Community & School Forest Garden Liaison
Office for Educational Innovation & Community Partnerships
College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services
University of Cincinnati
F ood Mapping is a participatory exercise that engages communities in creating art, while mapping food sources, resources, and community assets. This activity and these maps invite conversation and creative place-making around the topics of personal health, community, economic, and the ecological impacts of our food systems. Some communities focus on identifying current assets and other focus on the future and what could be created in their neighborhoods. Each map created involves different partners, stakeholders, community members, and designers – based on geography, funding, and the desired outcome.
This Food Mapping body of work has grown into a larger project called - Edible City: An Art Atlas, which showcases the Cincinnati regional foodshed across the past, present and future.
Example Food Maps Edible City Website
It is through the visualization of our foodshed where we are able to highlight all levels and connections - from cupboards and communities, to farms, schools, incubator kitchens, and entrepreneurs, to the novel collaborations between them. These maps and information graphics grapple with a wide variety of topics associated with our food systems such as: food (in)security, suburban garden and permaculture projects, to food-hubs, fast food, slow food, the urban-rural divide, and into garden designs, foraging, gleaning, cooking, composting, and eating.
For example, some maps and information graphics show the increase or decrease of food retail – like the increase in craft breweries or the decrease in neighborhood butcher shops. Other maps focus on identifying edible perennials (fruits and nuts) that grow in the public domain or on the green space that could be transitioned from grass to food forests or community gardens. Additionally, the neighborhood food maps of Camp Washington, OH and Covington, KY showcase the Appalachian communities in the Cincinnati region. This collection also includes future maps that envision EcoAgroTourism (E.A.T) Corridors (bike lanes and signage) connecting markets, farms, indoor grow operations, to breweries and nurseries – thus taking the form of economic development plans.
Edible City is a Green Umbrella project in collaboration with Wave Pool and The Cincinnati Museum Center. The team is lead by R. Alan Wight, PhD., School and Community Garden Liaison for the University of Cincinnati and Assistant Professor at The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and supported by Michaela Oldfield, JD, PhD., Director of Green Umbrella’s Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council.
The broader project team consists of Cal Cullen, MFA, Executive Director of Wave Pool; Arynn McCandless, Education Program Director, Cincinnati Museum Center; Alex Tarr, PhD., Assistant Professor of Earth, Environment, and Physics at Worcester State University; and Alyssa Ryan, MA., Assistant Professor at The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Project funders include the William H. Thie Foundation, the USDA, University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.
Northside Fruit Park - digital design, 2x3 feet poster (or larger) - This Food Map invites you to explore the neighborhood of Northside in Cincinnati, Ohio. Take a walk on the wild side and raise your food consciousness as you realize the true amount of harvestable food that grows in our public domain.
Crown the Queen – Plant the Trail – digital design, 2x3 feet poster (or larger) – This map builds on the Crown the Queen bike trails campaign and uses data from bikers to imagine food forests and orchards planted along the trail where there is ample and available green space.
Brew, Drink, & Enjoy Local Beer – digital design, 2.5 x 4.5 feet (or larger) - This infographic reveals the renaissance and revival of our local beer industry - once the largest per capita of any city in the US. Also, this maps shows which breweries are sourcing their ingredients within the three states – OH, KY, and IN surrounding the city.
EcoAgroTourism (EAT) - digital design, 3 x 5 feet (or larger) - This maps envisions a bike trail and tourist corridor connecting our remaining historic farmers market downtown with one of the oldest working farms in the city. Along the way, people enjoy eating, drinking, gardens, and everything related to food and environmental stewardship. This is a future economic development plan.