Mapping Local Food Systems:
Enhancing Local Food System Networks in the American Riviera (Santa Barbara County)
This LearnGala case is designed to help students critically examine how local food systems operate in Santa Barbara County and understand the structural, logistical, and economic forces that shape regional food security.
By exploring producers, buyers, supply-chain flows, bottlenecks, and digital solutions, students will analyze why highly productive agricultural regions can still be vulnerable to external shocks, and what strategic interventions can improve resilience.
Students will engage with maps, visualizations, and scenario questions to trace food flows across the county, evaluate weak points in the system, and propose interventions. The goal is not only to understand Santa Barbara County’s food system, but to build transferable skills for analyzing any regional food network facing climate, market, and logistical pressures.
Javascript is required to use Gala.