12 Jun 40 Maps That Explain Food In America

Despite the fact that food is a basic human need, the way that we grow, cook, and eat that food has become increasingly complicated in modern times. Earlier this week, Vox came out with an article that summed up this phenomenon best.

In the article, "40 Maps That Explain Food In America," the authors write that America is a place, "where food insecurity coexists with an obesity crisis, where fast food is everywhere and farmer’s markets are spreading, where foodies have never had more power and McDonald’s has never had more locations, and where the possibility of a barbecue-based civil war is always near." 

The Vox article then goes on to display 40 brilliant interactive maps that use hard data to show just how complex and confusing our food system has become. Seeing all of the numbers right there on paper is pretty damning and should serve as a wake-up call to the country to get its act in order.  I highly recommend reading the whole article here, but if you don't have that kind of time, I've pulled out a few of the Texas-specific info and listed it below.

Texas and food:

• Texas has one of the worst obesity rates in the country. More than 30 percent of its residents are obese.
• Meanwhile, 20 percent of Texas' population receives food stamps 
• Only 25 – 29 percent of Texas adults eat vegetables at least 3 times a day (the daily recommended value) and only 30 – 34 percent eat fruit at least 2 times a day (the daily recommended value)
• Sonic is the most popular fast food restaurant in Texas
• Texas has some of the oldest farmers in the country. The average principal farm operator in the state is over 60 years old.
• A lot of the farmland in Texas is not exactly raking in the dough. The average value of goods sold from those farms is only $10,000 to $1000,000 a year, except in the panhandle, where cattle farms can bring in more than a million dollars annually. 
• Texas' most iconic fast food chain is WhataBurger, apparently. 

And here is one last terrifying fact for you – the area in the U.S. that is the farthest from a McDonalds is upper South Dakota, which is 145 miles from the nearest Mickey D's. So there you have it folks, no matter how hard you try, you can never be more than 145 miles away from fast food. How's that for a wakeup call?