Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
626 results(10 / 26)
Commodification & countermovement : community-supported agriculture (CSA) : a case study in Minas Gerais, Brazil
2020Daniele Eckert Matzembacher, Fábio Bittencourt Meira · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Minas Gerais)
This case study in Minas Gerais, Brazil, examined Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a countermovement to the commodification of agriculture, using Karl Polanyi's theoretical framework. Analyzing the CSA Alfa case, the study found a coexistence of market exchange and reciprocity, where economic activity is intertwined with social aspects like friendship and commitment. CSA appears to manifest a countermovement by enhancing individuals' relative autonomy and increasing social cohesion among participating groups.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity8. Diverse Politics, Difficult Contradictions: Gentrification and the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance
2020Michelle Glowa, Antonio Roman-Alcalá · New York University Press eBooks · United States (California)
This chapter examines the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, analyzing its composition, genesis, and how it has confronted the tensions and limitations of neoliberal urbanization. Based on personal experiences and research, it proposes that justice-driven urban agriculture movements are influenced by political-economic changes and can be absorbed into existing neoliberal and pro-development trajectories. This indicates a critical finding regarding equity and the challenges urban agriculture faces in resisting gentrification.
Equity & displacementPolicyEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceComunidade que sustenta a agricultura: segurança alimentar e nutricional na agricultura urbana de Sete Lagoas (MG)
2020Glauco Régis Florisbelo, Angelina Moreira Melo, Alair Ferreira de Freitas, Pinheiro, Daniel Calbino · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This study analyzed how the implementation of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in an urban community garden in Sete Lagoas (MG), Brazil, contributed to food and nutritional security for consumers and increased the income of family farmers. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with farmers and questionnaires administered to consumers. The results demonstrated that the CSA strengthened social relations between farmers and consumers, added elements of food and nutritional security, and improved the income of farming families.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPopulation health impact and cost-effectiveness of community-supported agriculture among low-income US adults: A microsimulation analysis
2020M. Petrie, S. Basu, E. Sayer, R. Bellin, J. O apos Neill, S.A. Berkowitz · UNC Libraries · United States
This study estimated the population-level effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a subsidized community-supported agriculture (CSA) intervention in the United States. A microsimulation model developed in 2019 utilized national demographic, biomedical, and dietary data (NHANES, 2013-2016) and a randomized trial (Massachusetts, 2017-2018). Two interventions were modeled: an unconditional cash transfer ($300/year) and a subsidized CSA ($300/year subsidy), both of which were shown to reduce discounted disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for cardiovascular disease and diabetes complications. Both interventions had negative incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, implying cost savings to society.
CSA & TeikeiHealthEconomicsWelfareThe affordable housing, transportation, and food nexus: Community gardens and healthy affordable living in Calgary
2020Miho Lowan‐Trudeau, Noel Keough, Joshua Wong, Sara Haidey · Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes · Canada (Calgary)
This study, examining community gardens in Calgary, aimed to determine the socio-economic demographics of neighborhoods supporting community gardens and their proximity to active transportation and public transit. GIS visualization and quantitative analyses were used to investigate relationships between demographic variables and transportation accessibility. Findings showed that community garden neighborhoods are located in areas with significantly fewer visible minorities, higher levels of educational attainment, and more attached dwellings like apartments and townhomes. This study suggests potential inequities in the proliferation of public community gardens based on socio-economic factors beyond economic capital.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthWelfareEconomicsWho Participates in Urban Agriculture? An Empirical Analysis†
2020Marc F. Bellemare, Vaneesha Dusoruth · Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · Canada (Montreal)
A survey of 882 Montreal residents investigated participation in urban agriculture. The study found that urban agriculture practitioners are more educated, more likely to be homeowners, and report higher incomes. These findings suggest that urban agriculture functions as a luxury good.
Equity & displacementEconomicsCommunityUso e ocupação de áreas produtivas na Horta Comunitária EREMCC, Petrolina-PE
2020Lucas Ricardo Souza Almeida, Diego Cesar Alves Lima Verde, Hélder Ribeiro Freitas, Rita de Cássia Rodrigues Gonçalves Gervásio, Elson de Oliveira · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (Petrolina)
This study analyzed land use and occupation seasonality at the EREMCC Community Garden in Petrolina, Brazil, from August 2018 to March 2019. In August 2018, 73% of the 6,200 m² garden area was uncultivated, indicating a large unexplored area for production. By March 2019, food production increased by 35.71%, with most beds cultivated with cabbage, coriander, and lettuce.
