Research & reports

Jared T. McGuirt, Marilyn Sitaker, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Alice S. Ammerman, Jane Kolodinsky, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This study examined the sociodemographic and geospatial context of cost-offset community supported agriculture (CO-CSA) pickup locations in relation to low-income customer residential locations across 23 pickup sites in four U.S. states (New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington). Using GIS and interviews, it was found that pickup sites were an average of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) from customers’ homes, further than the supermarket (2.9 miles or 4.7 km). Farmers reported efforts to select convenient locations, but CO-CSA customers expressed mixed levels of accessibility.

Franklin Wagner, Lindsey Payne · Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement · United States (Lafayette)

In summer 2016, Purdue University researchers collaborated with Lafayette's GrowLocal Urban Gardens Network in Lafayette, Indiana, to conduct a baseline analysis of current community gardening initiatives. Using qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, they identified motivations and barriers to participation through stakeholder interviews and focus groups. The study indicated that urban gardens as community spaces may serve a greater purpose than providing fresh food, and its results informed a planning document for GrowLocal with strategic recommendations for governance, communication, event integration, and collaborative grants.

Karla L. Hanson, Leah C. Volpe, Jane Kolodinsky, Grace Hwang, Weiwei Wang, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Marilyn Sitaker, Alice S. Ammerman, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Nutrients · United States

A cross-sectional study in August 2017 surveyed cost-offset Community Supported Agriculture (CO-CSA) applicants (purchasers n=46, non-purchasers n=18) and a comparison sample (n=105) of low-income adults with children. CO-CSA applicants reported better knowledge, self-efficacy, home habits, and diet than the comparison sample. Among applicants, purchasers and non-purchasers had equivalent knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, but children in purchaser households consumed significantly more fruits and vegetables (4.14 vs. 1.83 cups, p = 0.001).

Rudy Dunlap, Justin Harmon, Bradley H. Camp · Annals of Leisure Research · United States

An ethnographic study of volunteer participation in an urban farm in Austin, Texas, United States, in which researchers spent three years documenting participants' activities through participant observation and interviewing. Guided by the concept of "civil leisure," the study analyzed voluntary participation as a leisure practice oriented toward civic issues, finding that participation functioned as a means of (1) fostering self-reliance through peer education, (2) establishing and strengthening place-based social networks, and (3) addressing civic concerns related to infrastructure and food security. These findings are interpreted through Zygmunt Bauman's concepts of liquid modernity and liquid fear, and the study offers recommendations for how municipalities might cultivate residents' civic impulses through urban agriculture.

Athena K. Ramos, Natalia Trinidad, Sonja Bickford, Nate Bickford, Julia Torquati, Maria Mushi · Collaborations A Journal of Community-Based Research and Practice · United States

A study conducted a bilingual online survey to gauge public support for a planned community garden in South Omaha, Nebraska, and to prioritize messaging strategies about its potential benefits. Assessing interest, perceived benefits, purposes, and desired co-located functions, the study identified the value of developing local data, the importance of an asset-based framework, the need to understand community perceptions of potential benefits, the challenge of balancing community research efforts, and the need for partnerships to expand a project's reach.

Devin C O'Mara · Fordham Research Commons (Fordham University) · United States (New York City)

This 2019 paper examines the potential of urban agriculture to increase food security and education for underprivileged children in New York City, United States. Chapter 1 addresses the issue of food insecurity among children, considering information on the number of children lacking access to healthy, fresh food. Chapter 2 traces the history of urban agriculture in New York City, from one person's rooftop to a broader sustainability movement. Chapter 3 examines the potential outcomes of integrating urban agriculture into social justice efforts for underprivileged children, covering food security, education, and physical and mental health. Chapter 4 analyzes how incorporating urban agriculture into future sustainable infrastructure could benefit everyone, not only children. Drawing on the preceding chapters, Chapter 5 offers recommendations for creating greater access to urban agriculture for children.

Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour · Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) · United States

This project uses Black Feminist Health Studies as an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the holistic impacts of community gardens on nutrition behaviors. It demonstrates, through a Socio-Ecological Wellness Wheel, that the implementation of green spaces such as community gardens correlates with both benefits and unintended negative consequences, including green gentrification, and proposes this audit tool as a way to empirically measure garden quality and the nutrition environment affecting fruit and vegetable consumption among food-insecure populations.

Angel Chen, David Natcher · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada

An inventory and mapping exercise catalogued community gardens and greenhouses across northern Canada, covering Labrador, Nunavik, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The work forms part of a circumpolar research project supported by the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group and is described as an initial stage toward determining the extent to which these gardens and greenhouses, as local food procurement strategies, meet the food needs of northern residents.

Blakely Brown, Laura Dybdal, Curtis W. Noonan, Maja Pedersen, Martin Parker, Mary Corcoran · Health Promotion Practice · United States

On an American Indian reservation, a community-based participatory research approach applying a social-ecological model identified the factors that promote or hinder community gardens and the use of locally grown food, and tested the feasibility of a group gardening program for Native American adults. Interviews with nine key stakeholders identified knowledge/experience, self-efficacy, Elders, traditional ways, community values, generational gaps and local tribal policy as influencing factors. In a feasibility study with 20 Native American adults with prediabetes or diabetes, Profile of Mood States scores showed consistently more positive change among group gardening participants than among a comparison group.

Ruth W. Moyer, John M. MacDonald, Greg Ridgeway, Charles C. Branas · American Journal of Public Health 109(1): 140-144 · United States (Philadelphia)

A citywide cluster-randomized trial assigning 541 Philadelphia vacant lots across 110 geographic clusters to a greening intervention, a minimal mow-and-clean intervention, or control. Shooting incidents fell significantly in the greening arm (-6.8%, 95% CI -10.6 to -2.7) and the clean-and-green arm (-9.2%, 95% CI -13.2 to -4.8), with no evidence of displacement to adjacent areas. Concludes that inexpensive, scalable vacant-land remediation significantly reduces shootings resulting in serious injury or death, and recommends cities pilot place-based interventions to reduce firearm violence.

Siegner A., Sowerwine J., Acey C. · Sustainability 10(9):2988 · United States

Systematic review of US urban agriculture and food systems literature. Finds strong emphasis on multiple benefits but few studies robustly measuring urban farms' impact on food security in low-income communities.

Nadal A., Cerón-Palma I., García-Gómez C., Pérez-Sánchez M., Rodríguez-Labajos B., Cuerva E., Josa A., Rieradevall J. · Land Use Policy 76:719-734 · Mexico

Through interviews with 65 stakeholders in Mérida's social housing, this study analyzes social perceptions of urban agriculture in low-income Latin American settings, exploring its potential for safe, nutritious food supply and social benefits.

Korn A., Bolton S.M., Spencer B., Alarcon J.A., Andrews L., Voss J.G. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 15, No. 8 · Peru (Lima)

A longitudinal pilot study examining the feasibility and health outcomes of household garden implementation in a Lima urban slum, collecting anthropometric and mental health data at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months, finding positive associations with nutritional status and wellbeing.

Lucy O. Diekmann, Leslie C. Gray, Gregory A. Baker · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Santa Clara County)

This research evaluates how three types of urban gardens in Santa Clara County, California—home gardens, community gardens, and community food security (CFS) program gardens for low-income families—contribute to food security using a multidimensional framework. In summer 2015, median production ranged from 26 kg (CFS participants) to 56 kg (home gardeners), enough for at least one adult to meet federal vegetable guidelines; interviews further showed gardeners valued knowledge, control, freshness, flavor, organic methods, and cultural acceptability, not just quantity.

Jeremy Németh, Alessandro Rigolon · Cities · USA (Chicago, The 606)

Case study of Chicago's publicly-backed 606 greenway showing how reliance on park nonprofits to deliver large green-infrastructure projects accelerates environmental gentrification: the governance model disclaims responsibility for the displacement it causes.

Juliana Maantay, Andrew Maroko · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · United States (New York City)

This study examined whether proximity to community gardens in less affluent neighborhoods is associated with an increased likelihood of gentrification, using Brooklyn, New York as a case study. Employing GIS and spatial analysis, the results suggest that proximity to community gardens is associated with significant increases in per capita income over a five-year period. This indicates that environmental improvements, such as community gardens, may paradoxically spur gentrification and the displacement of existing lower-income residents, raising concerns for environmental justice.

Wanda Martin, Lindsey Vold · Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada · Canada (Saskatoon)

This qualitative case study examined how participation in the "askîy" urban agriculture project in Saskatoon, Canada, empowered young adults and built food-growing capacity. Seven interns (aged 19-29) participated in 2015, and their experiences were analyzed using a sustainable livelihoods framework. Findings indicated that collaborative engagement fostered connections, influenced grocery shopping habits towards more vegetables, and motivated interns to continue gardening and apply their knowledge in their home communities.

Zsofia Mendly‐Zambo, Dennis Raphael · Social Policy and Society · Canada

Household food insecurity (HFI) affects over 1.7 million Canadian households, yet government action to address it has been remarkably limited. Non-governmental efforts like food banks and community gardens have depoliticized HFI, complicating solutions. The study argues that the critical materialist political economy discourse, which is least considered, best explains HFI in Canada and offers the most effective response.

Renata Blumberg, Rosa Huitzitzilin, Claudia Urdanivia, Brian C. Lorio · Capitalism Nature Socialism · United States (New Jersey)

This article examines the challenges and possibilities of community gardening in small, peripheral cities with large immigrant populations, using concepts from feminist geography and food justice research. Focusing on the "Raíces Del Sur" community garden in Passaic, New Jersey, as a case study, it argues that these concepts provide a useful framework for enacting ecofeminist visions through community gardens. The study emphasizes the need for greater ecofeminist engagement with community gardening initiatives in cities throughout New Jersey.

Lorrilee McGregor, Pamela Toulouse, Marion Maar, Nancy L. Young · International Journal of Indigenous Health · Canada

A narrative analysis of eight focus groups with 33 caregivers in six First Nation communities in Canada explored determinants of dietary decisions. Caregivers identified changes in food systems due to factors like wage economy participation, low income, hunting/fishing regulations, and processed food availability. These factors have altered food systems and influenced dietary choices, leading communities to pursue initiatives such as community gardens, freezers, and hunting camps to regain food sovereignty.

Shannon Donovan · Case Studies in the Environment · United States (Anchorage)

A multi-faceted needs assessment, including a community survey, stakeholder workshop, and key informant interviews, was conducted in Anchorage, Alaska, to explore the strategic expansion of its community garden system. The study found that demand for community gardens far outweighs supply. To sustainably meet diverse needs, expansion efforts should focus on accessible locations, gardener capacity building, and strengthening partnerships.

Christine Porter · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Wyoming)

This mixed-methods study, conducted over five years with five food justice Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in the U.S., including quantifying harvests from 33 gardeners in Laramie, Wyoming, and surveying 20 of them, documented benefits of home and community gardening. Four categories of benefits were identified: improving health, producing quality food in nutritionally meaningful quantities, providing cultural services, and fostering healing and transformation. The findings illustrate a range of health, food, cultural ecosystem services, and social change outcomes from gardening.

Paola Brum · PIXO - Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade · Brazil (Pelotas)

The "Ocupação Canto de Conexão" is an occupied abandoned building in Pelotas, Brazil, near the Federal University. It provides student and popular housing, a community garden, and cultural activities for residents, students, and the homeless. For nearly two years, the space has been maintained by volunteers and community contributions, operating without public funding.

Nancy F. Sonti, Erika S. Svendsen · Society & Natural Resources · United States (New York City)

Semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in New York City explored their motivations for gardening. Gardeners' motivations were found to be both personal and collective, with community gardens providing a space for reflection and a deep connection to nature for many. Joy and personal fulfillment consistently remained the most prevalent motivations over time, while the impulse to improve the community decreased, and food production and cultural identity connections became more common motivations.

Walter W. Furness, Courtney M. Gallaher · Local Environment · United States (Rockford)

A study in Rockford, Illinois, examined community gardens to assess their contribution to residents' access to fresh produce and other social benefits. Data was collected through interviews with gardeners, focus groups, and surveys of food pantry users. The findings indicate that while non-gardening community members benefit from increased produce provided by the gardens, they do not receive all the social and communal benefits associated with active garden participation.