A permanent observatory of the European agrifood system, built exclusively on verifiable public data.
Improving the quality of public debate
MapTheFood does not run campaigns, advocate political positions or offer interpretations. It collects, organises, connects and makes accessible information from institutional sources, enabling anyone to conduct independent analysis.
The aim is not to steer public debate, but to help make it better informed, verifiable and transparent.
Making public data queryable
We want to build a reference point for access to public data on the agrifood system. Every published data point must be traceable to its original source, verifiable and placed in context without altering its meaning.
MapTheFood does not replace the institutions that produce the data: it organises the data and makes it easier to explore.
Our product is trust
Credibility is the project’s core asset. It does not depend on a conclusion, but on the ability to reconstruct how each result was obtained.
- Every number comes from an identified public source.
- Every source is cited and linked whenever available.
- Every transformation is documented together with its limitations.
- Every methodological step is reproducible.
- Anyone can verify the result.
Describe, connect, document
MapTheFood describes what datasets show. It does not suggest what to think and does not present processed values as original data. It connects different databases while keeping their provenance, granularity, reference period and limitations visible. Conclusions belong to those who use the site.
People who work with information
MapTheFood is designed for anyone seeking documented, accessible public data for professional, institutional, research or civic purposes.
Towards a permanent index
At its current stage, the project focuses primarily on livestock farming, emissions and the Common Agricultural Policy. The aim is to progressively extend the observatory to every component of the agrifood system for which reliable, documentable public data is available.
A qualified secondary source
MapTheFood is not a primary source and does not change the meaning of the original data. It builds an access layer that:
- identifies where data can be found;
- makes data comparable when the methodology allows it;
- normalises data while declaring the transformations applied;
- tracks updates;
- documents methods and limitations;
- preserves the historical record of time series.
The principles guiding the project
These principles guide the selection of sources, the design of data transformations and the way results are presented.
Our long-term objective is to become a permanent index of public data on the European agrifood system.