The participation of immigrant, refugee and communities of conflict-displaced former agricultural professionals in urban agriculture and local food systems has steadily increased in the United States over the past decades. Even though production and access of culturally appropriate crops has the potential to nourish the health and social fabric of communities and contribute to the local economy, less is known about the extant literature related to research and outreach on ethnic crops. This presentation will cover preliminary results of an ongoing systematic review collating peer-reviewed and gray literature published from 2000 to the present to identify, map, and describe existing research and outreach efforts on culturally relevant crops in the United States. Our findings will have the potential to offer a greater understanding of the current state of knowledge to inform the focus of future research on innovative models for more sustainable and local urban production.
