Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
338 results(14 / 14)
The Community Household: The Foundation of Everyday Resistance
2004Roberta M. Feldman, Susan Stall · Cambridge University Press eBooks · United States
This paper explores the concept of the community household through the case of Mrs. Mary Rias, a resident activist at Wentworth Gardens. Mrs. Rias, who coordinated and worked in a community garden for over a decade, is depicted as extending her caretaking and nurturing roles from her home into the community, often meeting neighbors' needs within her residence. This case illustrates mutual support and family-like relationships within the community.
CommunityWelfareWhat's for dinner?Organizing around food access issues in Los Angeles.
2004Prebus, Olivia · Occidental College Scholar (Occidental College) · United States (Los Angeles)
This work addresses the gross inequity of food access in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles, such as MacArthur Park, where grocery stores are scarce. The author's internship at the Center for Food and Justice involved projects like a Community Food Assessment and organizing a community garden, all focused on empowering communities to tackle complex food access issues. The abstract highlights the severe problem of limited healthy food options leading to simultaneous obesity and malnutrition.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood educationHealthWelfareAgricultura urbana: uma alternativa contra a fome em Corumbá e Ladário (MS).
2004J. S. [UNESP] Gonçalves, S. A. A. dos [UNESP] Santos, F. F. CURADO · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Corumbá)
This work, part of the "Food Security and Citizenship" project coordinated by Embrapa Pantanal in Corumbá and Ladário, Brazil, aims to promote healthy food production. It seeks to improve the food quality of the urban population by creating alternatives for better food and nutritional security and income generation in these areas.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareHealthEconomicsCommunity"Community Interested" Individuals
2003Kluthe, Ryan · Occidental College Scholar (Occidental College) · United States
This paper presents observations of 13 teens in the Youth Leadership Council of Highland Park, United States, who dedicated hundreds of hours to community projects without individual incentive. These observations contradict Mancur Olsen's theory that groups only organize under coercion or special devices, suggesting the existence of "community interested" individuals.
CommunityWelfareBuilding Houses, Building Lives
2003Lorie Hammond · Mind Culture and Activity · United States (California)
This article uses a narrative format to describe situations in which Mienh immigrant families from a Southeast Asian hill tribe adapt to technological and cultural change within a California elementary school sponsoring a family literacy, school-community garden, and house building project. It argues that adjustments can be creative and empowering if schools incorporate community "funds of knowledge" into their instructional plan. Projects such as gardening and house building provide rich contexts for intercultural dialogues.
CommunityFood educationWelfareSocial Inclusion in a Midwest Local Food System Project
2002C. Clare Hinrichs, Kathy S. Kremer · Journal of Poverty · United States
This 1997 case study examined a Midwest community supported agriculture (CSA) project that aimed to increase low-income participation through financial subsidies, using a telephone survey of 41 member-households. The study found that while subsidized households had lower incomes, the overall CSA sample was more advantaged in income, occupation, and education compared to local populations. The project inadvertently served the "advantaged" poor, indicating that social inclusion efforts in local food systems may not effectively reach the most vulnerable.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiCommunityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePeople, Land and Sustainability: Community Gardens and the Social Dimension of Sustainable Development
2001John Ferris, Carol Norman, Joe Sempik · Social Policy and Administration · USA
This article reports on research and experience from the USA regarding community gardens and their role in the social dimension of sustainable development. It explores how the use of urban green spaces for gardens links to health, education, community development, and food security. The article concludes that using urban open spaces for parks and gardens is closely associated with environmental justice and equity.
CommunityHealthFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareNGO experiences in Lima targeting urban poor through urban agriculture.
2000Andres Dasso, Teobaldo Pinzas · · Peru
In Lima, Peru, a city with an infertile sandy environment and 0.0 mm average rainfall, urban agriculture has been implemented since the late 1980s to improve the living conditions of the resource-poor urban population. This initiative addresses the rapid urban growth experienced by Lima between the 1950s and 1990s, primarily due to migration.
WelfareCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceA Community Diabetes Education and Gardening Project to Improve Diabetes Care in a Northwest American Indian Tribe
2000Donna Armstrong · The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care · United States
This study aimed to design a culturally appropriate diabetes education program for a Northwest American Indian tribe. A community-based intervention, including workshops on health themes and a community garden, was designed to address multiple barriers to diabetes care. However, prior to the implementation of the community workshops and evaluations, the tribal government chose to discontinue receiving federal funding for this project.
Governance failureCommunityHealthFood educationWelfareBuilding a Mien American House: An Inter-Cultural Dialogue.
2000Lorie Hammond · · United States (California)
This study applies an anthropological approach to science teaching at a mainstream California elementary school, focusing on inter-cultural dialogue between Mien refugee families from Laos and mainstream educators. Using a family literacy project and a school-community garden, the research explores how traditional cultural knowledge and Western scientific knowledge can blend to develop curricula for science and literacy. The paper emphasizes dialogue where minority and majority voices co-create curricula, contrasting with standard parent involvement models.
CommunityFood educationWelfareRutgers Urban Gardening: A Study in Cultural Diversity and Gardening
1994Ishwarbhai 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.
CommunityFood educationWelfareUrban Agriculture: Who Cultivates and why? a Case-Study of Lusaka, Zambia
1985Bishwapriya Sanyal · Food and Nutrition Bulletin · Zambia (Lusaka)
Urban agriculture in Lusaka, Zambia, is an innovative response by the urban poor facing insufficient income. Low-income households view urban cultivation as a long-term investment, requiring permanent urban residence (7-11 years) and access to land to ensure a return. Variations in cultivation patterns result from relative differences in land access and the need to maximize the return on domestic labor time.
WelfareEconomicsFood and survival in Lusaka's self-help townships.
1980Ledogar Rj · PubMed · Zambia (Lusaka)
In 1978, a pilot project was initiated in Lusaka, Zambia, by UNICEF and The American Friends Service Committee to expand urban agriculture. This project aims to establish kitchen gardens on residential plots, cultivate road reserves and green belts, utilize idle land during the rainy season, raise small livestock, promote cooperative cultivation of small holdings in the urban periphery by low-income residents, and eventually resettle some urban residents on farms. The goal is for the service to be self-supporting by 1980.
WelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPeri-urban agriculture