USA local food systems

Exploring the local food system in Charlotte metro area

Client

Metabolic

Contribution

Art direction, stories

Deliverables

Scrollytelling website

Why this project?

Understanding local food systems helps build resilience.

While at Metabolic, I worked on a project focused on the local food system in the Charlotte metro area. The project uses public data to analyze farm types, land use, and food system resilience. It aims to make these insights clear and engaging through a scrollytelling website that supports understanding of regional food strategies.

What was the approach?

I led the art direction and developed the full visual style and graphics, except for the embedded maps. I also helped shape the narrative and guided how to present the insights to make them engaging and easy to understand.

The website design was developed and implemented in collaboration with a designer colleague and a webmaster (Mahmoud Badran) using Webflow.

What are the main takeaways?

Small and medium farms shape the region.

They face strong economic and structural pressures.

Land use is under threat.

Urban development raises land prices, threatening farms and rural livelihoods.

Food system resilience needs focus.

Supporting diverse, local, circular systems strengthens communities.

Public data can reveal powerful insights.

Open data uncovers patterns to inform better regional food strategies.

What can we see?

The site uses data-driven graphics, interactions and images to show farm types, land use pressures, demographics, nutrition habits and resilience factors. It highlights regional patterns across the food system, from production to consumption.

What was the impact?

This project has contributed to ongoing efforts in the region by making local food system insights more accessible through clear storytelling and strong visual design. It supports future regional food strategies by highlighting key challenges and opportunities.