Limited or null effectCommunityUrban–rural linkageEconomicsThe Value in Community Gardens: A Return on Investment Analysis
2020Susie Cochran, Leia Minaker · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada (Ontario)
This paper reviews literature on community gardens, identifying gaps in translating their qualitative outcomes into monetary terms for municipal decision-makers. It describes a pilot return on investment assessment of a community garden in Ontario, Canada. Despite substantial data constraints, the limited available data suggest that community gardens could be an ROI-positive government investment.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changeO PERFIL DOS AGRICULTUORES URBANOS DE CUIABÁ-MT: um estímulo à Economia Ecológica
2020Anderson Nunes de Carvalho Vieira, Alexandro Rodrigues Ribeiro, Silvio Santos Cardoso · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Cuiabá)
This study describes the socioeconomic and productive profile of urban farmers in Cuiabá, Brazil, and their potential contribution to ecological economics. Using a mixed-method descriptive approach with primary data collected via questionnaires, the research found that urban agriculture often emerges as a survival alternative for poorer populations from rural areas. The study concludes that this practice, if adequately supported, can foster a better understanding and practice of ecological economics in the region.
EconomicsCommunityUrban–rural linkageWelfare(Community) garden in the city: Conspicuous labor and gentrification
2020Fatmir Haskaj · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · United States (New York City)
This article explores the historical context of community gardens in New York and Oakland, California, to understand and contest hegemonic forces in the urban environment. It posits that the work of gardeners is co-opted into a value regime through a process called "conspicuous labor." This process reconfigures the urban poor as productive, passive, and pastoral, contributing to gentrification.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice10. “You Can’t Evict Community Power”: Food Justice and Eviction Defense in Oakland
2020Alison Hope Alkon, Yahya Josh Cadji, Frances C. Moore · New York University Press eBooks · United States (California)
In North Oakland, California, USA, collaborations between food justice organizations and residents, spurred by gentrification, were explored. The partnership and merger of Phat Beets Produce and the Self-Help Hunger Program were analyzed, initiated after a community garden was used in a gentrification advertisement in 2014. While this collaboration created a strong alliance, it was found to be insufficient to resist the structural forces driving gentrification.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsA agricultura urbana como forma de uso e ocupação no espaço urbano
2020Ana Carla Alves Gomes, Maria Lúcia Brito da Cruz · Revista Campo-Território · Brazil
This study investigated the spatial distribution of Urban Agriculture (UA) in Fortaleza, Brazil, particularly in the Lagoa Redonda neighborhood, and the permanence of these gardens amidst territorial disputes over urban space. Using bibliographic and secondary data surveys, site visits, and geoprocessing techniques, it analyzed the feasibility of UA reproduction and the implementation of specific policies for the activity. The study points to governance challenges, specifically territorial disputes concerning the permanence of urban agriculture in urban spaces.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsDirect producer‚Ä"consumer transactions: Community Supported Agriculture and its offshoots
2020Ted White · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · United States
Non-market sales, barter, trade, donations, and other creative transactions have been integral to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) since its inception, promoting creativity and new economic thinking due to its advance payment system for unknown harvests. Based on qualitative field research, primarily in the Northeastern United States, this chapter examines the innovative transactions that have enabled CSA and other Community Supported Enterprises (CSEs) to grow. While acknowledging that the 'Community Supported' model has not solved the challenge of providing adequate incomes for producers or attracting diverse participants, the chapter presents evidence of CSA as a vibrant system connecting producers and consumers through creative transactions.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityUrban farming as competitive resource in food services: an evaluation through the resource-based view theory
2020Naiane Modri Fuzinatto, Sílvio Santos · Turismo - Visão e Ação · Brazil
This qualitative case study evaluated the impact of urban agriculture (UA) on the competitiveness of a restaurant in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected through documentary research, semi-structured interviews, and direct observation, then analyzed using the VRIO model. The findings suggest that UA can develop a competitive advantage when combined with conceptual and technological elements.
EconomicsCommunity13. Black Urban Growers and the Land Question in Cleveland: Externalities of Gentrification
2020Justine Lindemann · New York University Press eBooks · United States (Cleveland)
This chapter explores how gentrification in Cleveland, Ohio, impacts Black urban farmers' and gardeners' access to land in disinvested neighborhoods. It examines the ancillary effects of development on alternative land reuse efforts. The study highlights that despite a seemingly endless supply of vacant lots, gentrification negatively affects land access for these communities.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsDecentralized community composting feasibility analysis for residential food waste: A Chicago case study
2019Pai S., Ai N., Zheng J. · Sustainable Cities and Society, 50:101683 · United States
Using Chicago as a case study, this analysis assesses the feasibility of decentralized community composting on portions of public parks in terms of cost and greenhouse gas emissions. It finds decentralized composting delivers outreach, landfill diversion and cost-saving benefits, with an estimated net benefit of about $100 per tonne, indicating the financial viability of a city-wide strategy to compost household food waste locally.
Food lossCompostOrganic cycleEconomicsUnderstanding Urban Food Producers’ Intention to Continue Farming in Urban Settings
2019Kumudu P.P. Kopiyawattage, Laura Warner, T. Grady Roberts · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Columbus)
This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to describe factors influencing the intention of urban food producers in Columbus, one U.S. city, to continue farming in urban settings. It found that perceived complexity can negatively influence attitude and hinder intention, while subjective norms shaped by peer growers and family members may heighten the intention to continue. The findings also revealed personal characteristics, such as education and access to resources, that may enhance perceived behavioral control.
CommunityEconomicsFactors Affecting the Dynamics of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Membership
2019Junhong Chen, Zhifeng Gao, Xuqi Chen, Lisha Zhang · Sustainability · United States
Drawing on a national U.S. survey of 795 respondents, this study analyzed how motivation, perceived barriers, and advertising methods shape consumers' past, current, and future participation in community-supported agriculture (CSA). Younger consumers, higher-income families, and supporters of sustainable agriculture were more likely to renew subscriptions, and members were sensitive to the timing, price, and location of food distribution. The effects of barriers and advertising varied with members' participation status.
EconomicsCommunityCommunity-Supported Agriculture Marketing Performance: Results from Pilot Market Channel Assessments in Colorado
2019Becca B. R. Jablonski, Martha Sullins, Dawn Thilmany McFadden · Sustainability · United States (Colorado)
This pilot study assessed the marketing performance of community-supported agriculture (CSA) relative to other direct-market channels using data from 42 Colorado farms between 2016 and 2017. Farms incorporating CSA sales tended to be smaller in scale and to use more diverse markets, and while they had lower average weekly sales, they showed the highest average marketing profit margins among direct-market channels.
EconomicsDesign, construction, verification and testing of a low cost germinator
2019Hernández López A., Avila Alejandre A.X., Mendoza Francisco N., Hernández López H. · Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas · Mexico
Design, construction and testing of a low-cost seed germinator built from locally available materials that automatically controls temperature and photoperiod, with an Arduino Uno temperature verifier; total cost about US$58, competitive with commercial germinators.
DIYEconomicsSurplus Labor and Subjectivity in Urban Agriculture: Embodied Work, Contested Work
2019· Economic Geography · USA
Focuses on the unpaid 'surplus labor' that sustains urban agriculture sites, analyzing how it is appropriated and distributed. It shows these sites depend heavily on unpaid, contested embodied work central to workers' subject formation.
EconomicsCommunity“Urban Farming Is Going High Tech”
2019Michael Carolan · Journal of the American Planning Association · United States
This 2019 study, based on 82 interviews in Denver, New York, and San Francisco, investigated how traditional and digital urban agriculture converge and diverge regarding land use and gentrification. It found that both digital and traditional urban farming systems are linked to gentrification and inequitable land use patterns. Digital urban farming systems also operate in a regulatory gray area, with their "digital" aspects used to gain more zoning permission than traditional urban agriculture.
Equity & displacementDigital agricultureEconomicsPolicyCommunitySpatial Considerations for Implementing Two Direct-to-Consumer Food Models in Two States
2019Marilyn Sitaker, Jared T. McGuirt, Weiwei Wang, Jane Kolodinsky, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Sustainability · United States
This study compared sociodemographic and geospatial contexts with farmers' experiences for two direct-to-consumer (DTC) models: a cost-offset CSA for low-income families and food boxes distributed via rural convenience stores, across two U.S. states (Vermont and Washington). Addresses of thirteen farms and DTC pickup sites were geocoded, and road network distances to supermarkets, farmers' markets, and farms were calculated. Most pickup areas were heavily car-dependent with limited public transportation. Despite modest profitability, both models were considered worth pursuing as they expanded farmers' customer base.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsWelfareAngier, The Last Frontier: Representation and Gentrification in the Alternative Food Movement
2019Giszell Dymond Weather · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States
A 7-month study of the Angier Avenue Neighborhood Farm in East Durham, a predominantly Black area, found that Black residents rarely participate in farm activities. This research, based on participant observation, interviews, and food systems research, theorizes the relationship between urban farming and gentrification, arguing that equitable community food projects must incorporate local Black residents' cultures and histories to be sustainable.
Equity & displacementCommunityEconomicsPolicyDiseño de una estrategia como alternativa para incrementar e incentivar el uso de la Agricultura Urbana
2019Arantza Elena Sanchez Gutierrez · · Mexico
In Querétaro Municipality, Mexico, a strategy was designed and implemented to increase and incentivize the use of urban agriculture. Previous strategies implemented in Mexico had resulted in low participation and abandonment of practice due due to low interest from inhabitants and a lack of will to follow through on plans. This qualitative research analyzed the causes of these failures using User-Centered Design tools and Design Thinking. Findings showed that a "strategy of appropriation," emphasizing a sense of belonging, well-being, and commitment, resulted in an increase in this variable, which influences the abandonment of agricultural practices.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomics