Texas, which ranks fourth in the country, is the most petite steak in the series, but it's by far the most shapely. Hallacher carefully sculpted it's curvy edges with a thin layer of "fat," trimmed back to a healthy level.
And, oh yeah, the Beef Stakes are all made with modeling clay, so you can hold and examine them without worry about catching a nasty E. coli bug.
That's a primary goal of the project, Hallacher says – for people to explore the data behind America's beef industry through a hands-on, tactile experience.
But the pieces are also visually appealing. By swirling in white clay with the red, Hallacher adeptly mimics fat marbling in the steaks, just like you see in a prime cut of meat.
Last year, my colleague Eliza Barclay also visualized America's evolving appetite for meat and what it takes to make one quarter-pound hamburger with more traditional 2-D infographics.
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