Obesity rates

 I hope everyone already knows the obesity rate in the US is increasing, so this map showing the adult obesity rate won't shock anyone.  If you remember the post earlier this week on farmers markets and direct sales you can see areas with high obesity rates are usually places where there are fewer farmers markets and not very many farms that make direct sales

While the first map today didn't surprise me, this next one really caught me off guard.  The obesity rate of low income preschoolers is up to 36% in some places!  The slogan of the Lets Move! program is "America's move to raise a healthier generation of kids." According to this map it is apparent that school programs like this will be crucial to improving people's health.

white areas have no data to map

Price ratio of leafy greens to starchy vegetables

In our house we disagree on the true nature of the potato.  I say it does not really count as a vegetable (like kale or green beans).  This map helps show why I think potatoes shouldn't be considered a true vegetable.  Dark brown areas are where green leafy vegetables cost $1.64-1.86 compared to $1.00 for starchy vegetables.  Notice that Maine and Idaho, two states with high potato industries, still have high ratios.

Map from Food environment atlas

Farmers markets and direct sales

Yesterday I was pointed in the direction of a really cool website.  The Food Environment Atlas is another USDA project that is full of interesting information (you should really visit it!).  So, this week I'm going to look at a little bit of the vast amount of information published.  Today, because it is Monday and the first day of spring break, I'll start with a few that are cheerful.

I love this map showing the number of farmers markets in 2010 because it illustrates how plant biologists count.   The dark green areas have lots of farmers markets- somewhere between 4 and 102!

This map showing the number of farms with direct sales [to the consumer] shows a similar trend as the first one.  Places where there are a lot of direct farm sales also have a lot of farmers markets.  As with many maps like this I want to know more - how is the population distributed?  what about price differences?