A Visual Analysis of Food Availability in Davidson County NC

Community Food Strategies provides guidance and tools to local food networks in North Carolina to empower the creation of equitable policy change at all levels. Their vision is the realization of an equitable food system that improves the quality of life for all. In Davidson County, the recently formed Local Food Network, created under the guidance of Community Food Strategies, is working to create a more equitable and sustainable food system and is evaluating how best to apply their resources toward this end. The county is largely rural, and rural areas tend to have lower food access. Two cities, Lexington and Thomasville, have experienced economic depression over the past three decades with the exodus of furniture manufacturing overseas and as such, both cities have communities that suffer from poverty and food insecurity issues. In this research, we use visual analytics and spatial analysis to build a survey and analysis of local food availability for the county. Visual analytics is increasingly being applied to applications like this to increase understanding of large datasets and improve decision making. This research provides a base analysis for the Local Food Network to present the state of the local food system to potential partners who can help create policies that will increase equity and availability of food to everyone in the county.