interested in evaluating the app interface, functionality, and overall
user experience - we are NOT seeking in-real-life food sharing at this time! Please use
fabricated information when testing functionality of “donating food” or “expressing
interest in food”

Test the App!
1. Please click the link HERE to access the app. For security, you will be instructed
to login using your USC NetID credentials. Click the blue button to access the
login page.
2. Follow the instructions provided under “Instructions” on the app home page to
submit a fake food donation and/or submit a fake expression of interest in an
existing donation
3. Complete a quick anonymous survey under “Provide Feedback” on the
application home page to give us feedback for future improvements!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:

Michele Fong (Student) - mgfong@usc.edu
Elisabeth Sedano (Faculty Advisor) - sedano@usc.edu

109
Appendix B: Beta-Testing Survey Questions
Demographic Questions
1. What is your age?
a. 18-24
b. 25-34
c. 35-44
d. 45-54
e. 55-64
f. 65 or above
g. Prefer not to answer
2. What is your race/ethnicity?
a. Asian
b. Black/African
c. Caucasian
d. Hispanic/Latinx
e. Native American
f. Pacific Islander
g. Mulitracial or Biracial
h. Prefer not to answer
i. Other
3. What is your USC Affiliation?
a. Undergraduate Student
b. Graduate Student
c. PhD Student
d. Faculty
e. Staff
f. Other

Improving the Trojan Food Finder Application
1. Were you on USC University Park Campus when testing the application?
a. Yes
b. No
2. What application user functionality did you test?
a. Donating food
b. Expressing interest in food
c. Both
3. What type of device did you test the application on?
a. Laptop/Computer
b. Mobile Device
c. Both
4. Rate application user-friendliness on desktop web browser
110
a. Extremely User-Unfriendly
b. User-Unfriendly
c. Neutral
d. User-Friendly
e. Extremely User-Friendly
5. Rate application user-friendliness on mobile web browser
a. Extremely User-Unfriendly
b. User-Unfriendly
c. Neutral
d. User-Friendly
e. Extremely User-Friendly
6. How can we improve user-friendliness in the future? [Short Answer]
7. Comments on overall interface of desktop application [Short Answer]
8. Comments on overall interface of mobile application [Short Answer]
9. How would you rate the clarity of the application use instructions?
a. Extremely Unclear
b. Unclear
c. Neutral
d. Clear
e. Extremely Clear
10. How can we improve application use instructions in the future [Short Answer]
11. What features do you like most about the application? [Short Answer]
12. What features do you think are missing from the application [Short Answer]
13. What else do you think could be improved for the future? [Short Answer]
14. Additional Comments [Short Answer]

Abstract (if available)

Abstract In the US, food waste is the largest category of material found in landfills, which directly contributes to climate change and represents millions of lost opportunities to feed individuals in need. On average, 22 million pounds of edible surplus food is discarded annually on university campuses, elevating the need for more sustainable food waste mitigation practices within these communities. The University of Southern California (USC) strives to promote sustainability and reduce campus waste, but has yet to introduce solutions to mitigate the food waste produced by individual consumers such as students, faculty, and staff. This thesis introduces the development of the Trojan Food Finder (TFF), a proof-of-concept application designed to facilitate food sharing as a way to mitigate consumer-level food waste within USC’s University Park Campus (UPC). The main objective is to develop a browser-based volunteered geographic information application using Esri ArcGIS products to allow USC students, faculty, and staff to crowdsource, view, and analyze locations of free surplus food within the UPC. This study used USC community members to beta-test the application and provide feedback for future improvements. Feedback from 20 participants revealed that, overall, the interfaces and functionalities of this proof-of-concept application were intuitive and easy to navigate. Suggestions for future improvements included advancing donation filtering and search capabilities, developing better in-application communication functionalities, and creating education and promotion strategies to engage the community. By providing a platform to redistribute surplus food such as excess groceries or food leftover from events, the TFF can not only prevent food waste, but also provide individuals with alternative meal options and opportunities to form new connections.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Fong, Michele (author)

Core Title Trojan Food Finder: a web-based GIS campus food sharing application

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Geographic Information Science and Technology

Degree Conferral Date 2023-12

Publication Date 08/30/2023

Defense Date 08/15/2023

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag ArcGIS,Experience Builder,food sharing,food waste,geographic information systems,OAI-PMH Harvest,sustainability,VGI,web applications,Web GIS

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sedano, Elisabeth (committee chair), Loyola, Laura (committee member), Swift, Jennifer (committee member)

Creator Email mgfong@usc.edu,michelegfong@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113302647

Unique identifier UC113302647

Identifier etd-FongMichel-12294.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-FongMichel-12294

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Fong, Michele

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230901-usctheses-batch-1089 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu