Research & reports

Christy Gene Somsen · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)

Farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, and community gardens, while aiming to help low-income families access fresh produce, often assist more middle-class families. In Utah, these programs could be improved, as the state does not utilize the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program or accept WIC Cash Value Vouchers, and has few Farm to School Programs.

Daniel Remley, Glennon Sweeney, Julie Fox, Laquore Ja Meadows · Journal of Human Sciences and Extension · United States

U.S. Cooperative Extension is positioned to address suburban food insecurity, citing data that low-income populations in the country's largest metro-area suburbs grew twice as fast as in primary urban cities between 2000 and 2013, and that a 2018 Pew Research Center report found poverty rising more sharply in suburbs than in urban or rural counties. Stigmatization of food assistance, lack of transportation, limited access to food pantries and limited community gardens are identified as challenges specific to suburban poor communities, with Extension proposed to address the problem through community-engaged research and education across family and consumer sciences, community development, agriculture and natural resources, and 4-H youth development.

Tatiana de Oliveira Sousa, João Aparecido Bazzoli, Cecília Delgado · Estudos Geográficos Revista Eletrônica de Geografia · Brazil

An exploratory study examined an urban gardening project run by the municipal government of Palmas, capital of Tocantins state, Brazil, analyzing challenges in setup and maintenance, administrative difficulties in production and distribution, and the socioeconomic profile of participating families. Surveying the gardeners' profiles and practices, the study found that the urban gardens promoted social inclusion of participating families, particularly low-income, unemployed, elderly, and women gardeners.

Midori ASAOKA · Japanese Journal of Environmental Education · United States (California)

This paper traces the history of the Life Lab program in Santa Cruz, California, United States, and re-evaluates it from a sustainability education perspective. Life Lab, a non-profit established in 1979, grew out of "Nature Study" in an elementary school garden into a science-based environmental and sustainability education program emphasizing pupil-centered, experiential learning and critical thinking to build connection to the Earth; participants learn ecological soundness, key agroecology concepts, and relationships among insects, flowers, vegetables, other foods, and humans. The paper discusses farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and the Community Agroecology Network (CAN) in the Santa Cruz area as examples of organic and agroecological movements, arguing that direct producer-consumer relationships foster alternatives to the global corporate market, and proposes introducing sustainability education into Japanese food and agriculture education by building school gardens.

Loren Alcorn · Proceedings of Student Research and Creative Inquiry Day · United States

A student research presentation on middle school students in the United States (2021) discusses the correlation between school gardens and nutrition education, asking whether students relying on school lunches actually benefit from the nutrition standards those lunches must meet. It argues that a school garden would let students learn to grow their own food, encounter new foods, and interactively learn how different foods affect health, with garden produce potentially incorporated into cafeteria lunches. Citing existing evidence that greater access to fruits and vegetables increases consumption and that school lunches generate substantial food waste, it suggests that nutrition education and exposure to new foods through a school garden could reduce that waste; the presentation itself does not report original measured data directly testing the garden-nutrition education correlation.

Elisângela Brauner, Maria Cecília Pereira Santarosa, Cecília Elenir dos Santos Rocha · Revista Eletrônica de Educação Matemática · Brazil

This article analyzes a teaching intervention within Brazil's Residência Pedagógica pedagogical residency program, in the mathematics course, that used a community garden in basic education to investigate and teach the mathematical concepts of angles and polygons. Instruction proceeded through mathematical-modeling stages of gradually increasing complexity, and the intervention surfaced challenges including finding a site for the garden, students' prior knowledge of measurement, and recognizing patterns to solve modeling problems. It concludes that developing varied practices in the school setting favors and broadens mathematics learning.

Lilian Nadja Silva Brito, Renally Cristine Cardoso Lucas, Fernanda Ferreira de Andrade, Ygor Alexandre Beserra Sousa, Rilva Suely de Castro Cardoso Lucas, Renata Rocha Cardoso Madruga, Gabriella Barreto Soares · Revista da ABENO · Brazil

This article reports the experience of a group of dentistry students at the State University of Paraíba, Brazil, who, in the second half of 2018, formed a "health-promoting space" bringing together culture and art with the Unified Health System (SUS) at the Argemiro de Figueiredo Family Health Unit (USF) in Campina Grande. The space was built through an experience titled "Graffiti that brings life" and through the process of building a community garden at the USF. The activities were marked by strong interaction among students, the community, the health team, and local social resources, and they strengthened the bond between the health team and the population. The presence of dentistry students in primary care was observed to be important, with students recognizing that the dentist's role in primary care extends beyond providing oral health assistance.

Becky Griffin, S. K. Braman · Journal of Entomological Science · United States

In 2017 and 2018, gardeners at 36 locations across 21 Georgia counties, United States, volunteered for the Georgia Pollinator Census pilot project, counting insects in September and October on an aster species and one other participant-chosen plant species (28 plant taxa were selected in total) while also receiving training in insect identification. Bumble bees, honey bees and wasps were sighted more often in rural areas, while carpenter bees, flies and other insects were sighted more often in urban areas; participants also showed increased entomological interest and insect knowledge, and the pilot's results were used to refine criteria for a larger, state-wide census.

Laryssa Roberta Alves Farias, Sanádia Gama dos Santos · Revista Interseção · Brazil

A qualitative case study examines a school garden project at a rural school in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil, carried out as part of the Mais Educação program (2018-2019), aimed at promoting good nutrition and environmental education practices by using unused spaces on school grounds for an organic garden. The results describe the development of pedagogical and environmental activities centered on growing vegetables for school meals, with a focus on good nutrition, health, and improving students' quality of life.

Mariela Jara · IPS Agencia de Noticias (Inter Press Service) · Peru

IPS News reported on 12 October 2021 on the 1,400 square-meter "Biohuerto Ayllu 21" garden in Sector II Group 21, Villa El Salvador, 25km south of Lima. Started in 2018, the garden has 40 plots of 6 meters each and separate production, training, seedling, harvest, post-harvest and sales zones. It is run by 12 families, all elderly women migrants, who work an average of two days a week growing chard, radishes, broccoli, celery, tomatoes, beets, basil, spinach and lettuce, mainly for household consumption.

Mary Rogers, Illana Livstrom, Brandon Roiger, Amy Smith · HortTechnology · United States (Minneapolis)

Growing North Minneapolis (GNM) is an urban agriculture and youth development summer program in North Minneapolis, MN, run as a partnership between the University of Minnesota and community partners that recruits, trains, and employs youth aged 14–15 facing barriers to employment. Post-program qualitative surveys showed that youth learned across multiple domains of knowledge and valued the social interaction offered by the intergenerational mentorship structure.

· Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · USA

A study of how farm-to-school educators combine education and play in a student-centered learning environment, considering children's culture, local school context, and nested inequalities.

Doris González-Fernández, Ana Sofía Mazzini Salom, Fermina Herrera Bendezu, Sonia Huamán, Bertha Rojas Hernández, Illène Pevec, Eliana Mariana Galarza Izquierdo, Nicoletta Armstrong, Virginia Thomas, Sonia Vela Gonzáles, Carlos Gonzáles Saravia, Marilyn E. Scott, Kristine G. Koski · Frontiers in Public Health · Peru (Lima)

In peripheral settlements of the Pachacámac district of metropolitan Lima, Peru, community health promoters delivered a sequence of (1) home and community gardens, (2) 'conscious nutrition' and (3) parenting workshops (ICDP), comparing 113 children aged 0–3 in intervention communities with 127 in control communities at baseline, 8 and 12 months. The interventions significantly reduced the risk of food insecurity (adjusted risk ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.08–0.51) and of language delay (0.39, 0.19–0.82), but did not significantly improve motor or social/cognitive delay. Multiple micronutrient supplement use lowered motor delay risk (0.12), while households with more pets had higher risk of motor delay (3.24), social/cognitive delay (2.72) and food insecurity (1.73). Because gardens were bundled with nutrition and parenting components, the contribution of the gardens alone cannot be isolated.

Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Wesley James, Karen Matthews · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · United States (Mississippi Delta)

This research evaluated the impact of school garden programs on fifth-grade students' garden knowledge, self-perception, and standardized test scores in the Mississippi Delta. The study found no effect on standardized test scores, but students showed increased garden knowledge and reported positive feelings about their future, teamwork, and leadership ability, supported by observations of joy and confidence.

Jasmine B. Sami, Zachary Stein, Krystin Sinclair, Larry Medsker · Journal of STEM education · United States

George Washington University (GWU) and USDA partnered to implement a two-week tuition-free summer camp (July 23-August 3, 2018) for high school students from the Washington Metro Area. The camp introduced participants to data analytics methods and tools using STEAM-related Open Data, focusing on food nutrition, forestry, and urban agriculture. Learning goals, including demonstrating basic data science knowledge and presenting results, were assessed using a survey tool, with positive results reported.

Carolina Ferreira dos Santos, Bruno Hosrt, Daniele Ukan · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil

In the Nhapindazal neighborhood of Irati-PR, Brazil, a community garden project was implemented by the PET – Engenharias Group in partnership with "pastoral da criança." The project aimed to supplement food conditions and improve dietary habits for socially vulnerable families. Through a community meeting with representatives, plans for the garden's construction, maintenance, materials, and plant species were discussed. Academic students actively participated in the installation, and the community organized to maintain the garden, resulting in improved and diversified diets for those consuming its produce.

Ada P. Smith · Collaborative anthropologies · Canada

In Canada's Gitxaała Nation, the potential of the Gitxaała community garden and the summer reading program at Lach Klan School as a "food literacy" learning platform for achieving food security and food sovereignty was explored. This research suggests that hands-on learning activities integrating local Indigenous language and knowledge have the potential to contribute to food sovereignty goals by better equipping students to shape their food system.

Cassia Silva Santos Góes · Revista Integrativa de Inovações Tecnológicas nas Ciências da Saúde · Brazil

This paper documents the presentation of the “School Garden Project in Bahia” at the International Congress on Technological Innovation in Health Sciences, held from November 15 to 18, 2017, at IFBA SAJ. The presentation highlighted the school's experiences with a social community garden, including resistances, advancements, garden care outside school hours, and the teaching of composting and natural fertilizers using organic compounds.

A. V. Silva, Jamerson Fábio Silva Filho, Dalcimar Regina Batista Wangen, M. L. C. Souza, E. L. Silva · Scientific Electronic Archives · Brazil (Urutaí)

This project at Maria Cândida de Jesus Municipal School in Urutaí, Brazil, engaged elementary students and staff in composting and school gardening to raise awareness about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Participants learned about environmental issues, practiced composting with Californian worms, and used the resulting compost to fertilize vegetables in a newly built school garden. The initiative successfully demonstrated student enthusiasm for selective waste collection, composting monitoring, and garden implementation.

Lydia Maleknia, Vanessa Boshuizen, Deepika Parmar, Mengyou Wu, Catherine Pourdavoud · PEDIATRICS · United States

The REACH program of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California pediatrics residency aimed to develop a school-based gardening program for middle-school students to promote nutritional education. A needs assessment of 278 students revealed 33% experienced food insecurity and 51% consumed more than one sugary drink daily. After only three classes, 12 participating students reported improvements in eating at least five vegetables daily (from 58% to 66%) and in nutrition knowledge (from 20% to 50% accuracy in completing a "healthy plate").

Stéfanny da Cruz Nóbrega, Lara Cristine Gomes Ferreira · OKARA Geografia em debate · Brazil (Goiânia)

This article presents results from a university extension project between the Federal University of Goiás and elementary school students in Goiânia, Brazil. The project focused on socio-environmental education through an agroecological school garden, integrating theory and practice with didactic sequences on agrarian geography topics like food consumption awareness, socio-biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and soil management. Activities included workshops on vertical gardens and composting, a soil workshop, and field trips, aiming to exchange knowledge on agricultural production forms, agroecology, and food sovereignty, valuing family farming.

Cleusa Fernandes Ramos, Andréia Assunção Soares, Isabela Carvalho dos Santos, F. Ramos, Odair Alberton, Luciana Kazue Otutumi, Lidiane Nunes Barbosa, Ricardo de Melo Germano, Daniela Dib Gonçalves, Luiz Sérgio Merlini · Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology · Brazil

This 2020 study in Brazil evaluated the bacteriological quality of six medicinal plants from community gardens, including Cymbopogon citratus and Aloysia citriodora. Analysis of cold extracts revealed bacterial contamination, with Plectranthus barbalus showing the highest aerobic mesophile count and Aloysia citriodora the highest coliform count at 45°C. However, the study concluded that heat treatment (boiling for teas) can significantly reduce or eliminate this bacteriological contamination, making the plants safe for consumption.

Sérgio Murilo de Souza Filho, Vanessa Aparecida Alves de Lima · · Brazil (Joinvile-SC)

A participant research on teacher education using a project-based learning model was conducted with three teachers from a municipal school in Joinvile-SC, Brazil. The study involved seven meetings with the teachers and three diagnostic tools, including a semi-open questionnaire and a focus group. The experience demonstrated that garden pedagogy can dynamize content within the school curriculum, and a pedagogical garden was constructed with the help of students throughout the process.

Ana Rosa Domingues dos Santos, Nádia Lúcia Almeida Nunes, Alessandra Santos dos Santos, Camila Neves Soares Oliveira, Lídio Coradin, Daniela Moura de Oliveira, Neio Campos · · Brazil

This paper described the integration of food biodiversity into school curricula through school gardens and gastronomy activities in Brazil. School gardens were utilized as rich pedagogical tools in various classes, including arts, math, and languages, beyond the initially expected biology and geography. The gastronomy area focused on cultural and regional food habits and the technical and sensorial features of food, also serving as a pedagogical tool in classes from history and sociology to math and geography.

Sarah E. Cramer, Mercedes Tichenor · · United States

The Garden-Based Learning Project, a collaboration between Stetson University and a local elementary school, was developed to address the gap in teachers' comfort and skills with integrating garden-based learning into their pedagogy. This article describes the first year of the project, which aims to leverage the known benefits of school gardens, such as increased physical activity and improved student attitudes, while highlighting its accomplishments and future sustainability plans.