Map Shows Which Foods Set Your State Apart From The Rest Of The Country

(See full map at FastCo Design)

Look around you — are you surrounded by cheddar cheese? Ranch dressing? Or is every menu you see overflowing with hoagies? What’s on many of the menus in your state sets it apart, whether it’s chocolate, ahi tuna or cheesesteaks.

FastCoDesign worked up a map with a food industry analytics firm, combing 88,000 menus with 59 million food items to find out which ingredients and kinds of food make each state distinct.

The interactive map shows the top 5 food terms in each state, with each “score” coming from the difference between the percentage of menus that include that item and how often it appears on menus around the U.s.

So for example, while cheddar cheese is beloved in Wisconsin and is unsurprisingly included on 56% of menus in the Cheesehead state, it’s pretty popular elsewhere, showing up on 36% of menus countrywide. That gives it a only a 16% distinctiveness edge, if you want to call it that.

On the other hand, for example, the green chile is king in New Mexico, where it pops up on 52% of menus, but only appears on 2% of menus elsewhere.

It’s a fun interactive, even if just to see how widely adored and loved ranch dressing really is across the country. Mmm, with melted cheddar cheese, maybe…

The Weirdest Eating Patterns Of Each U.S. State [FastCoDesign]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist