Research & reports

Danya Carroll, Lynn Mad Plume, Nicole Redvers · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This scoping review maps the existing literature on food access in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities in the United States onto the Social Ecological Model (SEM). A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, SocIndex, Academic Search Premier, ERIC and Google Scholar covered publications from 1988 to 2023, followed by deductive content analysis through the SEM lens using qualitative software; 14 articles met the inclusion criteria. Interventions most frequently targeted the "intrapersonal" and "community" SEM levels, while the "institutional" and "public policy" levels were least targeted, with intervention formats including support for community and school gardens, seed provision, traditional foods at school, family and community events, and meal provision. The review found that valuable research has been conducted on AI/AN food access interventions, many spanning multiple SEM levels, and it points to the importance of leveraging strengths such as culturally aligned programs and traditional foods, calling for further collaboration between AI/AN communities and researchers to develop more informed, multi-level interventions.

Hellen Chrystianne Lucio Barros, Danielle Fernandes de Araújo Oliveira, Iris Alves Feitoza Albuquerque · Ambiente & Educação · Brazil

A study, based on interviews with six teachers at a state school in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, that has a community school garden project among its open spaces, examining possible relationships between green environments at school and the promotion of learning, well-being, and environmental care. The analysis found that teachers perceive the school garden as a pedagogical resource that facilitates learning, promotes well-being associated with students' mental health, and allows for discussion of environmental care and healthy eating, viewing it as a potential resource for learning in the field of socio-environmental education.

Mecca Howe, Jennifer Meta Robinson · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This case study examined psychosocial impacts among 13-to-17-year-old participants in the Felege Hiywot Center's 2023 STEAM Farm Camp in an underserved urban US neighborhood with limited access to affordable, nutritious food, where teens designed and maintained garden plots, prepared shared meals, and did science projects. Using survey and facilitated-journaling data, the study found that gardening produced positive feelings and was experienced as stress relief and a source of accomplishment, that teens built friendships and mentorships, and that participation was associated with metacognitive skill development including self-awareness and reflection.

João Manoel da Silva, Maria Celia de Paula Rocha, Mariana de Aquino Freitas, Érika Sabrina Felix Azevedo, Rafael Balbino Cardoso, Vitória R. R. de A. R. Ramalho · Revista de Gestão e Secretariado (Management and Administrative Professional Review) · Brazil

This project diagnosed the socioeducational profile, prior knowledge, and training needs of residents in several municipalities of the Alagoas semi-arid region (sertão alagoano) of Brazil, using an electronic questionnaire and a quali-quantitative analysis of responses, followed by thematic training cycles on "Cultivation in Small Spaces," "What to Plant," and "Ecological Management" to spread agroecological practices in urban, peri-urban, and backyard-garden settings. Results showed most participants already had some cultivation space and strong interest in sustainable practices such as composting and organic fertilization, though some showed technical limitations; women and young people predominated among respondents, and all participants expressed interest in further training, prioritizing digital materials such as explanatory videos and educational booklets.

Eduardo Cesar Silva, Daniel Leite Mesquita, Paulo Henrique Montagnana Vicente Leme · Revista Brasileira Multidisciplinar · Brazil

Using a competitive-intelligence approach drawing on both academic and journalistic sources, this study conducted an exploratory analysis of global urban agriculture trends to identify the main technologies and models in use. It found that urban agriculture is expanding worldwide and is practiced through diverse models, notably community gardens, rooftop gardens, controlled-environment food cultivation, and cellular agriculture.

Jennifer Jettner · Journal of Social Work and Social Welfare Policy · United States

A qualitative study (Journal of Social Work and Social Welfare Policy, 2025) interviewed ten garden leaders representing nine urban and rural community gardens in Alabama, USA, analyzing themes through a racial capitalism and black geographies framework. It found that health-focused garden efforts were white-led while justice-focused efforts were BIPOC-led, and that all of the gardens struggled to engage a racially diverse membership reflective of their surrounding neighborhood. For white-led efforts, the main impediment was found to be importing racial diversity rather than centering and celebrating BIPOC leadership and knowledge. BIPOC-led efforts held differing interpretations of the impact of historical trauma, possibly linked to a "rural imaginary." All gardens studied struggled to engage youth and expressed fear of losing food and growing knowledge across generations.

William D. Schanbacher, Joe Bohn, Erica Hall · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

A reflective essay (2025) recounts a pilot, public-facing virtual course, "Introduction to Food Policy," delivered in summer 2022 by the University of South Florida Food Sovereignty Initiative and the Florida Food Policy Council, building on prior Florida work in urban agriculture, agroecology, and food sovereignty. Over six weeks, the course featured weekly presentations from food-system specialists on: understanding food policy, researching food policy, environmental food policy, food policy advocacy, civic engagement in food policy formulation, and regional food policy, and was open to students, community members, and policymakers. The authors, drawn from Florida Food Policy Council leadership and Food Sovereignty Initiative faculty, share observations on developing and delivering the course along with participant comments from a post-course survey and an outside evaluation by the North American Food Systems Network.

