Research & reports

Sawsan Salah, Lori A. Francis · Journal of Clinical and Translational Science · United States

This project developed a community garden at a childcare center in Harrisburg, PA, serving a low-income community where 74.6% of residents identified as Black or Hispanic/Latino. A listening session with six community members provided positive feedback and ideas for the garden, which was then installed with four beds. Weekly gardening activities engaged 20-50 children (n=50 total in summer program) for nine weeks, resulting in positive responses from children and staff, demonstrating the feasibility of such an initiative.

Garcia, Pedro Henrique Lundquist de Souza, Carvalho, Joelson Gonçalves de · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Brazil (São Paulo)

This research, presented at the 10th Conference on Studies of Rural Settlements in July 2025, analyzes the socioeconomic impacts and challenges of urban and peri-urban gardens in Brazil, focusing on a 35-year municipal program in Penápolis, São Paulo. Based on field research and secondary data, preliminary results suggest that production for self-consumption and collective labor strengthen community bonds and reduce food insecurity. The study aims to propose improvements for local public policies.

Vázquez-García, Amparo, Elizondo, Cecilia · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Mexico

Home gardens in San Felipe Ecatepec, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico, are systems with diverse plant species and areas ranging from 600m² to 2500m². This study aimed to identify forms of resistance against neoliberal policies and urban sprawl, finding that home gardens provide healthy, fresh food, create useful spaces, and preserve agrobiodiversity. These gardens are considered spaces of resistance based on traditional knowledge, helping to bolster food sovereignty. The research was conducted during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rodrigo Calderón, Diana Garcia-Cejudo, Rob Roggema · Land · Mexico (Querétaro)

This study analyzes the paradox of food swamps, food availability, and food's ecological footprint in Querétaro, Mexico, to promote the creation of community gardens. Findings corroborate a soaring number of unhealthy food stores, elevated carbon footprints related to food production, and a community request for urban agriculture, including the regeneration of community public areas. The research proposes designing and implementing community gardens in two marginalized neighborhoods (Tlacote and San Antonio–Bolaños) in Querétaro.

Riegel, Cameron · Maryland Shared Open Access Repository (USMAI Consortium) · United States (Baltimore)

This study investigated the motivations driving voluntary participation in urban community pollinator garden stewardship among residents of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteer gardeners and analyzed using a qualitative case study approach. Analysis revealed that gardeners are primarily motivated by environmental concerns, specifically an interest in and desire to give back to birds, an interest in trees and native plants, and a desire to interact with the urban natural environment. Social factors also shaped motivations but proved less influential than environmental factors in driving participation among most gardeners.

Justin B. Richardson, Eric Vukicevich, Eric C. Sirkovich · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology · United States

Soils, sap, and maple syrup were collected from four artisanal maple syrup producers in four suburban areas across the northeastern United States to assess nutrient and trace element concentrations. Soil arsenic and lead concentrations approached or exceeded EPA limits. Sap and syrup arsenic, cadmium, nickel, lead, and zinc concentrations reached or exceeded FDA limits for food.

Moses Wanyakha, Nancy Grudens‐Schuck · International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development · United States

This qualitative study reviewed data from 32 counties in Iowa over five years to assess stakeholder participation in Master Gardener community garden donation programs. The analysis found that while these programs engage many stakeholders, the involvement of food pantry patrons in the planning process was low. This low patron involvement limits the programs' ability to effectively serve the community and achieve sustainability and efficacy in providing fresh produce.

Pinder, Elizabeth · CSUSB ScholarWorks (California State University, San Bernardino) · United States (California)

This study evaluated the impact of the Caramel Connections Foundation (CCF) Seeds of Joy Community Garden in Ontario, California, on social equity, public health, and community engagement. Using a mixed-methods design, secondary data from program records, surveys, and focus groups were analyzed. The findings suggest that the garden enhances social cohesion and contributes to health equity by addressing food insecurity and increasing access to nutritious food, green space, and educational programs.

Kathryn Chang, Samantha Brink, Annette B. Gadegbeku · Transformative Medicine · United States

A pilot study on implementing an indoor urban gardening cart at Drexel University in the United States. Noting that "food deserts" - areas lacking affordable full-service grocery stores and with a high density of fast-food options - exist not only in communities like Philadelphia but also on college campuses, the student group Microgreens Health Outreach Project (HOP) built and implemented a small, free-standing indoor community garden cart intended for use by Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM) students, after consulting DUCOM's Office of Student Affairs and the owners of the Health Sciences Building (HSB) on funding, responsibility, space, and permanence. The cart was installed on the ninth floor of HSB in September 2024. The project found little existing literature on indoor urban gardening and so was unable to effectively compare its construction costs against prior work, instead designing a custom-built cart through internet research and price comparisons; communication, funding, and a supportive DUCOM community were identified as crucial to its success. The study recommends future research into microgreen taste preferences and the effectiveness of shared harvesting and community garden rules.

