While in the country, farms may grow much of the produce that is for
sale in our local markets, in United States Metropolitan areas only
grow less than 2% of the food they consume. Some produce must
make a long journey, as much as 1,500 miles to go from the farm to
the supermarkets for consumers to purchase. While many goods
with a long shelf life can handle the travel, produce is a bit different.
As much as 14% of all produce is loss while in transit to the stores.
The process isn’t as simple as farm to store, instead produce typically
travels “from the farmer to a processing center, where that food is
collected; then to a regional distribution center and on to the local
retailer or restaurant; and then finally to the hungry consumer”
(Calderone, 2019). This process known as the supply chain, simply
put getting a product to the consumer, just isn’t efficient enough to
supply the consumers the freshest produce possible, from local farms.
With so much complexity for transportation, farm to table logistics
planning can dramatically help reduce waste as much as 90% and
ensuring that the freshest product possible is ready for consumer
purchase.
To make this all possible, it’s not as simple as plant a seed, grow it,
harvest it, and sell it. a Today’s farmers need to utilize technology to
“measure environmental conditions influencing crop production and
track livestock health and behavior indicators which can reduce
environmental impact, such as water usage, while still benefiting
economically” (Pegulu, 2021). There’s more to farming than just
growing and getting food to the consumer, farmers must worry about
maximizing their resources, in a world where population is expanding,
and farm labor and land are declining. They also must ensure that the
produce they are growing is safe for consumption. While the farmers
grow the food and ensure that it meets standard set forth by the food
and drug administration, there still is a long way to go to get to our
tables, the transportation process.
Once transported from the farms, logistics companies rely on The
Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor our foods next journey. a This
involves monitoring things such as location, temperature, handling,
speed of movement, and other environmental factors. a IoT basically
monitors storage of goods to enhance quality management. Use of
IoT “makes it much easier to track the quality of goods through the
supply chain and to reduce spoilage” (Blume Global, n.d.). From the
use of technology, transportation companies can monitor the ideal
conditions needed to ensure fresh goods reach the consumer, as well
as any delays along the way and even ways to avoid them. This
technology is not just used in transportation, it is also used at the
farm to decide on optimal times to plant or harvest. a Manufacturers
benefit from this technology, by being able to track the shipment and
utilize a just in time management system to carefully schedule further
shipments, and food retailers can benefit from this system from being
able to monitor their shipment while in route.
With all of this in mind, as a grocery supplier, I would want to work
with farmers and transportation services that utilize the IoT
technology to ensure that we are in fact getting the freshest product
possible to meet consumers demands. a Goods can be tracked from
the farm at the time of planting, to harvesting, and along the entire
journey to us. a Partnering with farms and logistics companies utilizing
this technology, will help us succeed in the farm to table movement.
This not only ensure sustainability, but we will also ensure to build
relationships with local farmers, ensure less impacts to the
environment, and also ensure to supply the healthiest produce
possible to our customers.
Sources
Calderone, L. (2019, May 19). From Farm to Table. Agri Tech
Tomorrow. Retrieved from
https://www.agritechtomorrow.com/article/2019/05/from-farm-to-
table/11436
How the Internet of Things Is Transforming Supply Chain Management.
Blume Global. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.blumeglobal.com/learning/internet-of-things/
Pegulu, M. (2021, August 4). Tracking Food Supply from Farm to Table
and Everywhere in Between. Food Logistics. Retrieved from
https://www.foodlogistics.com/software-
technology/article/21562974/semtech-tracking-food-supply-from-
farm-to-table-and-everywhere-in-between
A Primer on Farm-to-table Movement: Benefits and Challenges. Plants
Spark Joy. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.plantssparkjoy.com/farm-to-table-movement/
