Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
322 results(12 / 13)
Growing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland
2011Corrigan M. P. · Applied Geography 31(4):1232-1241 · United States
Qualitative study of Baltimore community gardens via interviews and observation. Gardens contributed to individual, household and community food security but needed added support through education, policy and funding.
WelfareCommunityFood educationD-Town Farm: African American Resistance to Food Insecurity and the Transformation of Detroit
2011White M. M. · Environmental Practice 13(4):406-417 · United States
Case study of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, framing farming as resistance to structural food insecurity and a site of community building, culturally relevant food education, and political agency.
CommunityWelfareSisters of the Soil: Urban Gardening as Resistance in Detroit
2011Monica M. White · Race/Ethnicity Multidisciplinary Global Contexts · United States (Detroit)
This article analyzes the experience of black women activists in Detroit who engage in urban agriculture as a form of resistance. They use urban gardening to reassess cultural roots, reclaim personal power, and build a sense of community. The study examines their efforts to transform vacant land into a community-based food system and safe, green spaces, challenging racial and class-based barriers to healthy food access.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyAgricultura Apoiada pela Comunidade: poderia a experiência dos agricultores americanos ser útil para os agricultores urbanos brasileiros?
2011Marina Castelo Branco, RS Liz, F. A. de Alcântara, HAG Martins, J.A Hanson · Horticultura Brasileira · Brazil
This study gathered information on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA/AAC) projects in the US and assessed the willingness of consumers and poor urban producers in a low-income Brazilian city to engage in such projects. US AAC farmers typically cultivated less than 2 hectares, offered various vegetables for at least four months, but faced challenges with production planning and long-term maintenance. Brazilian consumers showed willingness to participate, mainly for fresh, organically produced food, while poor urban producers were unwilling due to their inability to guarantee production.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsWelfarePolicySegurança alimentar e nutricional, pobreza urbana e suas relações com a Agricultura Urbana: fragmentos de uma discussão
2011Marina de Fátima Brandão Carneiro, Igor Martins de Oliveira, Gabriel Alves Veloso · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil
This article discusses food and nutritional security, urban poverty, and their relationship with urban agriculture, which arises from the urbanization process. It analyzed quantitative data from the Pan-American Health Organization and Pastoral da Criança in two neighborhoods of Montes Claros, Brazil, to map poverty distribution and child malnutrition. It concludes that the search for more effective and continuous alternatives for food insecurity is increasingly urgent, as hunger has only increased globally despite various initiatives.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareHealthAn assessment of the barriers to accessing food among food-insecure people in Cobourg, Ontario
2011Siny Tsang, AM Holt, Eduardo Bessa Azevedo · Chronic diseases and injuries in Canada · Canada (Cobourg, Ontario)
This needs assessment in Cobourg, Ontario, interviewed food program clients to identify barriers to food access. Clients reported lack of transportation, insufficient food quantities, and inconvenient operating hours as barriers to using food programs. They also cited lack of available vegetables and fruit at home and income as barriers to consuming more produce.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityHealthEconomicsSegurança alimentar através da agricultura urbana: um estudo de caso em duas comunidades de baixa renda em Porto Ferreira/SP.
2011Juliana Duz Ricarte, José Maria Gusman Ferraz, Janice Rodrigues Placeres Borges · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil (Porto Ferreira/SP)
This study identified and characterized 91 urban agriculture (UA) units in two low-income communities in Porto Ferreira/SP, Brazil, applying a structured questionnaire to 20% of the sample. It found that UA primarily involves low-income residents, with 83.0% of producers having rural origins and practicing agriculture mainly for subsistence. UA ensured access to fruits and vegetables for 77.8% of participants and reduced food expenses for most.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityWelfareEconomicsSouth Sudan community garden project : Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
2011· · United States (New Hampshire)
The South Sudan Community garden project in Manchester, New Hampshire, is a seven-month program for South Sudanese refugees aged 24-44. Implemented in partnership with the International Institute of New Hampshire and the South Sudanese Community Center, its purpose is to provide gardening skills and resources to empower refugees towards self-employment, better economic opportunities, and increased household income, fostering their participation in American life.
CommunityWelfareFood educationEconomicsA Extensão Universitária dentro de projeto de Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana com foco na agroecologia
2011Matheus Sehn Korting, Marlo do Nascimento, Lúcia Nobre, Adriana Mattos de Carvalho, E. Costa · Americanae (AECID Library) · Brazil
This study aimed to present the experience of the Social and Economic Development Center (NUDESE/FURG) as a protagonist in an Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture extension project linked to Brazil's Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger (MDS). The project directly contributed to institutions such as CAIC, CCMAR, Assis Brasil School, Rio Grande State Penitentiary, therapeutic communities, family farmers in São José do Norte and Rio Grande, and the Ecological Producers Group, through training, awareness, technical production support, and sales strengthening.
CommunityFood educationWelfarePeri-urban agricultureBuilding Gardens, Rebuilding a City: Baltimore’s Community Greening Resource Network
2011Sarah Krones, Shari Edelson · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Baltimore)
Baltimore's Community Greening Resource Network (CGRN), established in 2008, provides gardening resources and materials to low-income residents to convert vacant urban spaces into community gardens. CGRN aims to empower residents to revitalize their communities by removing barriers to reclaiming open spaces. The program has served an increasing membership and expanding community of urban gardeners, but faces challenges with funding and staff retention.
CommunityWelfarePolicyDisparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature
2010Walker R. E., Keane C. R., Burke J. G. · Health & Place 16(5):876-884 · United States
Systematic review of 31 US food access and food desert studies using nine distinct measures, documenting disparities in access to healthy food across low-income and minority neighborhoods.
WelfareHealthPolicyReview and Analysis of the Benefits, Purposes, and Motivations Associated with Community Gardening in the United States
2010Draper C., Freedman D. · Journal of Community Practice 18(4):458-492 · United States
Reviews 1999-2010 literature, organizing community gardening purposes, benefits and motivations into eleven themes. Finds rigorous quantitative studies sparse but a substantial body of qualitative evidence.
CommunityWelfareFood educationCommunity gardening, neighborhood meetings, and social capital
2010Alaimo K., Reischl T. M., Allen J. O. · Journal of Community Psychology 38(4):497-514 · United States
Cross-sectional random telephone survey (N=1916) in Flint, Michigan finds household involvement in community gardening/beautification and neighborhood meetings associated with perceptions of bonding and linking social capital and neighborhood norms.
CommunityWelfareMultistakeholder Policy Formulation and Action Planning for Urban Agriculture in Lima, Peru
2010Dubbeling M.C.E., Merzthal G., Soto N. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · Peru (Lima)
Analyzes the multistakeholder policy formulation process for urban agriculture in Lima's Villa María del Triunfo district, demonstrating that inclusive stakeholder engagement produces more effective municipal policies addressing food security, land use, and economic development simultaneously.
PolicyCommunityWelfareArmstrong Place (affordable housing)
2010David Baker Architects · · United States
Armstrong Place is an affordable family townhouse community in the United States, designed as a transit-oriented development. The complex features a large shared open public courtyard with allotment gardens for families to grow food and flowers, as well as a rain garden. It includes a total of 124 rental units and ten for-sale townhomes ranging from $175,000 to $345,000 for families earning 60-100% of the Area Median Income (2011 figures).
CommunityWelfareDIYAIDS Project Worcester Community Vegetable Garden
2010Evan Marcus Sawyer, Jason Terry Reynolds, Lee F Hermsdorf-Krasin, Robert Brian Grady · Digital WPI · United States (Worcester)
This project aimed to provide AIDS Project Worcester in Worcester, United States, with a visual prototype garden and construction-ready plans. The goal was to facilitate the design, building, and operation of a community garden for the organization.
