The Organization
Feeding America is a non-profit organization based in the United States with its headquarters in Chicago. The Organization is dedicated to curbing the hunger crisis for the vulnerable populations of the University State. Having a wide scope of a network that spreads throughout the country, Feeding America feeds more than 46 million people (America, 2018). The Organization is able to achieve this through its 200 food banks located across the country. They have various soup kitchens, food pantries, and other agencies. Feeding America is the second-largest non-profit Organization and the largest relief food provider in the USA.
Food America recognizes the struggles that the underprivileged American people undergo when choosing between buying quality food and medications. The struggles may result in the individual causing harm to themselves, their family, and the country at large as the population will become unproductive, leading to an economic crisis. America (2020) posited that the number of hungry Americans had increased drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic as more than 42 million America suffered food insecurity. The Organization has many operations that ensure quality food is delivered to vulnerable populations in good conditions and amounts. Some of these processes include saving food from going to waste and evaluating foods that nourish it.
If America could save all its food from going bad, every citizen would have enough food for daily consumption. Unfortunately, more than 72 billion pounds of edible and safe foods go bad each year (America, 2020). Usually, about 25 to 40 percent of these foods are harvested, processed, transported, and stored in shops or consumer households (America, 2020). To prevent this loss and feed more Americans, Feeding America works with various partners such as farmers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers to reduce food wastage. In 2020, Feeding America, along with its partners, was able to rescue groceries weighing an average of 4 billion pounds which included fresh produce weighing about 1.8 pounds (America, 2020). Therefore, if more effort was put into the food rescue activity, more underserved Americans would have access to food.
Feeding America has laid out strategies that they use to maximize the food-saving agenda. For instance, they have developed a partnership with one of the growers of the green beans who produces the largest harvest in the country to rescue green beans, which might go bad. In addition, they have innovated a service known as Meal connect (America, 2018). This innovation connects Feeding America to the management of hundreds of hotels, grocery stores, and restaurants that alert nearby food banks in case of ready food. The collected foods are then distributed to various Americans suffering from food insecurity.
The Basic Transformational Process
To assist Feeding America have a smooth operation in preventing food wastage, it is recommendable that they apply a basic transformation process. A basic transformation process involves taking in raw materials, transforming and adding value, and getting the output. Some of the inputs include physical raw materials, information, and customers. There are diverse types of transformation processes such as services, supply, manufacturing, and transportation (Fayol, 1930). To produce a good service or good, a process must undergo several transformations. A macro operation is sub-divided into small micro-operations for easier management and accountability.
Benefits of Basic Transformation Process
The basic transformation process is a business necessity every once in a while. Through this process, an organization is updated with the latest business processes and technology. Broadly, an organization does not run the risk of lagging for inefficient and inefficient processes that do not meet the needs of the customers. In addition, an organization can increase its business value by providing improved services from its competitors (Fayol, 1930). In the midst of a competitive business environment, an organization ought to be updated for efficient services. Flexibility is critical in every business and should accommodate technological business solutions.
Disadvantages of the Basic Transformation Process
A basic transformation process is a macro- process that has small micro-processes that are interdependent. The process follows a critically defined path to obtain success. However, if one micro-process fails, the whole macro-process collapses. The high level of interdependence provides a significant amount of risk to the process (Culyba, 2018). Moreover, a basic transformation process is prone to human error as the process transition especially from manufacturing to sale (Culyba, 2018). To avoid such mistakes, strict process management must be enforced in every production stage.
Plan of Action
Feeding America has an objective to reduce food wastage in the country so that a higher population of underserved have access to enough food. To achieve this objective, the organization has innovated a technology that links them to farmers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers who alert the nearest food bank in case of the availability of food (America, 2020). However, a basic transformation process can assist Feeding America to reach more sources of food and more vulnerable populations.
This paper proposes the adaption of modern pick-up and drop-off stations in every town in the United States. The innovation operates automatically where a person willing to drop off any excess foods can drop it in a conveyance leading to the inner sides of the station (Gunawan, 2021). In the station, Feeding America should employ one or two workers who will be responsible for labelling and arranging foodstuff on pick-up boxes according to their expiry date and nutritional components. When a person who suffers from food insecurity accesses the station, they are required to move to the boxes containing foods with a specific nutritional component. The box has a button where the visitor presses and packed food is released as in the case of a vendor machine (Gunawan, 2021). A visitor can take as much food as they require from the different nutritional values.
Expected Change
The automated pick-up and drop-off stations will enable Feeding America to have improved process management as they will be located in every town hence breaking the supply chain and logistics management processes. Since the food coming in and out will be in a smaller amount than when serving a high geographic area, Feeding America will have an essay task keeping records of their operations (Culyba, 2018). Most importantly, the organization will have widened the scope of their donors as even small households will get to contribute the small amount they have in excess. The scope of the people being served will also increase as Feeding America will target people from their immediate localities. The difference in this data is shown in table 1 below. Figure 1 is a visual representation of table 1.
Table 1: Change in Donors and Clients Accessibility
Unlike when storing foodstuff in large stores and distributing them to their banks, automated stations will help the organization manage food according to their nutritional value and expiry date easily. Automated stations will lead to zero wastage of food stored in the station because expiry dates will easily be monitored. Table 2 shows the difference in the amount of Food Wastage when using Meal Connect and automated stations while figure 2 is a visual representation of table 2.
Table 2: Difference in amount of Food Wastage
Additionally, visitors can monitor the quality food they consume through their nutrition value. This will also help them identify foods with specific nutrients for people suffering from different conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. The stations will provide 24/7 accessibility to both donors and clients (Gunawan, 2021). The machine in the station is automated hence does not depend on opening hours to operate.
References
America, F. (2018). Feeding America. Mobile food pantry program. Web.
America, F. (2020). Feeding America. The impact of the coronavirus on food insecurity 204(20), 28002. Web.
Culyba, S. (2018). The Transformational Framework: A process tool for the development of Transformational games. Carnegie Mellon University. Web.
Fayol, H. (1930). Industrial and General Administration (JA Coubrough, Trans.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons.
Gunawan, R. K. (2021). A Study of spatiotemporal distribution of mobility-on-demand in generating pick-up/drop-offs location placement. Smart Cities, 4(2), 746-766. Web.