Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
7626 results(132 / 306)
Participation in Community Gardening: Sowing the Seeds of Well-Being: Participation au jardinage communautaire : pour semer les graines du bien-être
2021Melinda Suto, Shelagh A. Smith, Natasha Damiano, Shurli Channe · Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy · Canada
Sustaining well-being is a challenge for people with serious mental health issues. Community gardening is used as an occupation to promote clients' well-being, though evidence supporting this intervention remains limited. This paper examined how facilitated community gardening programs changed the subjective well-being and social connectedness of people living with mental health issues. Using a community-based participatory research approach and qualitative methods with 23 adults living in supported housing and participating in supported community gardening programs, data were analyzed inductively from a constructivist stance. Participation in the programs enhanced well-being through welcoming places, a sense of belonging, and positive feelings developed through doing. Connection to living things and responsibility for plants grounded participants in the present and offered a distinct venue for learning about gardening and about themselves. The paper concludes that practitioners and service-users should collaborate to develop leadership, programs, places, and processes within community gardens to support well-being.
CommunityHealthWelfareReflections on the North Central Community Gardens Branch Out Project
2021Maegan Krajewski · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Canada
The North Central Community Gardens, an urban agriculture initiative of the North Central Community Association in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, launched the Branch Out Project in summer 2020. Its purpose was to expand the North Central Community Gardens beyond its existing three locations onto additional schoolyard and backyard land. Despite — or perhaps because of — the COVID-19 pandemic, the project's first season resulted in the construction of eight new gardens and positively affected food access, community engagement, and knowledge development and exchange. The commentary has two goals: to provide insight into the process of community garden expansion for the benefit of other practitioners, and to contribute to understanding the possibilities, challenges, and impacts of community gardens generally — and garden expansion specifically — as a counter-neoliberal food sovereignty practice.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareTraçando a transformação do panorama alimentar da Área Metropolitana de Lisboa
2021Henriques, Carolina Neto, Costa Pinto, Teresa, Costa, Pedro, Marat-Mendes, Teresa · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Europe
This paper analyzes local actors driving food-system transformation in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Portugal. It compares a 2014 questionnaire survey of planning officials with the discourses of 80 public- and civil-society-sector initiatives surveyed in 2019, characterizing the initiatives, examining how they are shaping new food planning agendas in the LMA, and drawing on a framework from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) to identify lessons for future planning policy grounded in inter-municipal cooperation and continuous mutual learning.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceInfluence of urban gardening conditions on the concentration of antioxidant secondary plant metabolites in kale
2021M B Bayer, Susanne Neugart, Tobias Pöhnl · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
This study compared kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.) grown in all four cardinal directions of a residential building, including indoor cultivation behind UV-filtering glass windows. Total carotenoid concentration benefited from sun-exposed growing locations, including the indoor glass condition, while concentrations of nutritionally important lutein did not differ among locations despite their differing abiotic stress conditions (sun exposure, temperature, water). Total phenolic concentration profited most from direct sunlight but was severely reduced behind glass windows. Satisfying growth rates were achieved under all tested conditions.
Food educationCommunityOrganic cycleA community fights for its health while battling impending gentrification
2021James J. Connolly · · United States (California)
This case study examines the leading edge of gentrification along San Francisco's Third Street T streetcar line. Bayview-Hunters Point (B.V.H.P.), the end of the streetcar line's first phase, is an ethnically mixed, working-class neighborhood and the last historic concentration of African American residents in San Francisco. While gentrification-driven change is already visible further up the line, its presence in B.V.H.P. remains comparatively shallow so far. Nonetheless, many residents and community activists perceive that a fast-moving gentrification frontier leaves them with a conundrum: remain in a contaminated, post-industrial, climate-exposed environment, or advocate for their health while risking displacement. The neighborhood has seen greening such as community gardens and a waterfront promenade, alongside inequalities including enduring racial segregation, environmental privilege, green gentrification, luxury development, climate-related health risks, and continued exposure to contamination.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareHealthFood sovereignty & justiceShort-Term Effect of Biochar on Microbial Biomass, Respiration and Enzymatic Activities in Wastewater Irrigated Soils in Urban Agroecosystems of the West African Savannah
2021Isaac Asirifi, Steffen Werner, Stefanie Heinze, Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba, I. Lawson, Bernd Marschner · Agronomy · Ghana
In a field experiment on irrigated urban agriculture in the Guinea savannah zone of Ghana, this study assessed the transient effect of rice husk biochar (20 t ha-1) and/or mineral fertilizer (NPK 15-15-15) on microbial respiration, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and enzyme activities in soils irrigated with wastewater and tap water. One year after biochar application, soil organic carbon (SOC) increased by up to 123%, hot water extractable carbon (HWEC) increased by 11-26%, and MBC increased by 34%. Basal respiration increased significantly by up to 46% in mineral-fertilized soil but decreased by 12-45% under wastewater irrigation. The metabolic quotient (qCO2) indicated reduced microbial community stress and higher carbon use efficiency with biochar application and wastewater irrigation. Total enzyme activity increased under wastewater irrigation, and biochar-treated soils showed a more diverse composition of carbon-cycling enzymes and higher aminopeptidase activity. Biochar and wastewater showed positive effects on biological soil properties that contributed to soil fertility, and the results suggest biochar may have beneficial long-term effects on non-biochar SOC stocks.
Organic cycleCommunityUrban foraging, resilience and food provisioning services provided by edible plants in interstitial urban spaces in Mexico City
2021Matt Hare, Ana Peña del Valle Isla · Local Environment · Mexico
Two surveys mapped the distribution of edible plant species growing in publicly accessible interstitial spaces — such as central reservations and pavements — in subtropical central Mexico City (CDMX), walking roughly 20 km of streets and identifying 36 species of edible plants including fruits, herbs and vegetables. Of five feasibility conditions for using these spaces for foraging, three — suitable growing conditions, provisioning capability, and the existence of multiple plant dispersal pathways — could be satisfactorily assessed, while two — usage and a favourable planning environment — could not be judged from the field data. Rather than improving everyday food supplies, maintaining these spaces for emergency foraging was framed as a way to increase urban resilience against extreme food supply shocks. CDMX promotes planting fruit trees along avenues, but the survey found local socio-ecological systems sustain a greater variety of edible plants across a wider range of interstitial spaces.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleMultifunctional Urban Agriculture: An Urban Planning Model for the Megacities of Tomorrow. The Case of Casablanca
2021Yassine Moustanjidi · · Morocco
Taking Casablanca, Morocco as a case study, this work analyzes the development trends of growing megacities and the challenges they face, particularly in developing countries, and proposes approaches, methods and tools for integrating green, productive infrastructure based on urban agriculture as a multifunctional component of urban planning. Casablanca is characterized as facing an urban and ecological crisis driven by rapid urban and demographic growth since the early twentieth century combined with a chronic lack of integrative urban strategies, including a housing crisis, social segregation, high unemployment, persistent congestion, air and water pollution, and a near-absence of open and green space. The work repositions urban agriculture within the discourse on sustainable urban development and climate change impacts, proposes a new multifunctional model of urban management, and redefines the role of green open spaces in Casablanca's urban development context, focusing on regenerating inner-city brownfields and vacant spaces as multifunctional facilities built around urban agriculture.
CommunityPolicySpace
2021Anne Forbes, Vinesh Chandra, Linda Pfeiffer, Rachel Sheffield · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Global
This is a chapter from an Australian STEM education textbook for pre-service primary teachers, introducing the theory, skills and practice of teaching STEM through project-based learning. It integrates STEM elements (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) with the Australian Curriculum via a school garden project case study, exploring topic areas such as health, shelter and space through age-appropriate project examples, and connects discussion of assessment, learning spaces, community and STEM futures to classroom teaching practice.
Food educationCommunityElementary, Middle and High School Parents’ Awareness of School Garden Education Service
2021In-Kyoung Hong, Hyung-Kwon Yun, Young-Bin Jung, Sang-Mi Lee, Choon-soo Lee · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea
A contactless online survey of 1,010 parents of elementary, middle, and high school students across Korea's five major districts, conducted October 22-26, 2020 (5 days) by a Korean survey agency (M), analyzing the data with SPSS for Windows 25.0 and Excel. Respondents averaged 1.83 (children per household), and 52.8% were male. 55.3% were aware of education services using school gardens, and 27.9% had experienced such a service. Overall, 79% considered the service necessary; among parents who had experienced it, 91.8% said it was necessary. Of all respondents, 54.9% were willing to pay for school garden costs; when income tax was used as the payment method, the average willingness to pay was 13,193 KRW, equivalent to a 2.02% tax rate. Parents who had experienced the service showed higher perceived need and willingness to pay than those who had not, but their actual stated amount or tax rate was lower because they knew how the program was actually run.
Food educationCommunityHealthPemberdayaan Kelompok Tani dan Pengembangan Kampung Sayur Bausasran di Masa Pandemi Covid 19
2021Dwi Aditiyarini, Catarina Aprilia Ariestanti, Aniek Prasetyaningsih, Timothy Charles Wherrett, Hardo Firmana Given Grace Manik, Katon Wijana · Sendimas 2021 - Seminar Nasional Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia
A community-service report on Kampung Sayur Bausasran, a pilot urban agriculture district in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced productivity and community engagement. Academics from Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) ran an empowerment program covering six farmer groups and one Food Yard Movement (Gerakan Pekarangan Pangan) plot, addressing human resources, business, institutional, and environmental development through training, application and simulation of knowledge and technology. Needs were first mapped through interviews with each farmer group's leadership; needs differed by condition, location and land area, but all centered on agriculture-related support, and simple hydroponic cultivation was introduced as one solution. Supporting activities included beautifying the vegetable village and improving management and administration, aimed at developing the area toward education-based ecotourism. The program was well received by village officials and farmer group leaders, producing greened vegetable alleys, diversified processed products, and a website and social media for promotion. The report identifies remaining needs for more detailed mapping of each farmer group's potential and for human-resource development programs to raise community motivation for advancing urban agriculture.
CommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCan a Farm-to-Table restaurant bring about change in the food system?: A case study of Chez Panisse
2021Sasha Pesci, Catherine Brinkley · Food Culture & Society · United States (California)
A case study of Chez Panisse, the Berkeley, California restaurant founded by Alice Waters in 1971, examining the extent to which a farm-to-table restaurant prompted social and ecological change in the food system. Using archival document review, interviews, surveys, and social network mapping, the study traces how direct market connections between farmers and Chez Panisse grew over time and influenced farmers' growing practices. Chez Panisse was found to have inspired farmers toward more sustainable agriculture practices, but the restaurant was not the only influential actor in the network — local food hub managers and the restaurant's "foragers" served as key intermediaries. The study concludes that social embeddedness within Alternative Food Networks is pertinent to fostering sustainable agriculture, the long-term survival of network actors, and network growth.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityEconomicsProposal of Urban Agricultural Park Management and Operation Plan Using the Public Service Design Process
2021Sangmi Lee, Hyung Kwon Yun, Young-Bin Jung, In-Kyoung Hong · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea
Using South Korea's public service design process (Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 2019) — comprising understanding, discovering needs, defining problems, and developing ideas — researchers analyzed how to manage and operate "urban agricultural parks," a park category established under the 2013 revision of the Act on Urban Parks, Green Areas, Etc. The process generated four idea types for revitalizing these parks: providing information users want, enabling user participation in design, serving as a venue for local communities, and functioning as spaces for health and rest, concluding that such parks need more systematic, diverse operating systems tied to local community revitalization rather than the passive, unified space patterns of conventional urban parks.
PolicyCommunityFood educationCities’ Health Dimension Post-pandemic: Brazil Urban Planning Aspects
2021Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Ângela Alessandra Torezan Silingardi, Giovanna Gastaldo Cifoni, Rafael de Souza Salomão · The urban book series · Brazil
This chapter reviews Brazilian urban planning responses to COVID-19, connecting concepts of healthy cities, reviews of Brazilian legal frameworks, international documents, and case records to argue that articulation and cooperation among cities were essential to minimizing pandemic impacts. It presents active mobility initiatives, reframed public space use, and the implementation of urban community gardens as practical examples with immediate results during the pandemic, without reporting original quantitative data.
PolicyHealthCommunityAgriculture urbaine et promoteurs : vers de nouvelles modalités de l’aménagement des espaces verts des résidences ?
2021Pascale Scheromm, Louis Cretin · Cahiers ESPI2R · Europe
Against the backdrop of the spread of shared gardens across European cities, this article focuses on their insertion into residential projects led by private property developers rather than municipalities, examining what issues this raises. It frames municipally driven shared gardens as well studied while noting that their development within private developers' residential programs has received less research attention.
CommunityPolicyAGRICULTURA URBANA E ALIMENTAÇÃO: HORTAS URBANAS EM PALMAS-TO
2021Tatiana 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.
CommunityFood educationWelfarePolicyGardening for change: Community giving gardens and senior food insecurity
2021Kathleen Tims, Mark Haggerty, John Jemison, Melissa Ladenheim, Sarah Mullis, Elizabeth Damon · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
A case study of the long-running Orono Community Garden (OCG) program in Orono, Maine, used survey data and personal interviews to examine rural senior food insecurity, analyzing senior participation, impact on food security status, and participants' perceptions of the program. The OCG program increased food access by delivering fresh food directly to senior households in need, alongside other local food assistance programs in Orono. Participants also viewed the OCG program as a destigmatized, socially acceptable source of food access, in contrast with other food assistance programs.
CommunityElderlyWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceEvaluasi tiga sistem budidaya di lahan sempit pada budidaya dua kultivar bayam di Kota Bekasi
2021Syariful Mubarok, Salsabila Ananda, Farida Farida, Ainun Fadilah, Rija Sudirja · Kultivasi · Indonesia
An experiment conducted from August to September 2020 in a densely populated residential area on Jalan Caringin Raya, Bekasi City, Indonesia, used a Randomized Block Design to grow two amaranth (bayam) cultivars, 'Maestro' and 'Mira,' under three different cultivation systems — conventional, verticulture, and floating-raft hydroponics — with four replications each, on narrow urban plots. The results showed that amaranth grown under the floating-raft hydroponic system produced the best growth, yield, yield quality, and revenue compared with the conventional and verticulture systems.
CommunityPeri-urban agricultureDIYVegetable consumption patterns of urban farmers in community gardens in Emfuleni local municipality, Gauteng province of South Africa
2021TP Modibedi, MMS Maake, MR Masekoameng, SS Tekana, Oluwaseun Samuel Oduniyi · African Journal of Food Agriculture Nutrition and Development · South Africa
This quantitative study surveyed vegetable consumption patterns among 254 randomly sampled urban farmers from 30 community gardens (418 registered farmers) across six large townships in Emfuleni Local Municipality, Gauteng province, South Africa. Data were collected via face-to-face semi-structured questionnaires using 24-hour dietary recall and analyzed with SPSS version 23 using descriptive statistics and ordered logistic regression. 96.1% of farmers consumed vegetables as a relish and 93.3% as salad, most often at dinner because farmers were typically present in the gardens during the day. Of 10 independent variables tested, only age group, education level, and main income source showed a statistically significant positive association with consumption patterns. The study recommends incorporating vegetables into all three daily meals and providing education on the importance of vegetable consumption.
HealthFood educationCommunityUrban food forests in the American Southwest
2021James A. Allen, Andrew C. Mason · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States
This study visited 14 food forests in the American Southwest — all but two located in urban or peri-urban areas — and interviewed the founder or manager at 12 of them. The sites spanned a wide range of physical environments, community types, and ownership arrangements found in the region. Despite challenges such as a hot, dry climate and difficult soil conditions, the researchers found clear evidence that food forests can be successfully established in urban areas there; beyond food production, the forests provided benefits such as mitigating the urban heat island effect, increasing local biodiversity, and improving neighborhood aesthetics, though the study notes a need for additional research.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityBiodiversityRe-evaluating Food and Agriculture Education from a Sustainability Education Perspective
2021Midori 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.
