Image: AUG
We’d all like to know a little more about what we’re buying at the grocery store. How old is that vegetable? Where was it grown? How did it make its way to this shelf or bin? What kind of track record does the farmer have?
Not content to simply ponder these weighty questions, John Healy decided to help provide some useful answers.
“It all stemmed from the movie Food, Inc.,” said Healy, a May 2009 graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. “It’s a really great documentary about food production and how much we really know about what we eat.
“We were also looking at applications that are out there, and how they fell a little short as far as how much information you could gather yourself.”
The result: The Augmented Living Goods Program (AUG), an innovative concept designed to connect producer to consumer by way of the retailer. Working with fellow SCAD graduates Shane Blomberg, Seth Laupus and Andrew Reeves, Healy produced an application that works with SmartPhones to allow shoppers to get more concrete information on those potential purchases. The project was the big winner at February’s Greener Gadgets competition in New York City.
With verifiable input from producers, the program allows shoppers to scan a bar code to access information such as the location of the farm, farming methods (organic?), specialty items (all turnips, all the time) and more. The grocer would introduce a bar code directory and add a SmartPhone-friendly bar code sticker on the front of each local farmer’s container to allow customers to make more informed choices about vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry, and dairy products.
Sounds good, certainly, but what’s in it for the farmer? Responsible food producers will have an outlet to tout the quality of their work and a chance to develop a bond with the end-line consumer. And the store? As buyers become more savvy (and demanding) about the sources of their sustenance, a reputation for being a “local farmer-friendly retailer” can be a big asset, boosting consumer confidence and loyalty.
As the depth of the data improves, customers might be able to access historical pricing, find out what others had to say about the product, input their own feedback on satisfaction, and get a refresher on their own buying history. A rewards system could be added to provide incentives for everyone in the loop.
“We’re currently figuring out parts of the business model,” Healy said. “We’re actually working with a company. We’re also working on signing up producers and things of that nature.”
So far, so good.
“We haven’t run into any really big issues yet,” he added. “One problem is that I’m just a student and I don’t really know anything about business or law. I come from a design background, so all of this is new to me and for the group. It’s just trying to start a business. It’s a process.”
The process started innocently enough as Healy and friends decided they wanted to develop an entry for Greener Gadgets, an annual conference produced by the Consumer Electronics Association that spotlights green designs and innovations in consumer technology. (Themes this year included sustainable product design, green technology in the home, and environmental issues.)
Once the idea took shape, Healy, Blomberg, Laupus and Reeves needed only about a week to flesh out some of the details and develop the application. Before they knew it, they were claiming the top prize.
“The core ideas were mine, but in any design situation, you have to bounce it around from person to person,” Healy said. “Everyone has their own little thing. But everyone’s still involved. It’s fun.”
Now, that concept could be in the early stages of creating a career – or, at the very least, a job – for the point man, who is cautiously optimistic about what the future might bring.
“We’ll see where it goes,” Healy said. “There are so many people who are interested in the idea, as far as actually being able to buy the application. If it turns into a career, it does. That would be awesome. I would love to do it. I’m very passionate about the idea. I just don’t know where it’s going to lead.”
Meanwhile, Healy is hedging his bets. Recently relocated from Atlanta to New York, he is looking for a job in The Big Apple, just in case.
“I’m going to do both for a while and see how this develops,” he said.
Still, he holds hope that he might be on the verge of a nice convergence of green thinking and real-world marketability.
“It’s definitely feeling that way,” he said. “The company we might work with is pretty pumped about it. It could turn into something big.”