A Chinese company is GPS-tracking your chicken to ensure they’re healthy and organic
Your future chicken dinner is about to get its very own Fitbit-like device.
Chinese online insurance company ZhongAn Online has developed a new GPS tracker for poultry called GoGo Chicken, according to the Wall Street Journal. The device fits around the animal’s leg while sensors monitor information like the chicken’s environment, what it eats, and how much exercise it gets.
ZhongAn refers to the product as “blockchain farming” because it utilizes the real-time public record technology popularized by cryptocurrency to store its data on the chickens.
The information GoGo Chicken collects isn’t just for those tending to the fowl. Consumers will be able to monitor the chicken’s day-to-day life via a mobile app as well.
The hope is that the GPS tracking device will help prevent food safety related problems. In the event an issue does arise, the data tracked by the devices could help find the source of the problem. However, ZhongAn does also have its own use for the technology. As an insurance company that covers the agriculture industry, it's looking to reduce its own risk and liability with the data it collects.
In a report, NPR says that 100,000 chickens are already wearing the monitoring device. ZhongAn says the devices will be found on 2,500 farms in China by 2020. NPR also reports that the company is developing facial-recognition technology for poultry so customers can make sure that they’re eating the same chicken that they picked from the farm.
In the near future, consumers will be able to confirm their free-range organic chicken actually freely roamed around outdoors thanks to a GPS tracking device strapped to it.
