From Western Illinois University:

Once upon a time, in order to trace the path of a meal from your

table to the source, you may only have had to take a short jaunt to a

nearby field. But in these days of modern transit, when the foods that

people consume hail from various regions of the United States and even

the globe, that path, many times, is much more complex; the more

complex the path, the more complex the data are about that path. GIS,

or "geographic information systems," technology provides a way to

display such data visually.

In celebration of Geography Awareness

Week (Nov. 16-20), Linda Zellmer, government information and data

services librarian at Western Illinois University Libraries, has

utilized GIS to prepare a website (available at

faculty.wiu.edu/LR-Zellmer/thanksgiving.html) that links to PDF

versions of the maps that show where the foods consumed at the

traditional Thanksgiving meal — such as turkey, cranberries, squash

and green beans — originate. In addition, the website has a link to a

comprehensive poster (also a PDF) that shows where all of the

Thanksgiving foods are grown in the United States.

(Image: rosevita)

"GIS is a collection of

computer software and data used to organize and view geographically

referenced information — it helps people collect and organize

information about places, so that it can be easily displayed," Zellmer

explained. "I used the data from the 1997, 2002 and 2007 Agricultural

Censuses for this project."

Zellmer said she began working on

the project several years ago, while she was working at Indiana

University, and started it because she wanted a way to show how GIS can

be utilized to display information.

"Thanksgiving was the

following week, so I decided to develop maps showing where some typical

Thanksgiving Day foods are grown," she said. "I have continued to

update the maps since I made the first set, and I decided to recreate

the maps and modify the poster, which was developed by a friend of mine

from IU, and use them here at WIU," Zellmer said.

According to

Zellmer, GIS is a service that University Libraries provides to people

who use data and maps. She also noted that other entities on Western's

campus also utilize GIS and offer GIS services.

"The geography

department here also uses GIS, as does the Illinois Institute for Rural

Affairs (IIRA), which is housed here at Western. For example, the IIRA

has developed the Illinois Site Selection tool [available at illinoissiteselectiontool.org/siteselectiontool/] to help companies identify potential locations for businesses or industrial development," Zellmer added.



Educators

in elementary, middle and high schools may also find Zellmer's work

particularly beneficial for pre-Thanksgiving Day lessons.



"Teachers

might be able to use the Thanksgiving maps to relate the food we eat to

geography. They might also want to have the students examine the maps

(and data) more closely to identify which states produce the most

cranberries, turkeys and other foods. They could also dig a little

deeper and look at weather, climate and growing conditions to try and

determine why pecans only grow in southern states and cranberries only

grow in a few states," she said. 



Visit faculty.wiu.edu/LR-Zellmer/thanksgiving.html to access Zellmer's maps and the comprehensive poster online.