Defining a Cultural Context to Underutilized Crops in the Minnesota Food System

Abstract

Culture is a universal component and tool in many contexts that has yet to be adequately defined within a food system. As communities are subject to globalization of the food system(s), not only is the biodiversity of organisms being affected but cultural diversity as well.1 In order to fully develop and identify barriers and challenges in food systems, culture as operationalized within a system needs to be understood and represented as a part of the entire framework.2 This journal describes independent research conducted remotely within the context of the Barley food system and studies conducted on aspects of the rural food system in an attempt to define tools that can be used for cultural analysis in rural food systems.