How Far Has Your Taco Traveled?

California College of the Arts

​See the map above? It's a sort of graphical odometer on how far you taco has traveled before it ends up in your mouth (CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE). The project was concocted by art students from California College of the Arts which traces the origins of all the ingredients that make a taco-truck taco bought on the streets of San Francisco.

It reveals that a lot of what makes up a taco isn't local. As the Good Blog writes, "According to the class findings, within a single taco, the ingredients had traveled a total of 64,000 miles, or just over two and a half times the circumference of the earth."

This should not be news to anyone these days. The cheaper your food, the more likely it came from farther out. It's as paradoxical as how rich people are usually thinner than poorer ones.

But I still marvel at the simple implications of this artwork. But imagine if it were a movie. I'm envisioning an Indiana Jones-style red line, criss-crossing continents on a map, superimposed over cargo planes, ships and long-haul trucks. All that then ends on a final closing shot: a toilet flushing.