Ford Motor Company and SHFT.com were at SXSW in Austin, Texas to unveil the new “Food Tripping” app which is designed to let consumers find the best of local, healthy food options while on the road. The app will be downloadable for free beginning on Earth Day, April 22, 2013 for the iPhone, iPad and Android.
SHFT.com was founded by actor Adrian Grenier and film producer Peter Glatzer with a focus on helping people live a sustainably focused lifestyle. They partnered with Ford in 2011 in hopes that together they could encourage people to more carefully consider their product purchases from food to clothing to cars. The “Food Tripping” app is just one more way they can help consumers make informed decisions.
I spoke with Adrian and Peter at the “Food Tripping” app launch where they proudly showed off the app and its features. Their enthusiasm for the app was less about the product itself and more about the opportunity it would give people to make better choices. SXSW is a place for people who are passionate about their ideas and Adrian and Peter were a perfect fit.
Ford is no stranger to the sustainable approach either with fuel-efficient gas vehicles and five electric options in their line-up, but it’s not just about the fuel. A focus on sustainability also means considering carefully which materials are used throughout each car.
There’s soy, wheat grass, denim and, according to one engineer I spoke with at the Austin launch, mushrooms. You’ll be sitting on them since they’re used in the foam of the seat cushions. If you get the Ford Fusion there’s also the equivalent of 38.9 recycled plastic bottles in its seats.
The “Food Tripping” app will launch with 50,000 restaurants, farmer’s markets and food stores in the database along with 100,000 points of interest. They’re also seeking user generated suggestions to grow their database. This is just another part of encouraging each of us to actively participate in a more sustainable lifestyle.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. When not drooling over cars, Nicole writes for Wired’s GeekMom.