CommunityWelfarePaul Glowaski: Garden Director, Homeless Garden Project
2010Irene H. Reti · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (Santa Cruz, California)
This interview is about Paul Glowaski, Garden Director for the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz, California. Glowaski, interested in urban agriculture for its self-sufficiency and food security for low-income communities, pursued organic farming training, leading to his current position at the Homeless Garden Project. The project operates a two-acre market farm that trains low-income and homeless community members in sustainable agriculture.
CommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceAmy Courtney: Freewheelin' Farm - eScholarship
2010Sarah Rabkin · · United States
Amy Courtney, founder of Freewheelin’ Farm, a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, delivers shares by bicycle-drawn trailer. Courtney, a 1997 graduate of UCSC’s Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, started the farm in 2002 with minimal motorized vehicles, utilizing used equipment and recycled materials. She and her partners continue to haul all CSA shares six miles into Santa Cruz by bicycle. Courtney's work is driven by a commitment to social justice, community health, and cultural vitality. The farm collaborates with "Food, What?!"—a youth empowerment program, and hosts cultural and educational initiatives.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood miles & supply chainHealthWelfareOrganic cycleFood For Thought: The Social Impact of Community Gardens in the Greater Cleveland Area
2010Andrew Flachs · Electronic Green Journal · United States (Cleveland)
This paper explored the social and cultural effects of urban gardening in the greater Cleveland area. Fieldwork indicated that gardeners combine economic, environmental, political, social, and nutritional motivations, challenging the presumption that utilitarian function and environmentalist ideology are mutually exclusive. The study aimed to convey the complexity of use, function, and intent in communal gardening spaces.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareAgriculture urbaine : un outil multidimensionnel pour le développement des quartiers
2010Éric Duchemin, Fabien Wegmuller, Anne-Marie Legault · VertigO · Canada (Montreal)
A 2010 study on urban agriculture (AU) in Montreal, Canada, examined the city-managed community garden program and six collective gardens managed by community organizations. These AU initiatives, aimed at food security, socialization, and education, were found to serve as significant vegetable production sites and venues for socialization and education, fostering individual and collective social development in neighborhoods with a strong presence of economically disadvantaged populations.
CommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareA farmers' market in a food desert: Evaluating impacts on the price and availability of healthy food
2009Larsen K., Gilliland J. · Health & Place 15(4):1158-1162 · Canada
Evaluates a farmers' market established in a London, Ontario food desert, analyzing its effect on the price and availability of fresh, healthy food and its potential to improve local food access.
WelfareEconomicsHealthUrban Governance for Food Security: The Alternative Food System in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2009Rocha C., Lessa I. · International Planning Studies 14(4):389-400 · Brazil
Describes the distinct food security governance developed by Belo Horizonte (2.5 million people), marked by comprehensive programs, urban/rural focus, flexibility, and commitment to social justice and equitable food access.
PolicyWelfareCommunityUrban agriculture and gender in Carapongo, Lima, Peru
2009Arce B., Prain G., Maldonado L. · Women Feeding Cities: Mainstreaming Gender in Urban Agriculture and Food Security (Practical Action Publishing), Chapter 13 · Peru (Lima)
Examines land tenure insecurity and gender constraints among periurban farmers in Carapongo, Lima, showing that women's time burdens limit participation in horticulture field schools. Based on a baseline survey of 125 producers conducted through the CGIAR Urban Harvest initiative.
CommunityWelfarePolicyCommunity Gardening and Community Development: Individual, Social and Community Benefits of a Community Conservation Program
2009· Journal of Community Practice · USA
A case study of a community gardening/conservation program analyzing the individual, social, and community-level benefits generated through participation in the program's activities.
CommunityWelfareEcological Gentrification: A Research Agenda Exploring Justice in the City
2009Sarah Dooling · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · USA (Seattle)
Defines 'ecological gentrification' as the implementation of a public green-space planning agenda that displaces the most vulnerable (homeless people) while espousing an environmental ethic—framing green public policy itself as a driver of exclusion.
PolicyWelfare