International Source for Tropical Agriculture, Origins and Primary Regions of Diversity of Agricultural Crops

The Columbian Exchange brought momentus changes to the production and distribution of food crops, and to people's diets throughout the world. This interactive map from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) provides insight into the long-term impact of the event. It diplays data on the origin of domesticated food products, as well as where they are grown today. Displayed in the companion circular plot, Diets, are the nutrional breakdowns of foods from different regions, including calories, protein, fat, and food weight.  Lines connecting the regions represent where foods are being imported and exported. In a second companion data visualization. Production, circular plots link the regions where crops were initially domesticated with crops’ current importance in other regions with respect to production quantity, harvested area, and production values.