Environment

Striking Visualizations of a World Connected Through Crop Supply

Food brings us together.
A farmer harvests broccoli in the town of al-Ansariyeh south of Sidon, Lebanon.REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

Lately, Trumpian tirades against immigration and open borders have flooded the political landscape. But a new, comprehensive report on the interconnectivity of our global food supply offers an antidote.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, is the first to calculate the links between national diets and agricultural economies. It paints a picture of mutual reliance. Examining 151 crops and 177 countries, the researchers found that in an average country, nearly 70 percent of vegetables, legumes, grains, and fruit originate elsewhere.