A U.S. consumer goes to the grocery store and buys chicken for his evening meal. He “trusts” that the chicken is safe, that it has been inspected by USDA experts and is okay to eat. But he knows nothing about the origin of that chicken, how it was grown, or whose “hands” it went through on its way to that grocery store shelf.

Perhaps it was raised in China and slaughtered in very unsanitary and unfavorable conditions. Perhaps it was raised in the U.S. and pumped full of antibiotics and steroids to make it much bigger and thus appealing and worth more as it was distributed to a grocer.

The problem is, consumers do not know anything about the origins of their food, how that food was grown and how many intermediaries that food went through before it reached the shelves.

Can blockchain provide a solution?

There has been a lot of “hype” about blockchain in recent years. While it began as a technology to provide transparency and security for cryptocurrency transactions, it is rapidly moving into other sectors. The reason? The technology can provide a permanent, immutable record of contracts, transactions, documents, supply chain movement and more. All major industries are exploring the potential of blockchain and this includes agribusiness.