Research & reports

Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · Journal of Environmental Horticulture · United States

Project GREEN, a school garden program, was integrated into seven elementary and junior high schools in Kansas and Texas to evaluate its impact on students' environmental attitudes. Students' environmental attitudes were significantly more positive after participating, with post-test mean scores 0.26 points higher than pre-test scores. Demographic analysis showed that female, Caucasian, and rural students exhibited more positive environmental attitudes compared to other groups.

Gail Feenstra, Christopher Lewis · California Agriculture · United States (California)

A survey of farmers' market managers in California indicated that farmers' markets provide growers with opportunities to expand their businesses through new market venues, value-added products, and connections with agritourism. Rural markets offered strong community support and tourist links, while small-town markets showed the most new vendors and room for growth. Metropolitan markets, though harder to access, yielded the highest gross sales and increased demand for value-added products.

Jane Kolodinsky, Qingbin Wang, Leslie L. Pelch, Kolodinsky, Jane M., Wang, Qingbin, Pelch, Leslie · 1999 Annual meeting, August 8-11, Nashville, TN · United States

A 1999 study tests whether membership activities of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Vermont, US, generate utility directly. Based on survey data from Vermont, it finds that both time spent picking up produce at the farm and time spent cleaning and putting away produce at home yield utility directly, and that the direct utility from picking up produce is greater than that from cleaning and putting it away.

Jan L. Flora, Robert Karp, Shelly Gradwell · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States

A 1999 article introduces the "Field to Family Community Food Project," which began in Iowa, US, in 1997. The project was intended to support the "Magic Beanstalk" community supported agriculture (CSA) initiative — a local food system in which farmers provide fresh food, fiber, and related products directly to area consumers — by forming partnerships with churches, social service organizations, Iowa State University, and other community groups.

Richard K. Olson, L. Bauer · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States

This is a two-part compilation on small-scale Midwest farming (Part I) and reintegrating agriculture and community in the Midwest (Part II), gathering contributed chapters covering topics such as small and family-sized farms, market gardening, diversified crop/livestock systems, Amish farming agroecosystems, direct marketing, community-supported agriculture, farmers' markets, farmland preservation, and local food-system strengthening in Nebraska, Iowa and the broader Midwest region of the United States.

Jack P. Cooley, Daniel A. Lass · Review of Agricultural Economics · United States (Massachusetts)

This study focused on consumer benefits, specifically cost savings, from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership. It measured quantities of produce in weekly shares for three CSA farms in Massachusetts and calculated retail values. Cost savings, determined by the difference between share prices and retail values for organic produce, ranged from 60% to 150% of share prices for the studied CSA farms.

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

In Spring 1998, the University of Florida hosted a children's garden competition for approximately 100 elementary schools across Florida. The competition required schools to establish or use an existing garden and for teachers to integrate it into classroom instruction. A random sample of 500 students from participating schools completed an environmental attitude survey at the beginning and end of the competition, and teachers also completed a survey on garden use and its effect on students.

H. Losada, H. Martínez, J. Vieyra, R. Pealing, R. Zavala, J. Cortés · Environment and Urbanization · Mexico

This paper describes the scale and nature of agricultural production in urban, suburban, and peri-urban zones of Mexico City and how these have adapted to changing urban demands for food, wood, and recreation. Agricultural producers have successfully adapted their products and production methods, including building on traditional systems, despite environmental deterioration from urban development and lack of government support. These producers have also devised new ways to use degraded land and large volumes of waste.

Lucy Bradley, Jean C. Stutz · HortTechnology · United States

The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension's home horticulture World Wide Web site for Maricopa County, "Environmentally responsible gardening and landscaping in the low desert," delivers research-based, regionally appropriate public information. It provides self-service access to prepared text and high-quality images that could not be distributed economically through traditional print methods, plus interactive functionality for submitting questions.

Dream of Wild Health · Dream of Wild Health · United States

Dream of Wild Health (DWH), founded in 1998 (its predecessor Peta Wakan Tipi began in 1986), is a Native-led nonprofit. On its 30-acre farm in Hugo, Minnesota, it runs Indigenous seed-saving, traditional food and youth education programmes, and operates an Indigenous food network from its Minneapolis office. In 2022 the farm produced 13.5 tons of food; as of 2024 it had 20 full-time staff and had planted 1,000 trees since 2022.

Jane Kolodinsky, Leslie L. Pelch · Journal of Sustainable Agriculture · United States (Vermont)

This study estimated the probability of becoming a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) member using a binomial logit regression model, based on data collected through phone interviews with members, ex-members, and non-members of three CSA farms in Vermont. Results indicated that price, productivity shifters, consumer beliefs, and awareness impact the probability of membership.

Carlos Alberto Schettini Pinto · PubMed · United States

A 1997 survey on healthcare construction and design in the United States notes that managed care, despite appearances, creates opportunities for architectural and design firms. An example of this trend is the 1995 west campus expansion of East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, which included a nine-story medical office building featuring artwork and rooftop gardens.

Brian Trelstad · Landscape Journal · United States

This paper explores the rise and decline of the school garden movement in the United States from 1891 to 1920. School gardens were established as a national phenomenon intertwining Progressive governance, the Back to Nature Movement, and early education reform. The paper seeks to explain the sudden demise of school gardens after 1920 by examining changes in American urban life and the nature of the professions that promoted them.

Jane Kolodinsky, Leslie L. Pelch · The Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction & Complaining Behavior · United States

A US study estimating consumer satisfaction with community supported agriculture (CSA) using an ordinal probit model, based on phone-interview data collected from members of three CSA farms in Vermont. The results indicate that both experience with the CSA farm and members' reasons for joining affect satisfaction.

