Trace Codes are simply 7-digit codes attached information entered by Farmers in the System about their Farm and their Harvests. When entered into the Consumer Trace module, Trace Codes generate short (one page) "reports" showing information that the Farmer has chosen to share (see below) to demonstrate his authenticity.

As the System grows to record the activites of other links in the supply chain (Packers, Processors, etc.), so will the scope and usage of Trace Codes: a potential scenario would be that of Organic Muesli, which might use different ingredients from different producers, and which would have gone through a processing and packaging stage.

Its Trace Code would give access to the data not only about the packaging stage of the Muesli, but also about the separate ingredients used to create it. This would be of benefit to both the supply chain - a supermarket for instance could see every stage in a product's history before it reached the shelves - but also of interest to the consumer.

This is our long-term goal for Consumer Trace. In the short-term, we hope that the existing functionality and scope will prove compelling. There are two "levels" of trace, each generating a "Trace Report":

• Farm Trace: Each Farm in the system has a unique code "tied" to general information about that farm: its name and location, a message written by the grower, a picture of the Farm, who it is certified by, etc.
• Harvest Trace: each Harvest recorded in the System is given a unique code which "stores" the full story of the crop: date of Harvest, the plot it comes from, where the seeds came from, etc.

As these "Trace Reports" come from a system which is used by the Organic industry as a record keeping tool, it includes various information types that might not be readily familiar. We have prepared a sample Farm Trace Report and Harvest Trace Report where potentially obscure pieces of information have links to explanations of what they mean, and why they are recorded.

As each Farmer is responsible for his data in the System, it is up to him how much information he wants to share with the consumer. As you can see from the sample Trace Reports, the information is split into separate tables: Farm Information Produce Information, Grower Information, Planting Information, Source Information and Treatment Information (and Certifier Information for participating Certifiers).

The Farmer can choose to show as many or as few of these tables as he wishes, which is why some Trace Reports will be "longer" than others.

We apologise if there are occasions where you are unable to see anything about your produce, but we feel it is the Farmer's responsibility to make decisions about the circulation of information about his activities.

Please e-mail us at info@organicecology.com, though, to share your thoughts on this policy, and also any opinions you have about Consumer Trace in general.