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Background: Recently, a list was published by a group called “Strolling of the Heifers” that ranked all 50 states using a “Locavore Index” – they wanted to find out which states were the best for eating local foods. Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire were the top three (read more about that ranking here: ). One of the factors they used in their ranking was the number of farmers’ markets. Independently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides data with the number of farmers’ markets that have been used in other studies, like a recent report to Congress.
The map (a map with data is really another kind of graph) shows the number of farmers’ markets by county all across the U.S.
Data Source: Johnson et al. 2013, The Role of Local Food Systems in U.S. Farm Policy, Congressional Research Service Report;
Questions:
1. Describe what the map/graphic shows about where you are more likely to find more farmers’ markets across the U.S.
2. Take a closer look at the legend of the map. The legend here is like reading the Y-axis on a ‘regular’ graph. What are the units? Is it fair to have a category that ranges from 4-100 farmers’ markets? How else would you want to see the data grouped?
