Skip to main content

Apparently This Matters: Got leftovers? Wanna trade?

A new app lets you share your uneaten food with strangers. What could possibly go wrong?
A new app lets you share your uneaten food with strangers. What could possibly go wrong?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Leftover Swap is an app that will allow users to share, trade away uneaten food
  • Developer: "So much is going to waste"
  • Bellini: It's sort of like Craigslist for your pizza

Editor's note: Each week in "Apparently This Matters," CNN's Jarrett Bellini applies his warped sensibilities to trending topics in social media and random items of interest on the Web.

(CNN) -- When I was growing up, to open my parents' refrigerator was to take a magical journey deep into a strange land of Tupperware that ultimately ended in sadness, confusion and some sort of round, congealed blob of food that may or may not have dated to the Carter administration.

"Mom, what is this?"

"Does it look like it might cause infection?"

"Kinda."

"It's soup."

Yes, we were a leftovers house. Be it chicken or rice, you were gettin' it twice!

Though, in all fairness, mom has always been a great cook. So, it was definitely tolerable.

\
"Apparently This Matters" Is Jarrett Bellini's weekly (and somewhat random) look at social-media trends.

Nevertheless, Day 7 of lasagna never quite had the same pizazz as Day 4. And opening that container on Day 60 risked introducing a newly formed, unknown invasive species into the ecosystem.

"What the hell was that?"

"Might've been a raccoon ... might've been a casserole."

But, hey, you just can't let good food go to waste. And that's why developers at a trending new startup are working on an app called Leftover Swap that might just revolutionize what we do with our extra grub.

But probably not.

Essentially, they're creating Craigslist for your unfinished pizza. Yes, Casual Encounters just got even weirder.

Here's how it works: When you have something remaining from your meal, you snap a photo, post it on your profile and then wait for someone nearby to claim it or offer a trade.

"Your chicken salad for my mac-and-cheese?"

"Deal! Meet me in the park at 7. Come alone. I'll be the one with all the open sores."

"Wait. What?"

Bryan Summersett and Dan Newman are the cofounders of Leftover Swap, and they came up with the idea three years ago while roommates at the University of Michigan. Naturally, at the time, even they thought it was a little crazy.

Just eat it, kid. It\'s free.
Just eat it, kid. It's free.

Newman told NPR, "It was an outrageous joke in 2010, but in 2013, it's very plausible and something that people would use today."

I swear I'm not trying to sound insensitive -- seriously -- but the only people I can actually see using this would be homeless dudes who happen to have cell phones. Otherwise, there's just too much risk.

And for what? Tater tots?

Actually, that sounds delicious. I'd travel a few blocks for tots.

(Blocks for Tots also sounds like the world's laziest charity walk. Motto: We're here to help, but only for about 10 minutes.)

Of course, Newman and his business partner are well aware that Leftover Swap is going to be a hard sell. He admits, "It's obviously not for everybody. But for as many people who seemingly have a problem with it, there's people who love the idea."

And maybe there will even be an upscale vintage section so my mom can finally get rid of any petrified brisket lurking in the back of the fridge. You know, somewhere on the lower shelf next to the Thanksgiving turkey.

From 1984.

Yet, despite any eager users that may exist, Newman and Summersett also don't have delusions of grandeur. When they release the app at the end of August, it will be available for free download. They're less interested in making money and more concerned about doing something positive.

Newman says, "In the U.S., we produce so much more food than we consume, and so much is going to waste."

On the other hand, some of that food is also presently being enjoyed by an unbathed man who's just emptied his cat's litter box.

Not with his hands, but still ...

And now he can't wait to share his half-eaten burrito!

Yes, Casual Encounters definitely just got even weirder.

