SAN ANTONIO — Ordering food at your fingertips—it’s growing in popularity at the San Antonio Food Bank.
The food bank was the only one in Texas selected as part of a pilot program creating online ordering for food pantries.
Shelves stocked at the Food Bank provide a variety of goods for a variety of people.
Eric Cooper, president, and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank says the pandemic changed how people can access food.
“The pace and multi-tasking economy that all of us are living in sometimes put people at a disadvantage to getting access to nutrition,” Cooper said.
For those who may be struggling to put food on the table—they have several options with a new app called OrderAhead.
The website allows you to shop what’s in stock for the week and pick up the food at a scheduled time and location.
You can pick it up either at the food bank or San Antonio College where the service is accessible to students.
“Ultimately the technology can drive to very specific items where we can be more sensitive to diet and culture and religious accommodations when it comes to how we distribute our food,” Cooper said.
The San Antonio Food Bank says the app is like the ingredient to the recipe of serving South Texas families. They say the number of families has doubled since the pandemic started.
The typical parking lot distribution pop-up events were attracting more people than anticipated.
“At the onset of the pandemic, that number went from 200 to 400 families to 2 to 4,000 families. We literally went from feeding 60,000 people a week to 120,000 people a week, and in serving that many people, it took more time,” Cooper recalls.
Time that can be saved with online ordering—it can also open the door to future food delivery options. Cooper foresees an option like food lockers where people can pick up food delivered to certain locations.
“As we continue to make improvements and work out the bugs, we thank that OrderAhead will be a big solution in the fight against hunger," he said.