Fabio Henrique Albuquerque de Jesus · Revista Americana de Empreendedorismo e Inovação · Brazil

A theoretical essay on hunger in Brazil (2025) applies the Public Policy Cycle Model to the persistent, structural problem of hunger in Brazilian politics, noting that hunger is not unique to Brazil — about two billion people worldwide experience moderate or severe food insecurity — while all Brazilian regions show nutritional deficits tied to inadequate or insufficient food intake. In this context, it frames urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP) as a social and public-policy tool for promoting food and nutrition security, examining the agenda-setting and formulation stages of AUP policy through discussions from Brazil's National Conferences on Food and Nutrition Security. Noting the 2024 establishment of Brazil's National Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Policy and its ties to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the essay concludes that much remains to be done to strengthen AUP as public policy and consolidate its social, economic, and environmental impact, particularly to make it effective for promoting food and nutrition security.

Sarah Corcoran, Rachael Condley, Rachel A Liebe, Tuba Khan, Jillian Joyce, Deana Hildebrand, Ashlea Braun · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · United States (California)

At a hybrid food and resource center with an attached community garden in California, USA, a longitudinal, sequential explanatory mixed-methods study of 30 patrons (mean age 45.9, 73.3% women) combined quantitative measures (survey and skin carotenoids) with qualitative semi-structured interviews to examine barriers to and facilitators of fruit and vegetable intake. Skin carotenoid levels, a biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake, were largely unchanged before and after (P = .51); among the 26 participants interviewed, facilitators cited included perceptions of quality and alignment with health goals, while barriers included mental health and competing priorities, leading to the conclusion that programs aiming to improve fruit and vegetable intake should prioritize non-diet determinants.

Yago Evangelista Tavares de Souza, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · Coleção Estudos Cariocas · Brazil

This article examines the evolution of urban-planning policy regarding nature and urban agriculture, from federal legislative texts to Rio de Janeiro's municipal master plans, analyzing documents including the 1976 draft Urban Development Law and the 1979 Federal Land Subdivision Law No. 6766. It traces decades of changes and revisions to show how legislation and public policy shaped the urban environment in relation to nature and agriculture, and it discusses the challenges small farmers face amid urbanization along with environmental approaches within the master plans.

Ikrema Hassan, Innocent Mugudamani, Saheed Adeyinka Oke · Environments · Canada

Top and subsoil samples from Carleton community garden in New Brunswick, Canada, affected by an industrial fire hazard, were analyzed for toxic heavy metals using ICP-OES and ICP-MS, with ecological risk assessed via the ecological risk factor and potential ecological risk index (PERI) and human health risk assessed using a standard approach. Mean concentrations of lead, zinc, copper and tin exceeded permissible limits under Canadian soil quality guidelines and upper continental crust values; nickel posed a high ecological risk across both soil layers while all other metals showed low ecological risk, and overall PERI indicated low ecological threat. In the human health assessment, children faced non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk from arsenic exposure while adults did not face risk from any of the metals studied, identifying arsenic as the primary contaminant of concern and children as the most vulnerable population.

Daniel Sgrancio Uliana, Rhaiza Marcia Passos Leal, Sara Jarske Gering, Érica Aguiar Moraes, Jackline Freitas Brilhante de São José · Revista Guará · Brazil

This experience report covers activities of the Brazilian university extension project "PANCCult: Cultivating Knowledge and Flavors of Unconventional Edible Plants," carried out from November 2021 to January 2024, which conducted social media outreach, organized and participated in events sharing nutritional and culinary information, carried out activities in an urban community garden, and produced scientific materials on unconventional edible plants (PANC) and urban community gardens. The report concludes the project contributed to disseminating knowledge about PANC and provided professional-training opportunities for extension students while encouraging sustainable use of plant biodiversity.

Rodriguez, Eliza · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States

A community outreach and education project in Gonzales, California, was implemented by the organization Savor the Local in partnership with the City of Gonzales and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, aiming to raise awareness of healthy eating and identify barriers to accessing nutritious food among the city's working-class residents. Activities included distributing an informational pamphlet, a follow-up survey, and support for a community garden and healthy cooking classes. Eight survey participants reported a better understanding of the importance of healthy eating and helped identify some reasons residents were not easily accessing healthy foods; the project reported meeting its goals of increasing awareness and gathering feedback on food-access barriers.

Krishna R. Reddy, Jaqueline Rojas Robles, Suzane A. V. Carneiro, Banuchandra Nagaraja · Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science · United States (Chicago)

Using an existing hydroponics system in Chicago as a case study, this life cycle assessment (environmental impact via SimaPro, social and economic sustainability via a semi-quantitative approach) compared a hypothetical scaled hydroponics system against a scaled community garden serving the same number of users in the same area. The results show hydroponics systems present greater sustainability challenges than community gardens overall, though a hydroponics system incorporating LED lights was found to be more sustainable than the community garden; the authors call for future research to more accurately assess the differences between the two models.

