AKTive Food: Semantic Web based knowledge conduits for the Organic Food Industry

We present a vision and a proposal for using Semantic Web technologies in the organic food industry. This is a very knowledge intensive industry at every step from the producer, to the caterer or restauranteur, through to the consumer. There is a crucial need for a concept of environmental audit which would allow the various stake holders to know the full environmental impact of their economic choices. This is a different and parallel form of knowledge to that of price. Semantic Web technologies can be used effectively for the calculation and transfer of this type of knowledge (together with other forms of multimedia data) which could contribute considerably to the commercial and educational impact of the organic food industry. We outline how this could be achieved as our essential objective is to show how advanced technologies could be used to both reduce ecological impact and increase public awareness.