Food educationHealthCommunityExploring ‘beyond‐food’ opportunities for biocultural conservation in urban forest gardens
2021Hannah Hemmelgarn, John F. Munsell · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Global
This exploratory synthesis examines functions beyond food production that urban agroforestry systems — urban forest gardens (UFGs) — can serve, focusing on their capacity to include diverse, biologically important, and culturally relevant non-timber forest species with medicinal properties, decorative and landscaping uses, and craft raw materials. Reviewing literature on the social and ecological aspects of designing "beyond-food" specialty crops in UFGs, the study identifies a need for collaborative, participatory, and culturally relevant decision-making that addresses access inequities, potential contamination from urban pollutants, and continued gaps in education and awareness of UFG multifunctionality. It argues these spaces can serve as a biological and cultural repository for otherwise overlooked species, but notes that case studies showing contextual implementation details are still needed to establish specific cultural and health-sovereignty benefits.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityBiodiversityPolicyBehavior of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), in the Utah Agricultural Landscape Based on Trap Captures and Visual Sampling Studies
2021Zachary R. Schumm, Diane G. Alston, Lori R. Spears · Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington · United States
This study examined behavior of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB, Halyomorpha halys) in the agricultural landscape of Utah, United States, using pyramid and sticky panel trap captures and visual plant inspections. First discovered in Utah in 2012, with crop damage first reported in 2017, BMSB was sampled at nine orchard and community garden sites (each under 2.5 ha) growing peach, apple, pear, tart cherry, and diverse vegetables, testing whether Utah's high-elevation (>1,200 m) agricultural regions, arid climate, and small production fields surrounded by suburban development alter attraction patterns and monitoring effectiveness compared with other BMSB-invaded regions. Sampling covered four within-site locations (exterior, border, border-interior, center) across early, mid-, and late season. Results did not support a preference for field-site borders found in other U.S. regions and crop situations. Pyramid traps captured significantly more BMSB than sticky panel traps throughout the season and significantly more than visual inspections in mid- and late season; correlation between pyramid and sticky panel trap catches was weak in both 2018 and 2019. The study concludes pyramid traps, especially combined with visual inspection near pheromone-baited traps, are optimal for Utah's low-population, small-field (<2.5 ha) agricultural landscape, and that border-focused management strategies may be less effective there than in regions with larger fields and higher BMSB infestations.
CommunityBiodiversityNarratives of Waste
2021Sai Balakrishnan · Cornell University Press eBooks · India
This chapter analyzes the regional class and caste politics of large-scale land investment in Maharashtra, India, through the case of the Khed Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where peri-urban agricultural land was converted into urban real estate. Dominant agrarian castes, long invested in commodity agriculture and closely tied to urban capital, protested vociferously against land acquisition for the SEZ, while Adivasi ("tribal") and Dalit groups historically dependent on land classified as "waste" embraced the forced acquisition. Historic narratives linking poor land quality to the social backwardness of those occupying "wasteland" were leveraged by these lower-caste and lower-class groups themselves to frame land expropriation as a path into the urban economy. The chapter concludes that fictions of "waste" that had previously excluded the most socially subordinated groups from commodity agriculture became, in this case, an instrument of urban inclusion.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyModels of governance in community gardening: administrative support fosters project longevity
2021Michelle Cristine Medeiros Jacob, Cecília Rocha · Local Environment · Canada
This study of community gardens in Toronto, Canada, examines a governance model in which community members plan, implement, and manage a garden with political and/or administrative support from government or non-governmental organizations, using participatory observation and interviews with gardeners, garden coordinators, NGO representatives, and government members across neighborhoods with diverse economic, social, and cultural characteristics. From the participants' own perspective, governance structures with administrative support appeared to benefit the longevity of community gardens, particularly in low-income areas, and land access, funding, human resource support, and educational opportunities were identified as typical needs across the projects studied. The authors note that tradeoffs between bottom-up and top-down governance models remain to be examined in future research.
PolicyCommunity