Hey all, I’m trying to be a little more economical and reduce the amount of food I waste, and was wondering if there were any open-source apps that can track the best-before dates of the foods I buy so I can improve my meal-planning.

I saw that there’s Best-Before on F-Droid, but the last release was in July 2022, and I was curious if there was something more actively maintained.

    • qaz@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      -1

      I have used this before, but I stopped using it. It’s complicated while simultaneously also missing features.

    • Dhalucario
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      8 months ago

      I like grocy, it is very feature rich. You can document expiration dates, shopping lists, storage locations, supermarkets, prices, bar codes and more. It has an android app that works well and supports most of the webui features.

      On the other hand it’s a big clunky php app. After having to move it somewhere else it didn’t feel like migrating it and just gave up on it. I geniunely wish there was a single executable sqlite alternative or something that just syncs up in the network with a desktop app.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    You can still eat it after the ‘best before’ date. It might not be best, but it doesn’t immediately turn into poison.

    • Binzy_Boi@supermeter.socialOP
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      8 months ago

      I’m aware, just figured it would be a good idea to prioritize those things first, and also use the information I gain to figure out how arbitrary the dates given are.

      For example, while logging my spice cabinet just now with the Food Expirations app, I saw that there were a few that were past due that I’m going to look into with how much longer they’d be good for.

        • Contentedness@lemmy.nz
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          8 months ago

          I think the opposite is true with spices. They’re so dry it would be uncommon for them to ever spoil like fresh foods would, but over time their aroma and taste weaken to the point that there’s really no point in using them.

  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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    8 months ago

    For me personally, I have a dry-erase board on my fridge and will note expiry/bb dates for items that are only fresh for a short time (i.e. the bread or almond milk I make). That way, everyone in my home can see it.

    Pretty much all other food items like spices, flour, pantry ingredients, and frozen food are stocked in quantities that I would be able to use well before they “expire” (or diminish in quality). Some of these foods are fresh for years, so it doesn’t really worry me that they’ll go bad or anything.

    Unless you’ve got a warehouse of food with moderate shelf life, I think there might be an easier way to do things without using an app, which I find just overcomplicates things. But even a simple spreadsheet, as already suggested, might be an easy option. Just my 2 cents.

  • 56!@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Is there anything missing from Best-Before? It may just be finished. There is no mention of anything obvious (such as a dependency on an API) that would cause it to stop working.