Where does your food come from? First-of-a-kind map tracks journey across thousands of miles
If extreme rainfall wiped out all food growing in Jalisco, a Pacific coastal state in western Mexico, it would eliminate enough calories to feed 765,000 people in the United States. A widespread drought in the Brazilian state of Paraná could cut enough fat to meet needs of more than 1.7 million people in Egypt. Western Australia’s next major heatwave could knock out enough protein to feed 8 million people in China.
These are some of many insights revealed by a newly launched interactive tool called the . Developed by Boulder data scientist Zia Mehrabi and his collaborators at , a non-profit organization, the interactive digital map shows how food moves from farm to table. It offers a first-of-its kind view into the world’s highly connected and increasingly fragile food system.
“This is a landmark effort, because no one’s ever done this at this scale and level of detail,” said Mehrabi, assistant professor of environmental studies and founder of Boulder’s , which leverages data science to address some of the leading global environmental and human rights issues. “We’re able to represent the complexity of our food system, showing people a window into a world they haven’t seen before.”
As climate change continues to put pressure on global food production and supply chains, the team hopes the data could help countries better anticipate and prepare for disruptions like droughts and floods, ensuring communities maintain food access in the face of hazards.
Food hubs
The team built the map using data on agricultural yields of common foods—including grains, meats and vegetables. They also accounted for consumer demand, trade records, transportation networks, and satellite ship-tracking data from around the world.
With the Global Food Twin, users can look up how common agricultural food groups, from grains to oil to fresh produce, travel from where they’re produced to consumers in more than 3,700 states and provinces across 240 countries. The team also calculated the calories and essential nutrients, such as protein and iron, that flow through the trades.
Zia Mehrabi (Credit: Patrick Campbell/ Boulder)
The map is an expansion on Mehrabi’s pioneering project visualizing theU.S. food system. It revealed that just 5.5% of U.S. counties produce half of the nation’s crops.
The global version paints a similar picture.Only 1.2% of sub-national administrative units, such as states, provinces and districts, supply 50% of the world’s grains.
For example, India’s Uttar Pradesh supplies 17 gigatons of grains annually. Together with other food products the state grows, Uttar Pradesh alone provides enough calories for more than 22 million people, including close to half a million in the United States.
“Many people think the U.S. can stand alone when it comes to food supply, and we can call the shots on trade agreement. But this map illustrates that even a powerhouse like the U.S. relies heavily on imports,” Mehrabi said, adding that many food items that Americans enjoy daily almost all come from other countries.
Take bananas. Almost every banana in U.S. grocery stores comes from countries like Guatemala, Ecuador and Mexico. Coffee, aside from a small amount grown in Hawaii, mainly comes from Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.
“This map shows very clearly how connected we are with each other when it comes to food, something many consumers don’t think about when they’re eating a banana,” Mehrabi said.
Choke points
The map also highlights the growing vulnerability of global food systems to climate change. Many critical trade corridors, such as the MississippiRiverand theRhineRiverin Europe, have experienced low water levels this summer,.
Certain globally traded crops are also under threat. that by 2080, rising temperature,extreme weather and climate-related pestscould slash the areas suitable for growing bananas by 60%. Climate change could also reduce coffee yields in the Americas by 70%.
Mehrabi said the Global Food Twin enables researchers and policymakers to model the impact of these climate hazards on the food system.
“If, say a heatwave hit the Midwest and, at the same time, the Mississippi River slowed because of drought, where are the communities that would feel the biggest impact? We haven’t really been able to track how disruptions could ripple through the food system until now. This dataset lets us start asking those questions,” Mehrabi said.
He added that low-income households already facing food insecurity are the most vulnerable to production or supply chain disruptions, because even small shocks in the system can trigger dramatic food price spikes.
When food prices rise, policy-makers can use stimulus payments and other dignity-focused safety nets to improve purchasing power for vulnerable communities, according to Mehrabi.
“This is a critical window into how climate change can collide with trade infrastructure, labor needs and food production. For the first time, we can start visualizing how that plays out on a global scale,” Mehrabi said.