Aline Oliveira Zoia do Amaral, Regina Yoshie Matsue, Luciana Yuki Tomita · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (São Paulo)

This engaged, reflexive case study analyzed the implementation of a community garden in a condominium in Heliópolis, a high social-vulnerability neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil, and the participants' motivations, drawing on participant observation, a field diary, and semi-structured interviews. The garden was established through crowdfunding (a "vaquinha virtual"). It contributed to the household budget, expanded the variety of vegetables consumed to include unconventional food plants, and improved diet. It also became a space for recovering affective memories, socializing, an activity for elderly women, and bringing the condominium's children closer to the practice of growing food.

Katie Wagner, Kynda R. Curtis, Ruby Ward, Melanie Stock, Sheriden M. Hansen · Applied Economics Teaching Resources · United States

This article describes the Utah Urban and Small Farms Conference (USFC), an annual outreach event for new and existing small and urban agricultural producers in Utah and across the United States facing urbanization and environmental challenges. It reports that themed sessions led by producers, government personnel, and Extension faculty led to information adoption, community partnerships, and effects on participants' professional careers and involvement in urban agriculture governance. The article suggests the USFC model could be adapted by other organizations and communities facing similar challenges.

Caroline Pacífico de Assis, André Manoel Correia dos Santos, Andrea Bittencourt de Santana Teixeira · OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA · Brazil (São Paulo)

A quali-quantitative online survey of 136 residents of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, assessed demographic profile, information sources, consumption forms, and perceptions of the nutritional value, functionality, and toxicological risk of edible flowers from unconventional food plants (PANC), including nasturtium, marigold, sunflower, and butterfly pea (clitoria). Results showed only partial knowledge and restricted consumption, with barriers related to lack of information, limited access, and cultural unfamiliarity; hibiscus and sunflower were the most recognized species, while nasturtium and clitoria had low visibility despite their bioactive compounds and nutritional value. Most participants expressed willingness to consume and promote the use of these flowers.

Cristiane Cruz Barros, Luciano Pires de Andrade, Horasa Maria Lima da Silva Andrade · Vivências · Brazil

Families participating in the Integrated Community Gardens Project near the Pernambuco Supply and Logistics Center (CEASA/PE) in Brazil were studied in a case study assessing the impact of urban agriculture on food and nutrition security (SAN) and eating behavior. Secondary data and primary data from semi-structured interviews were collected across 8 sections ('alcas') of the project, and community gardens were found effective at promoting and securing the principles of food and nutrition security and strengthening healthy eating habits among participants.

Nicholas Sookhan, Thomas M. Onuferko, J. Scott MacIvor · Ecological Entomology · United States

This study measured pollination services across gradients of within-city urbanization and urban green space fragmentation at 10 community gardens in the United States, deploying four native indicator (phytometer) plant species and measuring visitor rate and alpha-diversity in relation to each species' reproductive outcomes. Although the researchers predicted a negative effect of urbanization, they found limited evidence of decline; contrary to expectation, Lobelia siphilitica showed increased visitor alpha-diversity and higher seed mass in more urbanized gardens, fragmentation effects were mixed -- edge density correlated positively with one species and negatively with another -- and local garden floral richness showed no influence, likely because richness was uniformly high across gardens.

Fernanda Tomiello, Sidney Gonçalves Vieira · Ciência Geográfica · Brazil

A Brazilian paper draws on Henri Lefebvre's ideas about the use and appropriation of space to examine the tension between domination, embodied in private property, and appropriation oriented toward collective, just use. Arguing for overcoming constraints that limit the appropriation of space and prioritizing human needs over market logic, the study analyzes the deterioration of green areas in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, finding that the city's Green Area Index (IAV) falls below the recommended level, and proposes practices such as urban agriculture as alternatives that challenge capitalist logic and promote the appropriation of space as a right for all.

Diana Rubí Oropeza Tosca, Roger Notario-Priego, Dalia Alejandra Candelario-Morales, Ezequiel Notario-Priego, José Eliseo · Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental · Mexico

A study in a rural community in Southeastern Mexico designed a management model for the administration and sustainability of a community garden, focusing on strengthening local capacities, ensuring equitable resource distribution, and promoting food security and environmental sustainability. Drawing on frameworks of social and solidarity economy, food security, sustainable development, and agroecology, and gathering data through focus groups, field visits, and semi-structured interviews with community members and stakeholders in a mixed-methods, participatory design, the study found the community committed to adopting sustainable practices, identified challenges such as resource limitations and climatic risks, and proposed agroecological practices and capacity-building as potential solutions. The resulting management model emphasizes collaborative governance and continuous monitoring.

Camila Urbina Lavajos, Oscar Vargas Chozo · Devenir - Revista de estudios sobre patrimonio edificado · Peru

A qualitative, descriptive study of the Tumino ravine in Moyobamba, Peru, examined the degradation of its evolving cultural landscape caused by inappropriate land use and informal settlement. Results showed 41% of the ravine area under conservation while another 41% faced unsustainable uses such as dumping and drainage discharge, with landscape fragmentation found to be affecting ecological connectivity and biodiversity. In response, the study proposes a system of ecological patches including urban gardens, green corridors, paths, boardwalks, viewpoints, wetlands and urban lagoons.

Ximena Guadalupe Culebro Cervera · Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar · Mexico

Quintana Roo, Mexico, depends on imported food for more than 60% of state consumption, creating structural vulnerability for the local economy, ingredient freshness, and food autonomy. Using a qualitative, critical-interpretive documentary approach, this review analyzed 27 academic, institutional, and community sources to examine how local initiatives — urban gardens, resilient Maya agriculture, and food cooperatives — contribute to self-consumption, the recovery of traditional knowledge, fair trade, and access to fresh ingredients. These practices help preserve endemic species such as criollo maize, chaya, and achiote, and the review states that such strategies need to be integrated into territorial public policy.

Julio César Alcántara Cornejo · Communities in DSpace (Pontifical Catholic University of Peru) · Brazil

Lima, on Peru's coast, faces both seismic hazard and a shortage of drinking water, and many residents live on hillsides in informal housing built on terraces supported by dry-joint stone walls (pircas), which creates vulnerability to heavy loading, particularly seismic loading, and drives up the cost of or lack of basic services. Building on earlier proposals to use these vernacular terraces for environmental improvement and urban agriculture on Lima's hillsides, this study set out to experimentally evaluate the performance of pirca-supported terraces intended for urban agriculture. The procedure involved establishing a baseline, characterizing a base terrace prototype, designing and constructing a test specimen, and then load-testing it. The stated aim of the resulting test data is to build a technical basis for the structural viability of such terraces so that local governments and other interested organizations can support their large-scale implementation.

Marc T. Sager, Anthony Petrosino · Discover Cities · United States

A perspective piece arguing for research-practice partnerships (RPPs) between researchers and urban farms, particularly in underserved urban areas in the United States, to address food insecurity, environmental sustainability and community empowerment. It contends RPPs provide a structured framework for long-term collaboration, giving urban farms access to resources, policy advocacy and evidence-based practices while giving researchers community-based knowledge, and positions such partnerships as essential for overcoming structural barriers such as gentrification, racial inequities and environmental degradation.

Samuel Oliveira Cunha, Diógenes José Gusmão Coutinho · Revista fisio&terapia. · Brazil

A qualitative, exploratory study of environmental education in Mato Grosso, Brazil combined literature review, document analysis and study of practices in municipal and state schools. Practices such as school gardens, recycling workshops, selective waste collection and digital tools were found effective for instilling socio-environmental values when integrated into the curriculum with community participation. The study also reports that insufficient teacher training, infrastructure limitations and project discontinuity still undermine the effectiveness of these actions.

Brenda B. Lin, Peter Bichier, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Edith Gonzalez, Stacy M. Philpott · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (California)

An online survey across 21 community gardens in Central California asked gardeners about their aesthetic and management preferences using paired images representing common garden styles, with open-ended explanations. For the first image pair, 85% of respondents preferred a tidy and organized image, citing easier movement, better plot access and weed control from managed pathways, a preference correlated with participation in the University of California's Master Gardener program; for the second pair, preferences were not strong and 20% of gardeners declined to choose because they valued aspects of both, food-producing crops and pollinator-supporting flowering plants.

Kelsey Ryan-Simkins · Local Environment · United States (Ohio)

This study used multilevel negative binomial regression to examine the relationship between urban agriculture site locations and sociodemographic and neighbourhood environmental characteristics at the census tract level in Ohio, USA. Findings challenge the idea that urban agriculture is placed in areas with low food access, raising questions about the food-access rhetoric used to promote urban agriculture, a movement critiqued for often being led by upper-class, urban elites, and contribute to debates about the roles of race and gentrification in urban agriculture.

Vitória Ângela Paim, Denise Wildner Theves · Quaestio revista de estudos em educação · Brazil

This paper reports on a Final Course Project (TCC) practice in which a group of early-elementary children from a school in Canoas, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, created a collective experiential map of a neighborhood community garden after visiting it. Aiming to understand how school-geography-mediated didactic proposals mobilize children's experience and authorship, the ethnographic study emphasized children's protagonism and authorship, finding that children's spatiality extends beyond the classroom, giving multiple meanings to geographic knowledge, and that the collective map-making translated their spatial experiences into their own geographic expression.

Beth Haney · The Nurse Practitioner · United States

A policy-advocacy article by a US nurse practitioner (NP) arguing that NPs, positioned at the intersection of healthcare and community well-being, can lead food-system reform to expand access to healthy food and reduce pesticide and herbicide use. Citing CDC data that over 40% of American adults have obesity and that diet-related disease is among the leading causes of preventable death, the article lists policy goals including expanding SNAP and WIC to add incentives for fresh-produce purchases, supporting farming communities producing quality, pathogen-free, organic food, and backing urban agriculture, farmers' markets and farm-to-school programs.