Today’s world is all about choices. What to buy, where to buy it, who to buy it from… and the amount of information that can impact our decisions only increases when talking about something like food.

Food has been in focus at National Geographic lately, because it’s a critical juncture point when pondering our future well being. How does what we eat impact our environment and health? Will there be enough to eat? Conversations about food are happening all around us, from our kitchen tables to Congress — and it’s complicated. Knowing how to digest that information in useful ways can make all the difference for our health and the health of our planet.

Geography can help filter this information firehose. Geography is not merely gained knowledge about places, it is a perspective about connections, and a study of the relationships between people and their environments. Learning geography means learning to think about the far-reaching impacts of our decisions.

Every third week in November, this perspective is celebrated during Geography Awareness Week. This year, National Geographic was abuzz with celebrations around the geography of food. Like any celebrated week, or day, it is a reminder of something important to remember all year long.

 

We invite you to keep this perspective alive with us throughout the year, here are a few ways to do so:

Explore our latest and greatest content

Teachers! Use our Food Education Collection for classroom resources and ideas about food issues.

Students! Play our latest game: Planet Food. This two-part game introduces the concepts of interdependence and globalization.

Check out our MapMaker Interactive layer: The Paradox of Undernourishment

Converse and explore geography through food as National Geographic continues its focus on feeding a growing planet.

Keep the tweets alive using #GeoTweet!

Join National Geographic, the Association of American Geographers, the National Council for Geographic Education, OpenStreetMap, the Geographic Alliances and others on social media.

Email GeographyAwarenessWeek@gmail.com, or call (202) 429-5706 with any questions or fun GeoWeek ideas to share.

And lastly, but absolutely not least, thank a geographer. Without them, we would all be lost.

Justine Kendall works at National Geographic and has managed the Geography Awareness Week program since 2011. She enjoys locally-sourced berries.