A research project aims to scan the vast reservoirs of electronic data now available to build a more detailed picture than has previously been possible of the links between food, nutrition and health
Entitled Project Richfields, and based at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the study will make use of the vast wealth of information generated on a daily basis by consumers (via apps), the food industry (via supply chain ICT) and food market researchers (via surveillance). Taken together, these provide extensive and highly detailed data on food purchasing habits at every level of the food supply chain.
The potential of data-crunching on this scale is not yet known -- Wageningen is conducting exploratory studies on the implications of Big Data research in a number of other areas as well as food. It is hoped, for example, that it might permit more effectively targeted policy making, as well as more individualised dietary or health guidance, as well as providing opportunities for manufacturers to coordinate production.
Read more about Sustain's policies on food and farming here.
Published Friday 27 May 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
