Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
628 results(15 / 26)
Importancia de los cursos de agricultura urbana ante el cambio climático y la seguridad alimentaria en México
2017Adela Chávez, Juan Ariosto Palacios Vásquez · DELOS Desarrollo Local Sostenible · Mexico
This research argues for the importance of not only studying climate change and its consequences but also consolidating professional training in urban food production to strengthen food security. It emphasizes the urgent need to provide learning units related to sustainable development, climate change, and food at all educational levels.
Food educationClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEffects of a School-Based Intervention on BMI z-Scores and Fitness Parameters in Mississippi Delta Children
2017Kathy B. Knight, Janie W. Cole, Lacy M. Dodd, Charlotte B. Oakley · International Journal of School Health · United States
The "Eating good and moving like we should (EGMLWS)" school-based intervention aimed to prevent and reduce childhood obesity among primarily African American third-grade students in 7 Mississippi Delta schools. The program included curricula, school gardens, and school menu consultation. Pre- and post-intervention BMI z-scores and Fitnessgram parameters (PACER and back-saver sit-and-reach) were compared. Mean BMI z-scores significantly lowered in 2 schools, did not change in 4 schools, and increased in 2 schools. PACER scores increased in 5 of 7 schools, and sit-and-reach scores increased in 5 and 6 schools respectively.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthCommunitySocial Impact through Design: Experiments in Urban Agriculture
2017Sallie Hambright-Belue, Martin J. Holland · The Plan Journal · United States (South Carolina)
Students from Clemson University's School of Architecture and Department of Landscape Architecture collaborated with the local non-profit "Feed & Seed" in West Greenville, South Carolina, to develop urban agriculture solutions. Addressing issues in a "Food Desert" (an area without access to fresh foods), students focused on food hubs, food cycles, education, and social cohesion to promote economic equity, community building, and social justice. This work explored the role of designers in creating solutions for fractured neighborhoods, cities, and regions.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEconomicsYéego Gardening! A Community Garden Intervention to Promote Health on the Navajo Nation
2017India J. Ornelas, Desiree Deschenie, Jesse Jim, Sonia Bishop, Kevin Lombard, Shirley A.A. Beresford · Progress in community health partnerships · United States
Yéego Gardening! is a community garden intervention designed to increase gardening behavior, access to low-cost fruits and vegetables, and consumption in Navajo communities. The intervention involved constructing and maintaining gardens in two Navajo communities, holding monthly workshops on gardening and healthy eating, and conducting community outreach. Community input was essential throughout the planning and implementation.
CommunityHealthFood educationReverberação Política e Educativa para Cidade Saudável
2017Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Adriana Aparecida Carneiro Rosa, Betânia Gonçalves de Carvalho, Pereira, Bruna Ridolfi · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This field research in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo state, Brazil, aimed to identify healthy city values and principles by studying the Community Garden of Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bilia Municipal School. It explored political strategies for health, education, and social justice through the garden-school community interrelationship, identifying strategies proposed by caregivers, managers, and residents regarding experience exchange and student participation in urban community garden products. The study concluded that actions improving empowerment, autonomy, and governance are essential for constructing healthy city indicators.
CommunityFood educationHealthPolicyPolitical and Educatinal Reverbaration for a Health City
2017Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Adriana Aparecida Carneiro Rosa, Betânia Gonçalves de Carvalho · Cadernos de Pós Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo · Brazil (São Paulo)
This article identifies healthy city values and principles and discusses the results of field research conducted in the Community Garden of Maria Augusta Canto Camargo Bilia Municipal School in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil. The study explored political strategies for health, education, and social justice through the interrelationship between the garden and the school community. It utilized “Observational Dialogue” and a WHOQOL-100 readjustment questionnaire, concluding that actions improving empowerment, autonomy, and governance are essential for constructing healthy city indicators.
CommunityFood educationHealthPolicyUrban Agriculture as an instrument of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development
2017Deborah Dotta Corrêa, Gilson Luis Borges Corrêa, Lisiane Ilha Librelotto · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This study examined the role of urban agriculture from a Brazilian agricultural perspective through qualitative and exploratory bibliographic research. It hypothesized that urban agriculture serves not only to supply food demand but also as a promoter of environmental education and sustainable development. The findings indicated that urban agriculture revives previously used agroecological principles, effectively contributes to environmental education, and enhances sustainable development by fulfilling the economic, social, and environmental orders of urban ecosystems.
Food educationClimate changeCommunityRECOVERY OF HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES THROUGH EXPERIENCES OF AGROECOLOGY AND URBAN AGRICULTURE
2017Silvana Maria Ribeiro, Jessica Franco, Mariana Tarricone Garcia, Cláudia Maria Bógus, Helena Akemi Wada Watanabe · DEMETRA Alimentação Nutrição & Saúde · Brazil
This paper discusses the recovery of practices focused on food, health, and the environment through four workshops held in Brazil in 2012 and 2013, which systematized experiences from the agroecological urban agriculture project "ColhendoSustentabilidade." This participatory qualitative research, involving 24 participants, revealed that contact with land in garden activities contributes to cultural recovery and new knowledge construction, promotes gradual changes in eating habits by emphasizing the food-health-environment relationship, and provides opportunities for social interaction involving food.
HealthFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationDesigning urban agriculture education for social justice: Radical innovation through Farm School NYC
2017Kristin Reynolds · International Journal of Food Design · United States (New York City)
Farm School NYC, an adult education program in New York City, was examined as an example of radical innovation in urban agriculture education for social justice. Based on research conducted between 2013 and 2014, the program uses critical pedagogy and popular education to train adult students in urban farming, social justice advocacy, and teaching skills. A network of urban agriculture practitioners, educators, and activists created this community-based training program, which infuses radical visions of social change into its daily educational activities.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceAssessing a School Gardening Program as an Integrated Component of a Pilot Farm-to-school Initiative Based in South Carolina
2017Carl E. Taylor, Elizabeth B. Symon, Amy Dabbs, Alexander Way, Olivia M. Thompson · HortTechnology · United States
An online survey of 37 educators (36% response rate) in South Carolina, who completed a school gardening training course between 2012-2015, assessed a pilot farm-to-school initiative. The study found that most educators were unaware their garden was part of the initiative, and gardens were not integrated with school-wide programs, particularly cafeteria meals. However, most educators maintained their gardens for over a year and used them for academic instruction.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthThe Harvest is the Best Teacher: A Narrative on Food Insecurity and Community Gardening with Children and Adolescents
2017Gayle Mallinger, Molly Kerby · Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping (Click on Current or Archives; Registration Optional) · United States (Kentucky)
This narrative describes a three-year community garden project at the Boys & Girls Club in a semi-rural Kentucky city, addressing disparities in access to fresh produce, education, and food programs in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Participants engaged in preparing garden sites, planting seeds, and harvesting vegetables through a Junior Master Gardener program.
CommunityFood educationWelfarePeri-urban agricultureA horta Povo Unido como referencial de desenvolvimento social e humano
2017Katiuscia Maria Da Silva · Revista ComSertões · Brazil
This article reflects on the concept of "place" by observing its re-significations from modern geography, which established new relationships between humans and their environment. It discusses perceptions observed "in loco" based on theoretical foundations, analyzing the Povo Unido Community Garden. The study aims to capture the meanings of place that permeate humanistic geography and define the human-place relationship within this space.
CommunityFood educationThe Black Swans of Agricultural Education: A Glimpse into theLived Experiencesthat Shapte Urban Agricultural Educators' Meaning in Work
2017Richie Roberts, Jon W. Ramsey · Journal of Agricultural Education · United States
This study explored the lived experiences of urban agricultural educators in the United States to understand the essence of their meaning in work. The essence emerged as a "Black Swan" metaphor, representing their distinctiveness in agricultural education, guided by individualization, self-connection, contribution, unification, and coping abilities. These educators appeared to cope with challenges through transcendence, possibly due to serving a distinct population largely comprised of ethnic minority students in low socioeconomic households.
Food educationCommunityWelfareThe Efficacy of an Urban Farm Intervention Based on the Stages of Change for a Low Income Population with Multiple Risk Factors for Diabetes
2017Rachel A. Clare, J. S. Jenkins, Debbie Humphries · The FASEB Journal · United States (New Haven, CT)
In 2016 in New Haven, CT, USA, a 16-week urban agriculture-based wellness program was evaluated for 73 low-income individuals with multiple risk factors for diabetes. The program aimed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and decrease diabetes risk factors. Among the 30 participants with complete data after program completion, daily vegetable servings increased to an average of 2.1, but daily fruit servings decreased to 1.5.
HealthWelfareFood educationCommunityA Aldeia Vertical e a Horta no Morro
2017Camila Bevilaqua · Ponto Urbe · Brazil (São Paulo)
Fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, accompanied three indigenous people from "Aldeia Vertical." Since 2016, these individuals have been developing a community garden in the Complexo de Favelas do São Carlos. The garden is constructed as a space for "dissemination of indigenous culture" through relationships involving bodies, food, and techniques. The study focused on the relationships between "culture" and "learning" as established by these individuals, dialoguing with Amerindian ethnology and Afro-indigenous approaches.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationThe Impact of Information Technology in Garden Maintenance
2017Rosalina Almendras · Language arts journal of Michigan · Canada
This project, part of ‘Empowering Growth’, partnered with the Ottawa Juvenile Detention Center (OCJDC) to build a community garden and assess information technology (IT) for improving gardening outcomes. It evaluated available technological tools for gardening and proposed developing a custom web-based garden application for OCJDC, offering planning and tracking capabilities. A prototype of the application was designed to identify specific needs of residents and staff.
