From farm to table, the movement of food consists of different stages like planting, fertilising, pruning, harvesting, packaging and/or shipping. In recent years, however, there has been an increasing need to improve the transparency of food movement along the supply chain as well as of the different food systems. Food tracking makes this process possible.
Reasons for Food Tracking
Animal welfare:
On the heel of food lifestyle choices like vegetarianism and veganism, many are very conscious and particular about the things they eat. As such, they would love to be aware of the content of their meals.
Combating food fraud:
Spurred by a profit motive, some food retailers might be dubious about the food they sell to consumers. Food tracking protects consumers from such fraudulent practices. This way, compliance with food regulations is ensured.
Health reasons:
An understanding of what people are allergic to and things they would rather not eat makes them particular about the things they consume. With food tracking, these people are helped.
Food safety:
because food safety is very important and one can never be too careful when it comes to this, food tracking informs people about the safety levels of the food they are consuming.
Personal choices:
Curiosity about where food was produced, what it was produced with, as well as knowledge about whether or not such food is genetically modified or not, among other reasons, could inspire people to be particular about food tracking.
Social justice:
Food tracking allows for better wealth distribution between food producers and helps control situations where only the produce from industrialized farms are purchased.
General food transparency:
Food tracking provides information about the origins, packaging material, shipping information, and organic nature agricultural produce.
Means of food tracking
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Certification programs which help produce consumers better understand the produce they are producing. Examples of these are the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “organic label”, as well as other certifications like “fair trade” and “dolphin-safe”.
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Major retailers employ their tracking systems and contract with third-party auditing services to ensure there is compliance with their food safety programs.
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Technologies: mobile applications are being developed that provide information about tracked food. Also, blockchain technology is finding application n food tracking. By quickly scanning a Quick Response (QR) code, can have access to information like the history of the product, the product’s movement through the supply chain and even verify the authenticity of the product(s).
Food tracking is a process that can be carried out by consumers, people in the supply chain industry, food producers who may want to track their food and food regulators.
