In a time when climate change and trade development have catapulted to
the forefront of the news agenda, it has become more important than
ever to make responsible choices when it comes to shopping.

Labels like Fairtrade, Organic, GM free and Carbon Neutral help us to
a certain extent, but too much information on our products can become
confusing and contradictory. Isn't it time we were given the
information to make up our own minds?

Caretrace is a new online resource from a company called Blue Skies
that allows customers to 'Meet the Farmer' and find out more about
where their food comes from. The website is a cross between Flickr and
MySpace and incorporates YouTube videos and Yahoo Maps to provide a
wealth of information about the people behind our products. You can
also trace products to projects to find out how part of the money
spent on a product is going to good causes.

The idea isn't new though. Organisations like The Growing Trust and
LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) have allowed customers to trace
a selection of their fresh produce for a while now, but Caretrace
attempts to do it differently by focusing more on providing a "mash
up" of photographs, videos and maps to tell a "story" rather than just
providing overtly technical data. Caretrace is also interactive and
allows users to register to submit their own products and recipe ideas
as well as leave comments and feedback for other members.

As Caretrace is relatively young it currently only features a small
selection of fruit products, but there is a lot of potential for this
website to grow into a thriving community of food-lovers.

Find out more at http://www.caretrace.com