Watermelon-tracking technology
More watermelons will soon be individually traceable, according to Progressive Grocer magazine:
The HarvestMark solution gives individual watermelons a unique identity that links to growing, harvest, packing, and supply chain information. The HarvestMark Codes associated with each product can be entered into a Web portal for instant trace-back and trace-forward
I wonder if consumers will be able to access this information. I may be alone on this...but I would get a kick out a website where I could punch in my watermelon's tracking number to see exactly how this particular fruit got from the farm to my local grocery store. What if all groceries had this kind of individual unit traceability? Giving consumers that kind of information could redefine the project of eating locally. What if you could punch in the numbers on your Blackberry as you shopped? You could choose products that were shipped shorter distances.
Oh, I'm sure the growers would call it "trade secrets" simply so you couldn't see that your fruit was coming from El Salvadore. Just like you can't shop online and find out what country anything is made in.
Posted by: David Grenier | February 23, 2009 at 09:32 AM
Type in the code of your blackberries on your Blackberry? That would be cool.
Posted by: michael schmidt | February 24, 2009 at 02:21 AM
This is an interesting idea. It is one of many potential strengths to location specific information. Primarily developing these so that machines can provide the information when requested.
Posted by: doyle Saylor | February 24, 2009 at 01:01 PM
I just want to know who's ruining fruit salads with those god-damned little melon balls.
Posted by: cfrost | February 25, 2009 at 02:39 AM