through the screen doors of discretion • smarterplanet: Knowing Your Farmer with the...

smarterplanet:

Knowing Your Farmer with the Semantic Web - semanticweb.com
Anthony Nicalo recently posted an interesting piece on how the semantic web could improve the food system in the US. He writes, “We live in a backward world. A world where it is strange to know where our food comes from. Foods that are grown and processed without adulteration have to prove it, while the use of chemicals and manipulation do not have to be disclosed. Information and technology on the other hand can contribute to a better food system by eliminating information asymmetry. It only takes a couple of times choosing something you know the provenance of to remind you that it is actually bizarre to NOT know the source of your food.”
He continues, “I believe that the internet can solve many of the difficulties in ‘knowing your farmer.’ Much of the information asymmetry in food exists because a cost effective way to make information travel with the food hasn’t been applied. It is starting to happen in silos, for flour, for chocolate, and for wool, but soon the full power of the semantic web will be applied to food. Mobile pervasiveness is eliminating the boundary between offline and online, enabling seamless access to information. Open participation by all interested parties—whether consumers, producers or distributors—can democratize the sourcing, verifying and sharing of information.”

Knowing Your Farmer with the Semantic Web - semanticweb.com

Anthony Nicalo recently posted an interesting piece on how the semantic web could improve the food system in the US. He writes, “We live in a backward world. A world where it is strange to know where our food comes from. Foods that are grown and processed without adulteration have to prove it, while the use of chemicals and manipulation do not have to be disclosed. Information and technology on the other hand can contribute to a better food system by eliminating information asymmetry. It only takes a couple of times choosing something you know the provenance of to remind you that it is actually bizarre to NOT know the source of your food.”

He continues, “I believe that the internet can solve many of the difficulties in ‘knowing your farmer.’ Much of the information asymmetry in food exists because a cost effective way to make information travel with the food hasn’t been applied. It is starting to happen in silos, for flour, for chocolate, and for wool, but soon the full power of the semantic web will be applied to food. Mobile pervasiveness is eliminating the boundary between offline and online, enabling seamless access to information. Open participation by all interested parties—whether consumers, producers or distributors—can democratize the sourcing, verifying and sharing of information.”

(via slavin)

Source: semanticweb.com