Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
6 results
Rénover 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 agricultureOota Kathegalu: Tracing the food stories of Bengaluru, India
2024Marthe L. Derkzen, Maitreyi Koduganti, Sheetal Patil, Parama Roy · · India (Bengaluru)
Bengaluru has transitioned from a "Garden City" to a "Global Technology Hub," resulting in food production being pushed out and productive lands converted to residential and commercial uses. This urbanization has led to rising land values, sharpening inequalities, and recurrent water insecurity. In response, new forms of urban farming, such as kitchen gardens and community farms, have emerged to mitigate space constraints and meet local food aspirations. This chapter will use participatory mapping, interviews, film, and photography to explore how Bengaluru residents from diverse backgrounds perceive food as cultural connections, community feelings, and environmental resilience.
Equity & displacementCommunityDIYFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageGuerrilla Gardening: At the Intersection of Birnam Wood and Minneapolis
2023Sarah Dimick · Critique Studies in Contemporary Fiction · United States (Minneapolis)
This study reflects on guerrilla gardening and its narratives by intersecting Eleanor Catton’s novel Birnam Wood with descriptions of gardens at police killing sites in the greater Minneapolis metro area. It argues that guerrilla garden infrastructures sprout in the soil of highly unequal power, often in the wake of the fatal exercise of state power, and in the shadow of a foreshortened environmental future. These are DIY infrastructures constructed by people weathering entwined environmental, political, and economic crises in the 21st century.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePutting the Garden Back: Cultivating Life through Urban Gardening in India
2021Camille Frazier · Hong Kong University Press eBooks · India (Bengaluru)
This paper examines motivations for organic terrace gardening among middle-class individuals in Bengaluru, India, who grow food for home consumption. Gardeners respond to worsening health and environmental conditions, but class and caste inequalities limit their engagement with a broader community of urban food producers. These inequalities restrict the transformative potential of organic terrace gardening as an intervention, indicating a critical finding regarding equity.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justice"Grow what you eat, eat what you grow": urban agriculture as middle class intervention in India
2018Camille Frazier · Journal of Political Ecology · India (Bengaluru)
This article examines the motivations and practices of organic terrace gardeners (OTGians) in Bengaluru, India, who grow food in private spaces. While OTGians successfully create a vibrant community driven by food safety and environmental concerns, their efforts are limited to the middle class due to class-specific concerns and production practices. The study highlights that urban gardening in this context remains an intervention primarily for the middle class.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeHealthThe case for citizen science in urban agriculture research
2017Georgia Pollard, Philip Roetman, James Ward · Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) · Australia (South Australia)
While urban agriculture is seen as a sustainable approach to improving food security, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the financial accessibility of urban food production for all households. If urban agriculture remains primarily a middle-class discretionary activity, its role in city-wide food security improvement will be limited. This paper demonstrates that citizen science offers an effective approach to investigate the inputs (labor, costs, water use) and outputs (produce yields, value) of urban food gardens, using the Edible Gardens project in South Australia as an example.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityHealthDIY