From My Kitchen to Yours: I Built a Food Swap Board for My Neighborhood

Source: Dev.to

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

Community

In my part of the world (Southeast Asia), we have a beautiful culture of အိမ်နီးနားချင်း, Gotong Royong, or Bayanihan. It’s that unwritten rule that if your mango tree is overflowing, you don’t let the fruit rot—you pass it over the fence to your neighbor.

This culture is still alive in some rural areas, but in our modern, fast‑paced neighborhoods the “over the fence” connection has faded. I built this app to bring that village‑style sharing into the digital age.

What I Built

NextDoor is a lightweight, real‑time bulletin board for food sharing. It’s a zero‑waste tool that lets neighbors post surplus garden harvests, pantry extras, or home‑cooked meals.

The goal is to prevent food waste in our homes and neighborhoods. Direct‑to‑WhatsApp integration skips the “official” sign‑up friction and gets neighbors talking instantly.

Core Features

• Real‑Time “Claim” System – Neighbors can instantly reserve items. The UI updates with a blue strike‑through (e.g., Sourdough) to show an item is pending pickup, preventing double‑claims.
• One‑Tap WhatsApp Integration – A custom‑styled button opens a pre‑filled WhatsApp chat with the donor to coordinate pickup instantly.
• Localized Categorization – Built‑in filters for common neighborhood extras: Fruits, Veggies, Cooked Meals, Herbs.
• Persistent “Flat‑File” Database – Uses a lightweight CSV backend, keeping the board updated without the overhead of a heavy SQL database.
• Mobile‑First Design – Custom CSS injection makes the app feel like a native mobile tool—perfect for use in the kitchen or the garden.
• Session‑Safe Undos – Accidental clicks happen! The app uses Streamlit’s session_state to allow users to “Undo” a claim instantly during their visit.

Demo

The interface is responsive, making it easy for an Uncle at the wet market or a Tita in her kitchen to post an item in seconds.

Link to Streamlit demo: (add your URL here)

Code

NextDoor: Neighborhood Food Swapping App

A localized, community‑driven web application designed to reduce food waste and strengthen neighborhood ties. Residents can post extra garden harvests, pantry items, or home‑cooked meals for neighbors to claim.

App Preview

Features

• Real‑time Postings – Users can list items with categories (Vegetables, Fruit, Meals, etc.) via a sidebar form.
• Smart Search & Filtering – Find exactly what you need by keyword or category.
• WhatsApp Integration – A custom‑styled green button opens a pre‑filled chat with the item owner for instant coordination.
• Temporary Claiming – Uses Streamlit Session State to allow users to “reserve” items during their browsing session without permanently deleting data.
• Persistent Storage – All community data is backed up in a lightweight CSV “database” for easy management.
• Modern UI – Custom CSS‑styled buttons (Blue for actions, Green for WhatsApp, Grey for Undo) provide a professional user experience.

How I Built

• Streamlit (Python) – Handled the entire frontend and the logic for searching/filtering categories.
• Pandas – Managed the “database” as a simple CSV file, keeping the app lightweight and easy for anyone to manage.
• WhatsApp Public API – Used custom HTML/CSS buttons to trigger wa.me links, pre‑filling messages like “Hi, is the extra Papaya still available?” for a seamless user experience.
• Session State – Leveraged Streamlit’s memory to handle “Claims” so neighbors can see what’s being picked up in real‑time without refreshing the whole database.