Campus  Kitchens – especially when they first fire up operations (like St. Lawrence University, Union College, UMass Boston and University of Virginia this year) – look to answer a plethora of food security questions about their city to better serve the community.
Some Campus Kitchens that have or will start gleaning programs are looking for a number of farms with direct sales in the area.  Others are trying to assess what kind of access certain communities have to grocery stores. Still others are looking to form partnerships with local restaurants for food donations.

What if all these answers – and more – were in one place, with a customizable map? Look no further than the Food Environment Atlas, brought to you by the United States Department of Agriculture.

The map allows for setting specifics on categories such as food prices, food insecurity, availability of food stores, local food, and socioeconomic characteristics. There is even a county selection advanced mode where campus kitchens can search for counties in need of hunger relief.

Once you’re finished with your query, the application lets you print and save the map. How’s that for a kitchen utensil?

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