Follow Jarrett Bellini on Twitter.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
Apparently This Matters...
October 5, 2013 -- Updated 1830 GMT (0230 HKT)
I go to the gym. It's an excellent place to watch SportsCenter while occupying a bench press that somebody else might otherwise use for actual exercise.
September 27, 2013 -- Updated 1914 GMT (0314 HKT)
It's been quite a while since I last soiled my pants. Easily a week or two. Maybe three.
September 20, 2013 -- Updated 2022 GMT (0422 HKT)
cocktail
Crammed three-deep at the bar on Friday night used to be my idea of good time. But years have passed, and now I prefer the quiet solitude of rearranging my sock drawer, pretending that TV commentators speaking proper British are doing the play-by-play.
September 13, 2013 -- Updated 1928 GMT (0328 HKT)
When the apocalypse comes, I'm pretty sure I can get by for a while on Diet Coke and Klondike Bars.
September 6, 2013 -- Updated 1834 GMT (0234 HKT)
Certain products are definitely OK to rent. Like a car. Or a tuxedo. Or the cheapest room at a Motel 6 when you find yourself strolling down I-85 at midnight with no pants.
August 30, 2013 -- Updated 2349 GMT (0749 HKT)
There are a lot of things in my freezer. Animal sperm isn't one of them.
August 23, 2013 -- Updated 2003 GMT (0403 HKT)
I've often said I'd like to smother my entire body in soy sauce. But enough about my eHarmony profile.
August 20, 2013 -- Updated 0005 GMT (0805 HKT)
To call myself a true ginger is rather an insult to all the legitimate redheads of the world. You know, the super shiny ones you carefully hide from your children.
August 10, 2013 -- Updated 1402 GMT (2202 HKT)
When I was a kid I used to write fan letters to the Chicago Cubs. I was young and didn't know any better.
August 2, 2013 -- Updated 1458 GMT (2258 HKT)
When I was growing up, to open my parents' refrigerator was to take a magical journey deep into a strange land of Tupperware that ultimately ended in sadness, confusion and some sort of round, congealed blob of food that may or may not have dated to the Carter administration.
July 26, 2013 -- Updated 1437 GMT (2237 HKT)
It's been a rough month for chickens.
July 20, 2013 -- Updated 0321 GMT (1121 HKT)
At home I drink from the tap. Not so much because I particularly love the taste, but because the automatic water dispenser on my fridge doesn't work.
July 13, 2013 -- Updated 1844 GMT (0244 HKT)
We all have bad habits. Nobody's perfect. Especially the booger eaters.
July 5, 2013 -- Updated 2103 GMT (0503 HKT)
Children of the '80s and '90s fondly remember a time when MTV actually played music videos.
June 28, 2013 -- Updated 2209 GMT (0609 HKT)
I've always found amusement parks very unamusing, for it's hard to justify standing in a hot, 40-minute roller-coaster line so I can promptly lose my car keys and barf up a churro.
June 21, 2013 -- Updated 1649 GMT (0049 HKT)
One day, a rather inconsiderate caveman turned to his cavewoman and said, "You know, Diane, you should really think about shaving your legs."
June 15, 2013 -- Updated 1316 GMT (2116 HKT)
George Carlin once said, "I don't automatically wash my hands every time I go to the bathroom. You know when I wash my hands? When I s**t on them."
June 8, 2013 -- Updated 1226 GMT (2026 HKT)
A lot of people don't know this, but for every 30 minutes of legitimate work, all employees must be allowed one full hour of Internet cat videos.
May 30, 2013 -- Updated 1446 GMT (2246 HKT)
Sing it with me, kids!
May 24, 2013 -- Updated 1703 GMT (0103 HKT)
I've been camping countless times in the forest -- as one does -- and without fail, there's always plenty of wood just lying around.
May 17, 2013 -- Updated 1911 GMT (0311 HKT)
We just can't leave well-enough alone.
May 10, 2013 -- Updated 2039 GMT (0439 HKT)
There's a great song by Todd Snider called "The Ballad of The Kingsmen." In it, he sings, "Marilyn Manson gets a lot of chicks. They're weird chicks. But they're chicks."
May 3, 2013 -- Updated 2137 GMT (0537 HKT)
In my bedroom there's an amazing wall-mounted hideaway ironing board. It even has an affixed light and timed electrical outlet for safety. The thing is absolutely brilliant.
April 27, 2013 -- Updated 1944 GMT (0344 HKT)
"Wow! I totally just watched the awesome cell phone video you shot at that concert!"
April 21, 2013 -- Updated 1011 GMT (1811 HKT)
We're all thirsty and we don't even know it.
April 15, 2013 -- Updated 1456 GMT (2256 HKT)
Abraham Lincoln once said, "In life, what counts is the size of a man's heart, not the size of his disproportionate willie."
February 2, 2013 -- Updated 1518 GMT (2318 HKT)
Sometimes pet tortoises vanish for 30 years and end up in a box of records. Still alive. Or they live with San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks.
ADVERTISEMENT