The 5,000 Mile Salad
showing the origin of the fruits and vegetables we eat
Since 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture has tracked every fruit and vegetable imported into America. This project visualizes the USDA dataset, showing the global region of origin, volume of imports, and importation patterns over time for more than 150 fruits and vegetables. The interactive portion allows users to observe the change in import volume from 1998 to the present for their selected item or items of produce. The project reveals the origin and distribution of foods for an American population dependent on year-round access to goods grown across the globe.
The maps and infographics below were published in the August 2013 issue of Scientific American magazine.
OCR also created an interactive visualization for the Scientific American website.