Carolina Ceci Moino Alves Theodoro, Marcelo de Andrade Roméro · Caderno Pedagógico · Brazil

Drawing on an analysis of recent crises in Brazil—transportation strikes, floods, prolonged droughts, the pandemic, currency fluctuations, and international conflicts—that exposed fragilities in the food supply chain leading to food insecurity, food deserts, and shortage risk, this study proposes urban food self-sufficiency strategies using nationally and internationally recognized urban agriculture techniques. It examined hydroponic cultivation and vertical farms through technical site visits, literature review, and interviews with managers and nutritionists, defining the built and cultivable area needed to guarantee a minimum survival diet for an estimated population, and, given the relevance of energy consumption to final food cost, incorporated solar power installations sized to different demand levels to reduce grid dependence; the plan was conceived initially as an alternative system with potential to evolve into a redundant, mitigating system.

Anderson Luis Ferreira · Revista fisio&terapia. · Brazil

A qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study based on bibliographic and documentary review examines urban agriculture as a socio-environmental alternative to the contradictions of the Green Revolution. Drawing on classic and contemporary national and international literature and reports from multilateral bodies such as the FAO and UN-Habitat, it characterizes the Green Revolution as having raised agricultural productivity while deepening social inequality, homogenizing crops, and causing serious environmental impacts. It positions urban agriculture as valuing production diversity, strengthening community autonomy, and fostering new forms of sociability, concluding that examples across different contexts converge in strengthening food sovereignty, social inclusion, and urban sustainability.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

An EPA summary of its 2024 survey of anaerobic digestion facilities processing food waste in the U.S., covering 313 identified facilities with 65 operating facilities responding (24% response rate). Excluding beverage-industry waste, processed tonnage rose from about 1.36 million tons in 2022 to about 1.43 million tons in 2023.

Jacob Wallace · Waste Dive · United States

NYC's Department of Sanitation began enforcing mandatory curbside organics separation on April 1, 2025, issuing nearly 2,000 summonses in the first week, but Mayor Adams paused broad enforcement through 2025 on April 18, limiting fines to persistent violators. The city had distributed about 190,000 free bins and sold 63,000 more, and organics diversion had risen 65% from FY2022 to FY2024.

US Environmental Protection Agency · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed on October 21, 1976, amending the 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act, and established three programs: solid waste (Subtitle D, landfill criteria), hazardous waste (Subtitle C, cradle-to-grave management), and underground storage tanks (Subtitle I).

US Environmental Protection Agency · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW) generation reached 292.4 million tons in 2018. The landfilling rate fell from 94 percent in 1960 to 50 percent in 2018, while the combined recycling and composting rate rose from just over 6 percent in 1960 to 32.1 percent in 2018, including 25 million tons composted and 69 million tons recycled.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · US EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) · United States

According to US EPA's LMOP page, landfill gas is roughly 50% methane and 50% CO2, and methane is at least 28 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat over 100 years. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the US, accounting for about 14.4%. There are 542 operational LFG energy projects nationwide, about 63% generating electricity and about 20% producing renewable natural gas.

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service · United States

USDA NASS's 2025 survey found the average value of U.S. cropland was $5,830 per acre, up 4.7% from 2024 and up 96% since 2011. Pastureland averaged $1,920 per acre, up $90 from 2024 and 79% since 2011. Overall farm real estate value averaged $4,350 per acre, up $180 from 2024. The average cropland cash rent was $161 per acre nationally (up $1), with irrigated cropland at $244 and non-irrigated at $147; pastureland rent was unchanged at $15.50 per acre.

TechCrunch · TechCrunch · United States

TechCrunch reported that vertical farming company Plenty filed for bankruptcy on March 24, 2025. Founded in 2014, it had raised about $1 billion and was valued at $1.9 billion in its January 2022 Series E round, with backers including SoftBank, Walmart, and Bezos Expeditions, before collapsing. It secured $20.7 million in debtor-in-possession financing and plans to continue operating its Virginia strawberry farm and Wyoming plant science R&D center.

· Wikipedia · United States

A Wikipedia article on Windowfarm, an open-source vertical hydroponic system originating when founder Britta Riley built the first Windowfarm in her Brooklyn apartment window in 2009. She launched a crowdsourced online community for building the systems from repurposed water bottles and plumbing supplies, which grew to nearly 40,000 registered users. Two Kickstarter campaigns raised over $285,000, but as of December 31, 2016, the company Windowfarms dissolved without sufficient assets to pay outstanding debts to creditors and investors.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

This EPA page (last updated December 22, 2025) explains chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative used since the 1940s for utility poles, posts, and other structural lumber. Manufacturers voluntarily ended CCA use for residential wood products in December 2003. EPA notes cancer and non-cancer health risks for workers and environmental risks to aquatic invertebrates and plants, while stating there is no health risk to the general public; removal of existing CCA structures is not mandated, though periodic sealant coating is recommended to reduce leaching.