Here's an example of micro traceability technology being used by a progressive business.

When you buy a carton of organic soy milk from Organic Valley, you can enter the date of expiration on the their website, and find out who grew the soybeans that your milk was made from.

While i really like this idea, i can't help but feel a bit unsure about whether or not this is the kind of transparency that we should be looking for. I'm all for transparency, meeting the farmers etc., but doesn't this also contribute to fetishizing the commodity? If i'm going to fetishize something, i'd rather it be the very progressive and successful institution that allowed a farmer to cooperate with other farmers, act as good stewards of the land, and succeed.

On a related note:

In a great article in The New York Times it was reported that when Wal-Mart demanded they reduce their prices by 20%, Organic Valley balked, and walked away from what is probably their biggest customer.

I would expect that the primary means for grain handling facilities such as the Pacific Gateway Terminal at the port of Vancouver to distinguish themselves would be their ability to handle enormous boats and tens of thousands of train cars. But this announcement, sent out by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in response to an investigation by the Commissioner of Competition, implies that the increasingly important role of other factors.

"Pacific Gateway Terminals is providing cost-competitive service to customers while adding value in much-needed areas of identity preservation, product traceability, food safety, and railcar and vessel logistics," said Malecha.