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Comment by amirmc | Hacker News Reader

I was chatting about exactly this kind of app/service with a few friends two summers ago. They have an apple tree and can't possibly use all the fruit they get from it. There are probably other local people with other fruits/vegetables that they have a surplus of who'd be very happy to trade for some apples. This obviously isn't a new problem/idea but a simple website would help such people connect and possibly make new friends.

We never got around to building anything but it's strangely satisfying to see that others had similar ideas and actually shipped something. In the world of tweeting toasters and fridges that track your food (i.e Internet of Things/Everything), it would be great to have a list of available items automatically kept up to date (of course the incentive there is to avoid things spoiling in the first place).

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We built an app called UrbanFruitly as part of the National Civic Hackathon to share home grown fruits and vegetables. We won two prizes at the hackathon and White House loved the idea so much we got invitation to visit.

The app is actively looking local group of participants for beta testing. Here is the link:

http://www.solankiapps.com/?app=urbanfruitly

Some folks I know are raising money to build an app for a worldwide map of fruit trees. Their database exists already and is growing, and they're just raising money to fund mobile development and eventually an SMS interface. They list privately-owned trees on their map, so you could contact the owner and get in touch about swapping: http://www.barnraiser.us/projects/fallingfruit-org-mobilize-...

There was also http://neighborhoodfruit.com/ at one point, but it's not looking too good these days.

And I started a non-profit here in Atlanta 6 years ago called Concrete Jungle (www.concrete-jungle.org) where we pick fruit from random people's fruit trees (99.9999% of homeowners want nothing to do with their fruit trees) and donate it to local homeless shelters/food banks. There is lots and lots of food everywhere once you start looking for it.

The fresh fruit/veg idea is excellent; gardeners nearly always end up with perishable surpluses.

However, I'm a little concerned with formalising it in the EU in case some busybody decides that the many onerous agricultural rules on selling food apply.

I didn't have exactly the same idea, but close enough to feel 'We never got around to building anything but it's strangely satisfying to see that others had similar ideas and actually shipped something.'

Mine went "We're going to a lot of trouble to make all this food (from fancy cookbooks), and while leftovers are great, company would be better. Wouldn't it be great if there were a website where people could coordinate dinner plans with folks around them... for friendship, hospitality, good eating, and economy." Sort of like the iPhone app, but for whole dinners rather than just the ingredients, and for anybody with a web connection, not just one app market.

I vaguely remember a YC company doing the kind of thing you described. I don't think they do it anymore (pivoted or shut-down?) and I can't recall the name of the company at all.

Grubwithus I think. Had more of a dating vibe, at least when it was presented at demo day.

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