Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
102 results(1 / 5)
From practice to heritage
2026Dalma Dani-Ördög · Belvedere Meridionale · Global
This paper explores the transformation of peasant work culture in contemporary educational contexts using the theoretical framework of folklorism and heritage-making. Based on qualitative fieldwork at the Gyermekliget Alternative School, it analyzes how agricultural practices are re-contextualized within the institutional setting of a school garden. The findings show that practices originally associated with subsistence farming acquire new pedagogical meanings, particularly in terms of embodied knowledge, sensory experience, and community collaboration. The school garden functions as a mediating space where past practices are reorganized through everyday action rather than being reconstructed.
Food educationCommunityHeirloom & landraceGrowing Greens in Cities for Healthy Lives and Spaces: The Case of Community Gardens in Chicago, Illinois Imparted to Philippine Situation
2026R P Mula, Molly Doane, Gabrielle Powell, Myer G. Mula · Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension Economics & Sociology · United States (Chicago)
This study visited, documented, and described 15 community gardens in Chicago, Illinois, and interviewed their leaders. It found the utmost importance of saving traditional crop seeds (heirlooms) for diversity, climate change mitigation, and health, as these are grown organically. Insights include reorienting mindsets, crafting garden requirement manuals, consolidating the value chain, and educating health workers on promoting community gardening.
CommunityHealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHeirloom & landraceClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureInstitut für heimische Pflanzen und Saatgut im historischen Gutshof in Rothneusiedl
2026Buse Aksu Altiparmak · reposiTUm (TU Wien) · Austria (Vienna)
This diploma thesis presents the design for an institute for native plants and seeds at the historic Zukunftshof farm in Rothneusiedl, Vienna. The project involves comprehensively renovating and reorganizing the over one-hundred-year-old, partially used, and dilapidated building stock. The aim is to establish Zukunftshof as a sustainable location for research, conservation, knowledge transfer, and communal use, adapting its spatial structure to current and future requirements.
Heirloom & landraceFood educationCommunityCowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) landraces in Mozambique and neighbouring Southern African countries harbour genetic loci with potential for climate adaptation
2025Macharia M.W., Caproni L., Solemanegy M., Takele R., Chiulele R.M., Munisse P., Amane M., Pè M.E., Buizza R., Dell'Acqua M. · Communications Biology 8:834 · Africa
Genotypes 389 cowpea accessions (mostly landraces) from Southern Africa and identifies 36 genomic loci linked to local climate adaptation, highlighting the breeding value of farmer-conserved resources.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthGrowing kalo (taro) to promote culture and health in the Continental US
2025Leialoha Ka'ula, Nicole Lee Kamakahiolani Ellison, Constance James, Ashley Oshiro, Kacyn Ideue, Kahoku Ka'ula, Alexandra Malia Jackson · Frontiers in Public Health · United States
An explanatory mixed-methods study using community-based participatory research and an Indigenous evaluation approach, examining a māla kalo (a community garden growing taro) run by Native Hawaiians living in the continental United States. At the end of the 2023 growing season, 12 volunteers and 5 programme leaders aged 18–75 completed a survey and interview. Satisfaction was high and participants wanted to take part more often; thematic analysis identified connection to self, community and land, learning and sharing knowledge, and connection to culture. With only 17 participants and no health outcome measures, the study cannot establish health effects — it documents how a community garden growing a traditional staple can serve as a site of cultural connection for a displaced Indigenous community.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityFood educationHealthGlobally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in Japan: investigating selected agricultural practices and values for farmers
2024Nath T.K., Inoue M., Yim E.W., Takahashi S. · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Japan
Using empirical data from two Japanese GIAHS sites, documents features of traditional agricultural practices and their values, including conservation of local crop varieties and revitalization of discontinued farming for rural livelihoods.
Heirloom & landracePolicyBiodiversityCommunityIntroduction to heirloom vegetables in Kyoto prefecture (Kyo-yasai), Japan
2024Mimura Y. · Journal of Ethnic Foods 11: Article 26 · Japan
Reviews the history, preservation, branding, and scientific research on Kyoto's heirloom vegetables (Kyo-yasai), highlighting how farmers, researchers, and municipalities sustain traditional landrace cultivation amid urbanization pressures.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityPolicyLandrace in situ (on-farm) conservation: European Union achievements
2024Raggi L., Spataro G., Tiranti D., Negri V. · Biodiversity and Conservation 33:2709-2738 · Europe
Reviews the status of on-farm landrace conservation in the EU, including the materials conserved, who maintains them and why, and EU policies governing the commercialization of landrace seeds.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyCommunityOn-farm crop diversity, conservation, importance and value: a case study of landraces from Western Ghats of Karnataka, India
2024Puneeth G. M., Gowthami R., Katral A., Laxmisha K. M., Vasudeva R., Singh G. P., Archak S. · Scientific Reports 14:10712 · India
Documents 671 landraces of 60 crops across 24 sites in the Western Ghats, identifying suitability, cuisine, medicinal use, cultural significance and economic value as determinants of on-farm conservation by custodian farmers.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityFood education‘Growing deliciously’ (맛있는 농사): Korean urban food cultivation as a form of cultural inheritance
2024Natalia Gerodetti · Emotions and Society · South Korea (Seoul)
This article examines contemporary urban food cultivation practices in Seoul, South Korea, as a form of cultural heritage making through familial activities. It explores how widespread urban food growing connects to family and heritage, arguing that these practices are part of a Korean sensibility towards food and its cultivation. The article posits that growing edible plants in urban settings is a "doing family" activity, linking generations, evoking nostalgia, and transmitting values within the context of "compressed modernity."
