TCS Infographic: Technology Takes Us from Farm to Fork to Feed More People

As the world encounters new challenges, from climate change to disruption of supply chains, we face an age-old question: how do we feed the world in a sustainable and healthy way?

It’s a question that experts around the world are trying to answer. Zero hunger is #2 on the United Nations list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to transform our world by 2030. At the same time, research has shown that fruits and vegetables comprise 85% of food waste by mass. These issues take on a new urgency considering the global disruptions that continue to occur.

The answer, in part, lies in technological innovation. Researchers, growers, food producers, and retailers are adopting emerging technologies like synthetic biology and digital twins to bring fresher and more nutritious food to consumers around the world, while easing the strain on our environment.

This innovation is taking place throughout every part of the food supply chain. Farmers are becoming technology experts, leveraging both hardware and software to adopt techniques such as precision agriculture, which focuses on monitoring and optimizing every growing condition -- from soil to temperature. To further optimize crops, digital twins such as a digital banana invented by TCS track freshness, helping to avoid waste and ensure food is packaged and shipped in the best way possible to get to consumers.

Thanks to improved crop yields, food distributors now have more options to manage demand, deploy advanced analytics to predict food preferences and adjust shipping and stocking in real time. With such data-driven approaches to food freshness practices and policies, the future of farm to fork is looking brighter every day.