I think we can all agree that it is better for all concerned – from farmers to consumers – for there to be lots of different types of beer. Problem is, some of these beers will be hard to find, and that means that they might not last in the market. Fear not: the Beer Mapping Project will show you where to go for your favourite amber nectar, at least if you live in the US. Here’s an article about the man behind the project, and the same author has also done a review of other food mapping sites here.
In a similar vein with regards to mapping food consumption, we are trying to map preferences for maize in Latin America – white, yellow or other color. This could be potentially important information for maize breeders that are targeting particular environments. It may be very difficult or impossible for a yellow maize to be adopted in a place where consumption is predominantly white maize.
This is an experimental effort. The nice thing about these web tools is that you can get this type of information at very little cost. If anyone is interested in helping us on our map, go to http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/Maize/maize_survey.php
and fill it out for places in Latin America that you know about. It only takes a couple of minutes to fill out. In a month or so we will post the map to our site.
This web about mapping wineis interesting, have a look.
http://www.kobrandwine.com/maps/map_list.php
You’re right, that’s a fantastic website!