Research & reports

Laurie Thorp, Christine D. Townsend · · United States

An ethnographic case study of an agricultural-education garden-based curriculum at an elementary school in the Midwestern United States, seeking a phenomenological understanding of its impact on students and teachers. Data were collected through participant observation, dialogue, interviews, photo elicitation and student work, and analyzed using Lincoln and Guba's constant comparative method. Findings were that the garden: (1) reshapes school culture; (2) serves as a leverage point reversing loss of time, control and place; (3) connects students to experience as an organizing principle; (4) becomes a site for student and teacher self-expression, creativity and innovation; and (5) shifts food's status from a consumable commodity to a portal for communal good.

Melford Mj W. Gunderson · UND Scholarly Commons (University of North Dakota) · United States

A study of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and the community of Elbowoods, North Dakota (2001) describes the social disorganization and community upheaval inflicted on Native Americans by the 1954 construction of the Garrison Dam by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Flooding of thousands of acres stripped Elbowoods residents of farmland, natural shelter for people and cattle, family structure, community gardens, and a way of life that had existed for thousands of years. Drawing primarily on interviews with ten former Elbowoods residents, supplemented by newspapers, published reports, photographs, video, and congressional records, and framed through social disorganization and community theory, the study documents that the dam's construction and the resulting relocation devastated the community and forced residents to cope with and adapt to a "loss of community."

National Park Service, City of Fresno · U.S. National Park Service · United States

The Fresno Sanitary Landfill (FSL) opened in 1937 and closed in 1987, and is described as the oldest 'true' sanitary landfill in the United States and the oldest compartmentalized municipal landfill in the western U.S. Under engineer Jean L. Vincenz, it was the first landfill to use the trench method and compaction, and became a model for modern sanitary landfills nationwide.

Pothukuchi, K., Kaufman, J.L. · Journal of the American Planning Association 66(2), 113–124 · United States

Analyzes the historical and institutional reasons the planning field has treated the food system as a 'stranger', and argues for urban-rural food planning.

Sonja M. Skelly, Jennifer Bradley · HortTechnology · United States (Florida)

A Fall 1997 questionnaire for elementary school teachers participating in a Florida school garden competition found that teachers used school gardens infrequently, with most using them as an instructional tool no more than 10% of the time. However, 97.1% used them for environmental education, 72.9% for experiential learning, and 84.3% reported enhanced student learning. The surveyed teachers had relatively new gardens and lacked or were unaware of educational resources.

Susan Andreatta · Culture & Agriculture · United States

This paper describes marketing opportunities for small-scale, limited-resource organic producers in Central North Carolina, United States. It examines farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture programs, highlighting how growers advocate and educate consumers about local agriculture. The study discusses the increasing demand for local organic food and strategies for growers to enhance community support, suggesting that alternative production and niche marketing could help sustain small-scale growers amidst farm loss and declining conventional agricultural prices.

William Ted Johnson · Electronic Green Journal · North America

This is a review of Thomas Leo Ogren's book "Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Landscaping" (2000). The reviewer notes that while the book attempts to quantify plant allergy potential, it overstates the case against many common North American garden species. Ogren's OPALS system for allergy classification considers various factors but lacks a clear explanation of how these factors combine into a single score, suggesting a reliance on subjective estimation rather than scientific objectivity. The book's focus on planting only female plants to achieve an "allergy-free" garden is criticized for undermining efforts to consider the holistic value of native plantscapes.

Andres Dasso, Teobaldo Pinzas · · Peru

In Lima, Peru, a city with an infertile sandy environment and 0.0 mm average rainfall, urban agriculture has been implemented since the late 1980s to improve the living conditions of the resource-poor urban population. This initiative addresses the rapid urban growth experienced by Lima between the 1950s and 1990s, primarily due to migration.

Pablo Torres Lima, Luis Marino Santana Rodríguez, B. I. García Uriza, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Mexico (Mexico City)

This record describes the geographical and climatic characteristics of the Mexico City Metropolitan Zone (MCMZ). The MCMZ covers an area of 7,860 km² and includes the Federal District and 54 municipalities. Mexico City is located in the center of the Mexican highlands at an average altitude of 2,238m, with main soil types including litosols, andosols, and feozem.

Joshua J. Cousins · · United States (Oregon)

This qualitative study examined local food networks in Washington County, Oregon, focusing on small-scale agricultural landscapes and farmers selling through farmers markets or CSAs. It explored farmers' concerns about urbanization, farmland preservation, and their difficulties participating in local food networks. The research concluded that local food sold through alternative venues can help preserve and develop specific farm sites.

Donna Armstrong · The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care · United States

This study aimed to design a culturally appropriate diabetes education program for a Northwest American Indian tribe. A community-based intervention, including workshops on health themes and a community garden, was designed to address multiple barriers to diabetes care. However, prior to the implementation of the community workshops and evaluations, the tribal government chose to discontinue receiving federal funding for this project.

Barbara Shields · · United States (Portland)

This study examined the social and physical connections and images that define the sense of place in three community gardens managed by the City of Portland, United States. Thirty gardeners participated, using a narrative photo storytelling method to express their connections to space and experiences of empowerment through community gardening. The study proposes the concept of the Natural Realm, where community gardeners experience empowerment by perceiving gardens as sacred places for growing healthy food, practicing green domesticity, and learning from nature in a beautiful setting. Gardeners achieve most of their empowerment goals through solitary efforts to maximize pleasurable activities and increase personal efficacy and satisfaction.

Claire Bach · · Canada (Montreal)

A case study of informal citizen-led urban agriculture projects in Montreal, Canada, focuses on the dynamics surrounding their establishment and complex structure. While often initiated by citizen groups, other actors, including non-profit organizations, municipal officials, or business owners, are also involved. This research demonstrates that collective urban agriculture projects exist simultaneously as a political practice that might not significantly alter the existing spatial and social orders.

