We’re starting a food sharing revolution.

OLIO is a free app that connects neighbours with each other and with local shops so that surplus food can be shared, not unnecessarily thrown away. This could include food nearing its use-by date from shops, cafes and markets; spare vegetables from the allotment; cakes from an amateur baker; or groceries from household fridges when people go away, move home or start a diet.

Access to food should be a basic human right, and producing food shouldn’t destroy the planet. I’m the daughter of a farmer, so I know how much hard work goes into producing food, yet between 33-50% of all food produced globally is never eaten. Food waste is catastrophic for the environment – if food waste were a country it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

The future is about transitioning from an “ownership-based” economy, where people own all their possessions and don’t use them most of the time - to a real “sharing economy”, where there is a flow of resources between people, and our resource utilisation is closer to 100%. OLIO is harnessing the power of mobile technology to re-connect local communities, so that our most precious resources can be shared, not thrown away.