Contemporary discussions of food issues are so often hindered by slippery statistics and dubious science, so I’ve been enjoying a site which playfully makes a point out of  “correlation does not imply causation.”  Spurious Correlations plots graphs for phenomena which must be entirely unrelated–or are they? How can we avoid questioning the role that butter plays in Maine marital strife when confronted with this graph?

Divorce Rate in Maine correlates with Per Capita Consumption of Butter

Or that the war on drugs is causing the disappearance of honeybees?

Honey Producing Bee Colonies inversely correlates with Juvenile Arrests for Possession of Marijuana

That you should eat–or avoid eating–mozzarella cheese depending on whether you think we need more roads and bridges?

Per Capita Consumption of Mozzarella Cheese correlates with Civil Engineering Doctorates Awarded

What is Big Food feeding our chickens?!

Per Capita Consumption of Chicken correlates with total US Crude Oil Imports