Internet of Things: A review from 'Farm to Fork'

Academic and industrial research in Internet of Things (IoT) has increased over the past several years. The Internet of Things aims to connect physical objects (Things) to the Internet using low power network connectivity that... [ view full abstract ]

Academic and industrial research in Internet of
Things (IoT) has increased over the past several years. The
Internet of Things aims to connect physical objects (Things) to
the Internet using low power network connectivity that is
embedded with sensors. IoT is becoming all-encompassing with
“Smart” Cities, Homes, Grid, Transportation, Agriculture &
Industry 4.0 just some of the application areas of IoT technology.
This paper concentrates on the use of IoT technologies in the
Food supply chain. The Food supply chain in the context of this
paper includes agriculture, food processing, transportation &
distribution right through to retail, from “Farm to Fork”. The
demand for tracking, tracing and monitoring of fresh has
elevated as instances of foodborne illness has increased. In this
paper we attempt to contribute a review of state-of-the-art
technologies and strategies that constitutes the IoT and how that
applies to “Farm to Fork”. We describe the IoT’s key enabling
technologies including Radio Frequency Identification (RFID),
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), Cloud Computing and Data
Analytics. We present the research trends and challenges in the
food supply chain industry, mainly focusing on fresh produce
such as meat, fruits & vegetables. We then present applications of
IoT technologies in Food Production, Transportation &
Distribution and in Food Retail. We conclude the paper with
plans for future work.