As part of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) ongoing commitment to support local and regional food systems, it recently released the KYF2 Compass Map. The interactive, web-based map provides information about these food systems and is a component of the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass, announced by agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and deputy secretary Kathleen Merrigan of the USDA.

The map uses Esri's geographic information system (GIS) technology and web map services designed and developed by VSolvit LLC.

USDA originally launched the KYF2 initiative in 2009 to help revitalize rural communities by identifying the resources needed to grow, market, and distribute local food.

The KYF2 Compass Map was created to carry that momentum forward by providing the public with a way to access information about where food is grown and the availability of local markets.

"USDA has shown how legacy GIS content can be rapidly organized to benefit broad groups of constituents," said Jack Dangermond, Esri president.

"We are pleased that USDA has mapped local food systems and extended the use of government data to all stakeholders."

The KYF2 Compass Map is deployed using Esri Managed Services. Future plans include updating and adding new datasets and offering dynamic map views and map services.

As the map evolves, it will ultimately benefit farmers, educators, businesses, and other organizations by aggregating many sources of data about local and regional food supply chains.

Part of the USDA mission is to help build a national dialog about local food systems. To promote this dialog, Esri supports the Twitter campaign around the Compass and encourages those Twitter users involved with local food projects to include the hashtag #KYF2 when referring to the KYF2 initiative and talking about the KYF Compass and map.