About the challenge

Food Justice means to ensure universal access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally-appropriate food for all, while advocating for the well-being and safety of those involved in the food production process. 

Get started

There are several problems plaguing food justice issues, including: 

Food insecurity Food deserts Discrimination and inequality Environmental degradation Health disparities Economic inequality 

Teams will be working on a pre-prescribed problem statement in one of these areas that will be announced at the start of the event.

Requirements

What to Submit

Submit a whitepaper:

  1. Idea Title (Should be short and sweet!) Team Name and School Name
  2. Introduction (Includes which path you took (urban vs rural setting) to addressing the Problem Statement)
  3. Background (What research did you find that lead you to your solution to the problem statement)
  4. Proposed solution and needs to implement your solution (This will be the bulk of your one-page paper)
  5. References or citations (This will be a page 2 of the whitepaper. There is no formal format required. The judges just want to know what resources you used. The sources will not be evaluated but will be reviewed to ensure originality of your idea).

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$6,000 in prizes
First
1 winner

Second
1 winner

Third
1 winner

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Barrie Bode

Barrie Bode
Associate VP Research Innovation - Northern Illinois UniversityPartnership

Sam Guerrero

Sam Guerrero
Director of Advancement - NIU Foundation

Christine Mooney

Christine Mooney
Professor Entrepreneurship - Northern Illinois University

Tim Michaelis

Tim Michaelis
Assistant Professor Entrepreneurship - Northern Illinois University

Matt Ruffi

Matt Ruffi
Senior Program Manager - Link Up Illinois

Judging Criteria

  • Innovation(40pt)
    Innovation of design or idea/approach to problem. The potential impact the solution has. The greater the impact and the better the connection to the problem the higher the score. Originality and creativity will also play a role in the evaluation.
  • Quality(20pt)
    Polish/quality of execution.The white paper submitted. Solution makes sense and is it free of fragmented thoughts and ideas. It answers the question of the problem statement, and cites any sources used in the dissemination of the solution.
  • Viability(20pt)
    Technical complexity. The viability of the idea. How realistic is the solution proposed in context to the problem statement. The more challenging or complex the solution would be to implement the less viable it will be and the lower the score.
  • Presentation(20pt)
    Presentation/idea pitch. 3 minutes to present the idea and 1 minute for Q&A by the judges. Evaluation will be based on a timely presentation, a complete and succinct story that shows a collaborative effort in regards to the solution.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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