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceRénover Cleveland : démolition, racisme et agriculture urbaine dans l’Amérique abandonnée
2024Pierric Calenge, Maie Gérardot · Métropolitiques · United States (Cleveland)
The work by Max Rousseau and Vincent Béal illuminates the ambiguities of a policy that organizes urban decline and racial segregation in Cleveland. This policy promotes urban degrowth and racial segregation, balancing algorithmic management and urban greening. The study focuses on the Rust Belt region, which experiences de-urbanization marked by the subprime crisis, racism, and segregation.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeBiodiversityFood educationElderlyFood lossOrganic cyclePollinatorsHeirloom & landraceFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureDigital agricultureDIYCompostFood educationWelfareElderlyFood lossOrganic cycleCommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsPolicyHealthEconomicsHeirloom & landraceUrban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureLand Suitability of Wani Fruit (Mangifera caesia) for Fruit Development in Mount Batur, Kintamani, Bali
2024I Gusti Ayu Diah Yuniti, Nanang Sasmita, Jhon Hardy Purba, Liris Lis Komara · Journal of Applied Agricultural Science and Technology · Indonesia
This study evaluated the land suitability for Wani fruit (Mangifera caesia) plants on the slopes of Mount Batur, Kintamani, Bali. Using composite sampling and descriptive and comparative analysis, the results showed three land suitability classes: moderately suitable, marginally suitable, and not suitable, with slope, texture, temperature, effective depth, and rainfall identified as main limiting factors. Zones I, II, and III of the Kintamani area, covering 21,476 hectares, were found suitable for the development of Wani fruit for horticultural and conservation purposes.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityLa zotea: saberes performados, territorios afro y experiencias ontológico-estéticas en la escuela
2024Edison Rafael Castro-Hernández, David Santiago Moreno-Castañeda, Mayeli Enríquez-Muñoz, David Alba-Sedano · Revista CS · Colombia (Bogotá)
This article explored reflections on and ways of appropriation of a critical intercultural process approaching the practices and knowledge of Afro-Colombian peoples through the virtual, narrative, and physical resignification of "zoteas" (ancestral community gardens) by Afro-Pacific populations at schools in Bogotá, Colombia. An emerging process was identified through ethnographic recording in an intensive diary and student audiovisual content production, where the articulation of ancestral practices with experimental artistic disciplines like performance shed light on other ancestral knowledge. This intervention connected the process with contemporary expressions of the Afro worldview and allowed for questioning and gradually transforming the organization of time, space, and roles in knowledge construction at school.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceMapping seeds of freedom with Red de Huerteros Medellín
2024Paula Restrepo · · Colombia (Medellín)
As part of the Red de Huerteros Medellín (RHM) collective, urban agriculture in Medellín was mapped to identify its features and problems. A main problem found was a poor or non-existent connection between urban farmers and key organizations like seed keepers. Few urban farmers had knowledge about the ecopolitical implications of the seed business, and even fewer obtained seeds from seed keepers or showed consideration for their labor.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyHeirloom & landraceParticipatory action research with wheat landrace producers and community supported agriculture groups; a case from Turkey
2024Mesut YILDIZ, Tayfun Özkaya · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Turkey
This participatory action research was conducted with five community-supported food groups formed by consumers in İzmir province, Turkey, and associations/groups producing wheat landraces in Çanakkale, Balıkesir, and Kars provinces. The research aimed to identify common problems that reduce the separation between wheat production and consumption and to determine how to increase the use of wheat landraces and their products.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageHeirloom & landraceBioactive and nutritional compounds in fruits of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) landraces conserved among indigenous communities from Mexico
2023García-Vásquez R., Vera-Guzmán A.M., Carrillo-Rodríguez J.C., Pérez-Ochoa M.L., Aquino-Bolaños E.N., Alba-Jiménez J.E., Chávez-Servia J.L. · AIMS Agriculture and Food 8(3):832-850 · Mexico
Compared phenolics, vitamin C, carotenoids, capsaicinoids, and antioxidant activity in Oaxacan Huacle and De Agua pepper landraces versus commercial Jalapeño. Landraces showed higher flavonoid and carotenoid contents, underscoring indigenous germplasm value.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthCommunityElucidation of genetic variation and population structure of melon genetic resources in the NARO Genebank, and construction of the World Melon Core Collection