Sonja M. Skelly, John Bradley · HortScience · United States (Florida)

This research project aimed to develop a typology of school garden program intensity and to determine if variables related to positive youth development varied within this intensity typology. Twenty elementary schools in Florida participated, accounting for approximately 20 teachers and 400 third-grade students. The study examined student developmental assets, environmental attitudes, and attitudes toward science.

Gary R. Vieth · · United States (Hawaii)

This article examines conditions to encourage Oahu hula dancers, who gather forest plant materials for lei, to switch to alternatives like community gardens or commercial purchase. Some hula teachers expressed willingness to switch if alternatives were attractive, while others did not. The study suggests that policies making alternatives more appealing, such as reducing labor in community gardens or lowering commercial prices, may be more cost-effective than trying to change user preferences.

Gary R. Vieth, Linda J. Cox, Margaret Josephson, James R. Hollyer · Environmental Practice · United States (Hawaii)

This article examines conditions to encourage hula dancers on Oahu, Hawaii, to switch from forest gathering for lei plant materials to alternatives like community gardens or commercial purchase. Some hula teachers expressed willingness to switch if alternatives were attractive, while others did not. The study suggests that policies making alternatives more appealing, such as reducing labor in community gardens or lowering commercial prices, may be more cost-effective than trying to change user preferences.

Lorie Hammond · · United States (California)

This study applies an anthropological approach to science teaching at a mainstream California elementary school, focusing on inter-cultural dialogue between Mien refugee families from Laos and mainstream educators. Using a family literacy project and a school-community garden, the research explores how traditional cultural knowledge and Western scientific knowledge can blend to develop curricula for science and literacy. The paper emphasizes dialogue where minority and majority voices co-create curricula, contrasting with standard parent involvement models.

Bryan Zinschlag · · United States

This case study examines the City Soil Network (CSN), a community garden organization comprising seventeen garden sites in Portland, Oregon, thirteen of them in Northeast Portland — an area with a history of racial and ethnic discrimination. Methods combined content analysis of organizational publications, participant observation at four Northeast Portland garden sites, and interviews with eleven CSN members representing all three levels of involvement in the organization. Recent gentrification in Northeast Portland has disproportionately displaced African Americans and other historically marginalized residents, and the author argues that the CSN has so far failed to engage the residents who stand to benefit most from involvement.

A. L. Echemendía, Surey Valdés, Sugey Magdalena Castillo Jiménez, Gloria González, Juan Miguel Zarandona Femández · Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) · Mexico

A survey of pests and diseases in crops associated with hydroponic systems, organopónicos, and urban gardens in Mexico identified three viral symptomatologies in lettuce (Lactuca sativa), celery (Apium graveolens), and Castilla melon (Cucumis melo), linked to aphid vectors. Using indicator plants, optical and electron microscopy, and ELISA (DAS and indirect variants), the causal agents were identified: Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV) in lettuce and a race of Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) in celery, both first reports for the country, and Papaya Ringspot Virus race W (PRSV) in melon, never previously found in that crop. An aphid species colonizing lettuce was also identified for the first time as an LMV vector.

David Billings · · United States

A study of Portland, Oregon, examines claims that the well-documented benefits of community gardens are inequitably distributed across society. Portland is recognized as a sustainability leader with an abundance of community gardens and urban agriculture, yet it is also one of the whitest urban cities in the United States, where people of color — and the black community in particular — have faced a legacy of oppression and marginalization. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and extensive observation of community gardens, the research finds that the whiteness of these garden spaces functions to marginalize black individuals and contributes to the ongoing oppression of the black community. It also documents how Portland's black community engages in community gardening as a means of resisting these and broader effects of structural racism.

Pothukuchi, K., Kaufman, J.L. · Agriculture and Human Values 16, 213–224 · United States

A pioneering paper on urban food-system planning, exposing the invisibility of the food system in city planning and establishing the rationale for municipal involvement in food policy.

Seana Irvine, Lorraine Johnson, Kim Peters · Local Environment · Canada

This case study provides an analytical account of the Alex Wilson Community Garden in Toronto, Canada, examining the connections between ecological restoration and community gardening. The garden, opened in June 1998, reflects Alex Wilson's work by linking these two enterprises to nurture relationships between people, communities, and the landscape. Its design reconstructs the natural and cultural history of southern Ontario with native plant species, aiming for a positive impact on local biodiversity. The participatory planning process involved various stakeholders and utilized planning tools like conservation easements.

Laura DeLind, A. Ferguson · Human Organization · United States

This paper explores the role of gender within Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) using a Michigan CSA as a case study. It notes that women constitute a majority of active CSA membership and seeks to understand what attracts them and the nature of their involvement. The study finds preliminary answers within the wider context of new social movements.

K. Haggard, Phillip J. Cooper · Solar today · United States (California)

The Tierra Nueva Cohousing Project in California comprises living units, a common house, community orchard, community gardens, play space, future shop space, and parking. The units incorporate thermal mass, solar heating, passive solar cooling, and perimeter insulation on slabs. The design of the project was collectively agreed upon by the entire community.

Mary Anne Foo, Jason Robinson, Monica Rhodes, Lillian S. Lew, Maichew Chao, Sadira Sokhan Dy, William Eir · Health Education · United States (California)

This article describes how implementing policy changes in organizations and communities supported physical activity in the Southeast Asian community in Long Beach, California. Case studies from the Families in Good Health program illustrate the components of successful policy development for physical activity. Increased policy opportunities occurred when high levels of five factors were present: program champions were cultivated; strong partnerships were formed; the community gave approval of program results; community leaders were involved; and organizations or resources were ready for policy development.