C. C. Weir, James R. Allen · Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A Environmental Science and Engineering and Toxicology · United States (New York City)

In the District of Columbia, tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and mustard (Brassica juncea) grown on a low-pH, compacted silt-loam soil were compared under plots treated with composted sewage sludge and composted yard waste versus plots receiving commercial N-P-K fertilizer. Yields were generally significantly higher in the compost-treated plots than in the commercial fertilizer plots. Chemical and physical soil analyses showed the composted organic amendments not only improved the compacted soil's poor physical properties but also significantly increased soil pH, organic matter content, and available phosphate and magnesium. Chemical analysis of the edible plant portions for heavy trace metals such as lead and cadmium found levels not high enough to raise health concerns, remaining within ranges established as acceptable by other researchers.

Ishwarbhai C. Patel · Journal of Agricultural & Food Information · United States (Newark)

The Rutgers Urban Gardening (RUG) program in Newark, New Jersey, transformed 30 acres of wasteland into 1,900 food gardens in 1994, engaging 6,500 residents. This initiative produced over $915,000 worth of food and recycled nearly 4,000 tons of city leaves, saving participants approximately $4 million over five years. The program also fostered social interaction, improved diets for 44% of participants, and enhanced neighborhoods.

J. Lambie, W.T. Osborn, A. Dominski · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · United States (Florida)

The Florida House Foundation, Inc. (FHF), a non-profit regional economic incubator, developed a demonstration house and yard in Sarasota County, Florida, in partnership with the Cooperative Extension Service. This model home, designed to appeal to consumers and be marketable by the construction industry, aimed to stimulate interest in solar and resource-efficient technologies. It incorporated active and passive design, solar photovoltaic and water heating systems, daylighting, cisterns, gray water, and native edible landscaping.

Serr, Elisabeth N · CommonKnowledge Research Repository (Pacific University Oregon) · United States (Eugene)

This qualitative research project focused on school garden projects in the Eugene, Oregon area, exploring how teachers integrate classroom curriculum in the garden. Information was gathered through interviews, primarily with elementary teachers, and visits to school gardens. The research aims to answer questions regarding the pervasiveness of gardening projects, how schools can collaborate with communities to form garden projects, and how teachers can integrate a garden project with class curriculum.

Tina M. Waliczek, Richard H. Mattson, Jayne M. Zajicek · Journal of Environmental Horticulture · United States

A nationwide survey of community gardeners in the United States investigated the relationship between community gardens and quality-of-life perceptions, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The study found that race, gender, and city size influenced perceptions, with significant differences observed across racial/ethnic divisions and between gardeners in Los Angeles and New York. Community gardens were particularly important to African-American and Hispanic gardeners, and while men and women rated overall benefits similarly, women valued saving money and garden beauty more highly.

Tina M. Waliczek, J.M. Zajicek · HortScience · United States

This study initiated an environmental education garden program, "The Green Classroom," in eight schools across the Midwest and Texas, involving approximately 1000 third- through eighth-grade students. The program aimed to integrate garden activities into classroom lessons to reinforce curriculum. Researchers administered pre- and post-tests, including a psychological inventory and an environmental attitude survey, to examine the relationship between garden program participation and students' self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, attitude toward school, and environmental attitudes.

Karen Schmelzkopf · Geographical Review · United States (New York City)

This article examines community gardens in Loisaida, a high-crime, poverty-stricken area of Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City. The gardens provide social and economic functions, serving as safe open spaces for socialization and sources of food. A major problem identified is the competition for these sites between gardening and housing development.

Laura L. Lawson · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

A 1995 article on the "BYA Community Garden Patch," a community garden started in 1993 by Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA) on a half-acre former railroad right-of-way in West Berkeley, California, US. The garden — which includes a children's garden, demonstration garden, outdoor classroom, compost area, and entrepreneurial youth garden — was planned through bilingual design workshops involving teens, their parents, neighbors, BYA board members, and city officials. BYA employs and trains 10 teens in park landscape maintenance at the site.

Laura Lawson, Marcia J. McNally · · United States (California)

A paper proposing new methods for layering utility and maximizing benefit to teens and the community by including teens' needs in the planning and maintenance of urban open space. It discusses two programs run by Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA)—the BYA Youth Employment Landscape Program and the BYA Community Garden Patch—that attract youth through employment, providing at-risk teens with income, job training, safe after-school activity, and self-esteem, presenting program descriptions and evaluation to inform future similar projects.

William C. Olien, Joe G. Harper, Katherine Ashe · HortScience · United States

A Teaching Fruit-Garden Project paired Horticulture and Agricultural Education classes at a US university (1995) to build teaching materials for college courses, area K-12 schools, and community members interested in fruit and edible landscaping, organized around team coordination, writing across the curriculum, and hands-on learning. The horticulture course produced a proposal for low-maintenance, sustainable fruit production including species and cultivar choices, a management plan, and a preliminary site plan; the agriculture education course produced self-contained teaching modules with sample lesson plans for K-12 teachers. Students reported liking the cross-class collaboration and the sense that their work served the community.

Ishwarbhai C. Patel · HortTechnology · United States

The Rutgers Urban Gardening (RUG) program in the United States fosters cultural diversity by employing six ethnic minority workers and reaching over 30 ethnic groups through various educational programs. It creates an environment where people can connect, share concerns, and solve problems, bridging social, economic, cultural, and racial barriers.