CommunityFood educationDigital agricultureWelfareSearching for Haknip Achukma (Good Health): Challenges to Food Sovereignty Initiatives in Oklahoma
2017Devon A. Mihesuah · American Indian Culture and Research Journal · United States
In Oklahoma, tribes have initiated numerous food projects over the past three decades aimed at achieving food sovereignty. However, Oklahoma's complex history, environmental issues, and current politics present challenges such as uneven food quality, poor indigenous health, intratribal factionalism, racism, and a stark dichotomy of affluence and extreme poverty. These factors complicate the creation of self-sufficient food systems and the reconnection of tribal members with traditional foodways.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationHealthAgricultura urbana: o desenvolvimento de um projeto social
2017Joice Zagna Valent, Letícia de Oliveira, Vinicius Dornelles Valent · DRd - Desenvolvimento Regional em debate · Brazil
This descriptive study aimed to describe a social urban agriculture project in a community located in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Through a literature review and a semi-structured interview with the project coordinator, it was shown that urban agriculture possesses social, economic, ecological, and symbolic dimensions beyond food production. The study concluded that various projects developed around urban food cultivation, with main impacts including the promotion of food security, generation of employment and income, environmental management, social integration, and development of human capital.
CommunityFood educationEconomicsHealthWelfareUrban Agricultural and Sustainability Program at Houston’s Downtown University: Combining New Curriculum, Hands-on Projects, and a Hurricane
2017Lisa Morano, Vassilios Tzouanas · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Houston)
The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) launched an urban agriculture and sustainability program in 2016, engaging undergraduates in hands-on projects like creating aquaponics systems. Qualitative student surveys indicated increased knowledge and impact on career directions. However, the 2017 program plans were disrupted when Hurricane Harvey flooded the school and destroyed student aquaponics systems, necessitating a focus on rebuilding and future resiliency.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeSurvey Data from Utah Urban Agricultural Workshop
2017Tyson J. Sorensen, Kelsey Hall, David Francis, Joshua Dallin · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)
A survey was conducted among 42 teachers who attended the Urban Agriculture Workshop in Utah to assess the value of various workshop aspects and measure pre-post gains in knowledge, ability, and importance. The survey also measured attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral controls, and behavioral intention, with demographic data also collected.
Food educationCommunity“We Always Say: And Then Came The Water…” 1 Flint’s Emergent Latinx Capacity Building Journey During the Government-Induced Lead Crisis
2017Roxanna Duntley-Matos, Victoria Arteaga, Ángel García, Rafael Arellano, Roberto Montes Garza, Robert M. Ortega · Journal of Community Practice · United States (Flint)
This critically intersubjectively engaged ethnography examines emergent Latinx lead crisis rehabilitation efforts in Flint, MI, focusing on the role of education within multicultural struggles for validation. It employs cultural humility, transformative complicity, and empowerment paradigms, emphasizing organizing strategies that respect faith-based, union, and urban gardening histories. The study's popular pedagogical methods promote agency among detained youths from Kalamazoo, who contribute through protest music, testimonies, and commentaries.
CommunityFood educationLeadership, partnerships, and civic engagement
2017Helena C. Lyson · · United States (California)
This qualitative fieldwork in a large, urban school district in Northern California explored school food reform efforts addressing childhood obesity. Reforms transpired through three processes: sustained involvement of parent-activists, leadership by the school food service director in championing farm-to-school efforts and facilitating partnerships, and widespread community support for funding and implementation. These findings indicate how local social change transformed public school food programs to benefit youth health.
Food educationCommunityHealthPolicyEvaluation of an Urban Farm-to-Preschool and Families Program
2016Elena T. Carbone, Gloria T. DiFulvio, Toni Susi, Jerusha Nelson-Peterman, Joan Lowbridge-Sisley, Jessica Collins · International Quarterly of Community Health Education · United States (Springfield, MA)
This evaluation examined an urban Farm-to-Preschool and Families program in Springfield, Massachusetts, aiming to identify factors that facilitate its adoption and to offer guidelines for successful implementation of such programs more generally. Using classroom observations of preschoolers, teacher and food-service interviews, and administrator surveys, the findings suggest that a strong programmatic infrastructure, administrative support, and external support from families are important to sustaining the program.
Food educationHealthUrban agriculture: connecting producers with consumers
2016Carolyn Dimitri, Lydia Oberholtzer, Andy Pressman · British Food Journal · United States
Based on a 2012 national survey of urban farmers in the USA (35 questions), this study analyzed the social missions of urban farms, their extent, and differences and similarities among farms with varying missions. The survey found that food production is an essential mission for all urban farms, and some also have social missions related to food security, education, and community building. Farms with explicit social missions were found to donate a higher share of food and were less likely to own farmland compared to market-oriented farms.
EconomicsCommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceWomen and Children
2016David J. Bettez · · United States
During wartime, the Kentucky Division of the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense guided women's efforts, supporting activities like the Red Cross and Liberty Bond campaigns, and pursuing initiatives in child health, schooling, and recreation. Children were also expected to contribute, mainly by cultivating school gardens and promoting the purchase of War Savings Stamps.
Food educationCommunity