Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and 27th-largest in the U.S. Click on the map below to see where Louisville is in the U.S.
According to the Oxford Martin Programme, a food system is "a complex web of activities involving [food's] production, processing, transport, and consumption. Issues concerning the food system include the governance and economics of food production, its sustainability, the degree to which we waste food, how food production affects the natural environment and the impact of food on individual and population health."
Food is an integral part of Louisville's urban fabric. Home to thriving urban gardens and even a few full-scale farms, as well as food manufacturing and processing infrastructures, in addition to thousands of restaurants and food areas, Louisville contains aspects of all components of the food supply chain. It's for this reason that Louisville can be viewed as a microcosm of the food system. An important and non-negligible aspect of this food system is inequality, and there is no doubt that Louisville exemplifies the inequality inherent to the food system in many ways. The maps on this website visualize and spatialize that inequality, showing how the food production, manufacturing, and retailing processes have uneven implications for Louisville residents depending on what part of the city they are from (and, by extension, their income and race). Yet there have been and continue to be ongoing attempts at reforming the food system within this city, to ensure more equitable and healthier nourishment for all.
Here are a few things you might not know about food in Louisville:
Modjeska Candy, a niche candy that envelops caramel around marshmallows, was invented in Louisville in honor of a Polish actress
Cheeseburgers were (allegedly) first created in a Louisville restaurant known as Kraelin's
Derby Pie, a form of custard pie made with walnuts and chocholate, was invented in Louisville and is traditionally associated with the annual Kentucky Derby
