Know your farmer, know your food. Those were President Obama's words, and many of us took it to mean that we should shop at natural foods co-ops or farmer's markets, and join CSA's so that we can get information on the farmer who grew our potatoes. And that's a wonderful, organic, local, warm-fuzzy thing.
But it gets even better. Smart mobile technology is making it even easier to know your farmer - and the impact of your purchase, economically and environmentally.
Imagine being able to use your smart phone to scan a bar code on a crate of broccoli and immediately know where it was grown (with a map showing miles traveled from farm to store), whether it's currently in season, what its price history has been, and get data about the local economic and environmental impact of the product.
The people behind the AUG - Augmented Living Goods - Program imagined all of that and designed it. The system they came up with was crowned winner at the Greener Gadgets 2010 contest held in New York City this week.
Hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association, the competition rounded up 18 entrants with designs ranging from a solar tent to a computer mouse made of cork, and the AUG bar code system.
Judges liked the system because it uses existing technology and takes the popular GoodGuide one step further by encouraging people to shop local.
We can't wait for this to become available! While we wait, we can learn more about the design at the Greener Gadgets web site.
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