2023Shigita Gentaro, Tran Phuong Dung, Pervin Mst. Naznin, Duong Thanh-Thuy, Imoh Odirich Nnennaya, Monden Yuki, Nishida Hidetaka, Tanaka Katsunori, Sugiyama Mitsuhiro, Kawazu Yoichi, Tomooka Norihiko, Kato Kenji · Breeding Science, 73(3): 263-275 · Japan
Genotyping-by-sequencing of 755 melon accessions in the NARO Genebank identified ~39,000 SNPs to clarify genetic relationships and population structure and to construct a World Melon Core Collection, supporting conservation and use of genetic resources.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicy(Re)creating a Living Memorial: Urban Gardening as a Multispecies Co-creating Practice
2023JC Niala · Ecozon European Journal of Literature Culture and Environment · United Kingdom (Oxford)
This essay explores a case study where an allotment in the style of 1918 was recreated at a charity allotment site in Oxford, United Kingdom, during the 2020-2021 growing season. The researcher planted open-pollinated non-hybrid heritage seeds from that era, reflecting on the soil as a repository of memory through academic and creative responses. The plot became a living memorial visited by diverse members of the public, engaging with themes such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and the First World War.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityFood educationAn integrated genomic and biochemical approach to investigate the potentiality of heirloom tomatoes: Breeding resources for food quality and sustainable agriculture
2022Tripodi P., D'Alessandro A., Francese G. · Frontiers in Plant Science 13:1031776 · Italy
Integrated genomic and biochemical analysis of heirloom tomatoes linking fruit shape and size to sugars, organic acids, and aroma compounds. Demonstrates heirlooms as germplasm resources for high food quality and sustainable agriculture.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthOrganic cycleState of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops
2022Ramirez-Villegas J., Khoury C.K., Achicanoy H.A., Diaz M.V., Mendez A.C., Sosa C.C., Kehel Z., Guarino L., Abberton M. · Nature Plants 8:491-499 · Global
A global gap analysis predicting distributions of over 70 landrace groups across 25 crops, finding a mean 63% represented in genebanks and major collecting gaps in South Asia, the Mediterranean, the Andes and Africa.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyOn-farm diversity, use pattern, and conservation of enset (Ensete ventricosum) genetic resources in southern Ethiopia
2022Dilebo T., Feyissa T., Asfaw Z., Zewdu A. · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 18:74 · Ethiopia
An ethnobotanical survey of 240 households across four zones of southern Ethiopia documenting on-farm landrace diversity, use patterns and farmer conservation of the staple crop enset.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityFood educationCommunitySeeds of change? Social practices of urban community seed sharing initiatives for just transitions to sustainability
2022· Local Environment · Global
Analyzes urban community seed-sharing and seed-swap initiatives as social practices and how they contribute to just transitions to sustainability.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityMoveable Gardens: Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory ed. by Virginia D. Nazarea and Terese V. Gagnon
2022Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · Journal of Latin American geography · Global
This edited book explores how various displacements lead people to re-engage with plant life, creating meaning and sustaining biodiversity. It examines how gardening, seed saving, and cooking restore social and cultural continuity, connecting past and present. The volume, rooted in anthropology, discusses plant-human engagements in movement ("itineraries") and emplaced efforts of belonging ("sanctuaries").
CommunityHeirloom & landraceBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceNeglected and Underutilized Plant Species (NUS) from the Apulia Region Worthy of Being Rescued and Re-Included in Daily Diet
2021Scarano A., Semeraro T., Chieppa M., Santino A. · Horticulturae · Italy
Review of neglected and underutilized plant species from the Apulia region of southern Italy, highlighting their adaptive, nutritional, and economic potential and the case for re-including them in the daily diet.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthEconomicsSensory Traits and Consumer's Perceived Quality of Traditional and Modern Fresh Market Tomato Varieties: A Study in Three European Countries
2021Sinesio F., Cammareri M., Cottet V., Fontanet L., Jost M., Moneta E., Palombieri S., Peparaio M., Romero del Castillo R., Saggia Civitelli E., Spigno P., Vitiello A., Navez B., Casals J., Causse M., Granell A., Grandillo S. · Foods 10(11):2521 · Europe
Assessed traditional and modern tomato varieties in France, Spain, and Italy at physicochemical, trained-panel, and consumer levels. Multi-level approach revealed how sensory traits drive perceived quality across regionally familiar cultivars.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityHealth