Research & reports

Christopher Davis · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · United States

A master's thesis addressing persistent socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction in the contemporary American city, particularly environmental injustice, decaying historic structures, poor health, weak community support systems and gentrification pressure in impoverished urban neighborhoods, proposes urban agriculture as a comprehensive, integrated solution spanning urban revitalization, environmentalism and historic preservation. The research culminates in a project adapting rooftops in impoverished urban neighborhoods into a network of public agricultural gardens intended to beautify and revitalize the area.

Sonja M. Skelly, Jennifer Bradley · Applied Environmental Education & Communication · United States

A study (Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 2007) summarizing a 2000 investigation of school garden program variation and its impact on 427 third-grade students, developed a typology of nine garden types from a survey of 28 third-grade teachers, classified by activity intensity (high, medium, low) and garden form (flower, vegetable, or combination). Analysis of covariance found significant differences among garden types in students' attitudes toward science and toward the usefulness of science study. No significant differences were found among garden types in students' sense of responsibility or environmental attitudes; scores on those measures were uniformly high with little variation regardless of garden type.

Shane R. de Solla, Pamela A. Martin · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · United States

Because many reptiles oviposit in soil within agricultural landscapes, this study evaluated the toxicity of two commonly used nitrogenous fertilizers — urea and ammonium nitrate — to snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) egg survivorship. Eggs were incubated, unmanipulated and under ambient conditions, in a community garden plot treated with urea at realistic rates up to 200 kg/ha in 2004 and ammonium nitrate up to 2,000 kg/ha in 2005, and separately in covered laboratory bins designed to minimize nitrogen loss through volatilization or leaching. In the field, neither urea nor ammonium nitrate affected hatching success or development, despite ammonium nitrate showing overt toxicity to native plants. In the laboratory, however, both fertilizer exposures reduced hatching success, lowered body mass at hatching, and reduced post-hatching survival compared with controls. The authors attribute the field's lack of toxicity to leaching and atmospheric loss of nitrogen in soil, and conclude that nitrogenous fertilizers likely have little direct impact on turtle eggs deposited in agricultural landscapes.

Randall Walsh · Journal of Urban Economics 61(2): 319-344 · United States

Uses a locational-equilibrium model that treats both privately held open space and land-conversion decisions as endogenous to evaluate the metropolitan-wide impact of open-space policy. Shows that once endogenous adjustment of private open space is allowed for, expanding public preserves can actually reduce the total quantity of open space across a metropolitan area. Also finds that different strategies for spending the same open-space budget have markedly different land-use and welfare consequences.

Urban Harvest / Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) · Urban Harvest, Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) · Peru

Urban Harvest, the global urban and peri-urban agriculture initiative coordinated by the International Potato Center (CIP), published in 2007 the proceedings and declaration of its Third Inter-institutional Meeting held in Lima on 25-26 August 2006. The report notes that Lima Metropolitana spans the lower basins of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, with the Rímac's average flow of 29 m3/s far exceeding the Chillón (5 m3/s) and Lurín (0.41 m3/s), while bacterial contamination in all three rivers exceeds the vegetable-irrigation limit of 1,000 fecal coliforms per 100ml. In Villa María del Triunfo, a municipal urban agriculture program began in 2001, and by 2006 the municipality had identified 1,926 people engaged in productive urban agriculture.

Corene M. Bregendahl, Cornelia Butler Flora · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States

In Iowa communities, collaborative Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) serves as a business incubator for new growers and helps existing growers expand and diversify. This model offers various benefits to the communities it serves.

Juliana Arruda, Nilson Antonio Modesto Arraes · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Campinas)

A 2005 study in Campinas, Brazil, analyzed the city's Community Garden Program (PHC) to support the formulation of new urban and peri-urban agriculture policies. Analysis of PHC management revealed an almost total disengagement between the program and sectoral policies such as education, health, and social action. However, individual actions were found to be important for project implementation and success, and the projects were significant in the lives of beneficiaries.

Fabrício de Araújo Pedron, Ricardo Simão Diniz Dalmolin, Antônio Carlos de Azevedo, Márcio Ramos Botelho, Alessandro Samuel‐Rosa · Ciência Rural · Brazil (Santa Maria)

This study analyzed the spatial and temporal dynamics of land occupation in urban areas of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil, and determined land use conflicts using data from 1975 to 2002. Urban land use increased from 9% in 1975 to 33% in 2002. Land use conflicts increased from 19% in 1975 to 37% in 1995, then decreased to 33% in 2002. The main problems of improper land use are related to the fragility of geological material and soil resources for use in construction and urban agriculture.

John A. Biernbaum · Crop Management · United States

This presentation was part of a USDA conference session exploring the expansion of education infrastructure in organic agriculture. The student-oriented presentation described target student audiences, outlined example curricular content for organic farming, identified K-12 education programs benefiting from organic farming content, listed sources of organic farming information, and detailed university student farming programs, specifically the Michigan State University Student Organic Farm (MSU-SOF) CSA program.

Lisa Patterson · Scholarly Commons (University of Pennsylvania) · United States

This comparative case study uses ethnographic fieldwork to analyze the Urban Nutrition Initiative and a community-supported agricultural garden in the United States. It describes the organizational foundations of development agencies within a public policy framework and discusses power relationships between advocates and clientele in social service networks. The study demonstrates that power transitions in development schemes indicate social movements, which are defined as markers of successful strategies through a community empowerment model.

Rainbow A. Vogt, Lucía Kaiser, Robert B. Rucker · The FASEB Journal · United States (California)

A study involving 28 school food service directors and 20 stakeholders in California explored interest in purchasing local produce. Directors were motivated by fresher food, supporting the local economy, and aiding California farms, but faced barriers such as lack of producers, seasonal availability, budget, convenience, facilities, and transportation. The study concluded that program expansion and long-term viability depend on a coordinated produce distribution network between farms and schools, and the integration of nutrition education and school gardens into the core curriculum.

Kevin Lombard, Sue Forster-Cox, Dan Smeal, M. K. O’Neill · Rural and Remote Health · United States

This article reviews the development of diabetes on the Navajo Nation, a serious health problem correlated with income, poor diet, and limited physical exercise. It explores the potential role of home and community gardening in diabetes reduction, building on the Navajo tradition of farming. The benefits identified include locally grown nutritious food, physical activity from gardening, income savings or sales, and positive mental outlook. The article proposes a multidisciplinary approach involving public health officials, nutritionists, and horticultural extension agents.

Eleanor Gordon · · United States (Eugene)

This abstract poetically describes the Willamette River as central to the community of Eugene, defining its development and serving as a place for people to gather, reflect, and connect with nature. It emphasizes the importance of oral history and community engagement, including working in community gardens, as a common good. The river is portrayed as a collective memory, reflecting its historical and current significance to people.

Shawn Teresa Flanigan, Roli Varma · Community Work & Family · United States (New Mexico)

This study investigated the effectiveness of methods used by nutrition educators to promote the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) community garden project in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. A survey of 257 clients from five clinics found that less than 30% of clients had been exposed to the project, and caseload was unrelated to the promotion methods used. However, clients exposed to any method of promotion were more likely to garden than those not exposed, and importantly, clients reported eating more vegetables after being exposed to the project.

Mark Tranel, Larry Handlin · Journal of Urban Affairs · United States (St. Louis)

This study investigated the impact of community gardens on revitalization in urban neighborhoods in St. Louis, United States. The research used GIS software to collect 1990 and 2000 Census data for 3-block radii around the study gardens, focusing on indicators of resident quality of life and neighborhood conditions. Using difference of differences to measure change, the findings indicated that Garden Impact Areas improved in these indicators.

Sidivan Aparecido Resende, João Cleps · Caminhos de Geografia · Brazil

This research examines agricultural activities in the urban area of Uberlândia (MG), Brazil, aiming to understand their role and importance in development, specifically in local supply and food security. Defining urban agriculture as rural activities occurring near or within cities, the study seeks to recognize the reality and importance of these activities in Uberlândia's urban environment by comprehending rural-urban interactions.

Edilene Lagedo Teixeira, Janailton Coutinho, Adriano Costa da Silva, Andréa Soares, Camila Silva de Oliveira, Carla Gomes dos Santos, Beatriz Ribeiro Guimarães · REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE AGROECOLOGIA · Brazil

This study, conducted in 2003 by UNISOL REGIONAL and UFRRJ, aimed to develop an organic, condiment, and medicinal garden through social education activities. A socioeconomic survey of the community revealed urgent problems with water scarcity, mosquitoes, and rodents. While two garden beds and 12 planters were built to encourage self-sustaining urban agriculture, the abstract does not explicitly state the success or failure of achieving self-sustainability or addressing the identified community problems beyond the construction itself.

LaDona Knigge, Meghan Cope · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · United States

This paper conceptualizes and demonstrates an integrated analytical method for using qualitative and quantitative data through geographic information systems (GIS) and ethnography. It proposes that visualization, approached from the analytical base of grounded theory, can construct an iterative, reflexive, contextual, and conceptual analysis strategy. Knigge's work on community gardens in Buffalo, New York, is used as a substantive example of these proposed methods.

Julie Guthman, Amy Wilson Morris, Patricia Allen · Rural Sociology · United States (California)

Survey and interview research conducted in California during 2004–2005 examined the extent to which CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and farmers' markets address food security. Managers of these institutions generally supported the idea of improving food affordability and most made efforts to do so, though these efforts varied with institutional capacity. Some managers tempered their interest in supporting food security goals with concerns such as the primary need to support farmers.

Kristin McGee · Deep Blue (University of Michigan) · United States

"Community Seeds" is a handbook providing basic information on gardening and starting community garden projects for community members, church members, young people, and schools. It covers definitions, getting started with community gardening, basic gardening skills like design, composting, and vegetable gardening, and how gardening can build community through farm-to-school programs, community supported agriculture, and marketing produce. The handbook also lists Internet and reading resources.

Fabrício de Araújo Pedron, Ricardo Simão Diniz Dalmolin, Antônio Carlos de Azevedo, Everton Luís Poelking, Pablo Miguel · Ciência Rural · Brazil (Santa Maria)

This study conducted an environmental diagnosis in urban areas of Santa Maria, Brazil, using the Urban Land Use Potential Assessment System (SAPUT) to identify land use conflicts. Remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques were employed. The identified problems of improper land use are related to the fragility of geological material and soil resources, with up to 33% of the area being used beyond its potential due to inadequate use for construction and urban agriculture.

Donna B. Johnson, Lynne T. Smith · PubMed · United States (Washington)

The city of Moses Lake, Washington, a town of about 15,000 people, was chosen as a pilot site to test the conceptual approaches and recommendations of the state's Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan. An advisory committee used local policy and environment inventory data to develop a Healthy Communities plan, launching three initiatives: a trail system, breastfeeding facilities, and a community garden. Records of cumulative actions demonstrated the project's continued activity and productivity, with environmental changes and long-term health outcomes to be monitored.

Adelaide Ellen Pigg, Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · HortTechnology · United States (McAllen, Texas)

A study of 196 elementary students in McAllen, Texas, compared the academic progress of students participating in a school garden program with those receiving traditional classroom instruction. No statistically significant differences were found in science achievement scores, indicating similar benefits for both groups. However, students receiving traditional math instruction showed more improved math achievement scores compared to those in the garden program.

Mathieu Ngouajio, Kathleen Delate, Edward E. Carey, Anita N. Azarenko, James J. Ferguson, William Sciarappa · HortTechnology · United States

A US report on the growth of organic agriculture and resulting pressure from students and the public for new curricula tailored to the sector. It notes that more students from cities with limited production-agriculture backgrounds are enrolling in agricultural programs and demanding curricula grounded in agroecology principles and experiential training, and summarizes a workshop that brought together experts from universities across the country working on different organic and sustainable agriculture curricula to share experiences and lessons learned. Most curricula combine traditional classroom teaching, a major experiential component, a student farm for hands-on training and internships, and in some cases a marketing component typically built around Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); other programs are more extension-oriented, offering applied training to growers outside the university curriculum.

Laura Avila, Johannes Scholberg, Nancy E. Roe, C. M. Cherr · HortScience · United States (Florida)

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) was tested as a summer cover crop in a Community Supported Agriculture vegetable operation in Southeast Florida, United States, from 2003 to 2005. The farm system compared sunn hemp (SH) with a conventional summer fallow, followed by winter/spring tomato and pepper and then sweet corn. Tomato and pepper received 0, 67, 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003, and 0, 100 or 200 kg N/ha in 2004/05; sweet corn received 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003 and 100 kg N/ha in 2004/05. Average SH biomass was 3.7 Mg/ha. In 2003, tomato yields following SH without supplemental nitrogen were similar to the fallow treatment fertilized with 200 kg N/ha. By the third year, tomato and pepper yields in SH plots were 25% and 26% higher, respectively, than conventional plots, while conventional pepper fertilized with 200 kg N/ha showed only 8% higher yield than plots given 100 kg N/ha plus cover crop. Sweet corn yields were low overall but increased when the preceding tomato/pepper crop received higher nitrogen rates: in 2003, sweet corn fertilized with 200 kg N/ha following an SH-fall vegetable rotation produced 17% higher marketable yield than the fallow treatment, and in 2004–2005, sweet corn within the SH–unfertilized tomato system produced 29% higher yields than a comparable conventional system. The results indicate that in this rotation, both fall vegetable crops and sweet corn benefit from residual nitrogen, with SH mineralization affecting not only the immediately following crop but also yields later in the year.