Research & reports

Michelle Melissa Althaus Ottmann, Juliana Maantay, Kristen Grady, Nilce Nazareno da Fonte · Cities and the Environment · United States (New York City)

This study investigated urban agricultural practices and gardeners' perceptions in community gardens in the Bronx, New York City, United States, using semi-structured interviews, garden observations, and GIS spatial analysis of socio-demographic characteristics. GIS analysis revealed a significantly higher rate of poverty and Hispanic population in block groups within a quarter mile of the community gardens. The gardens were characterized as places for socialization, fresh produce, neighborhood beautification, and education, and gardeners valued family/community time, nature, and therapeutic benefits, but expressed fears of losing the gardens due to lack of city protection and developer take-over.

Arvazena E. Clardy, Brian R. Copeland · ˜The œAgricultural education magazine · United States (Nashville)

This article advocates for implementing sustainable school gardens in agriscience education programs, drawing on the author's experience as a former educator and current work with middle and secondary schools in Nashville, Tennessee. It suggests that school gardens can cement learning for students and address issues like food deserts and childhood obesity in inner-city areas.

Rebecca Mize · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States

The Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) aims to create a more local and inclusive food system by growing fresh produce on its urban farm on the West Side of Buffalo. Annually, MAP employs approximately 50 at-risk youth to support the transformation of the community's food system.

Danny Simatele, Tony Binns, Munacinga Simatele · Journal of Human Development and Capabilities · Zambia (Lusaka)

This field-based research in Lusaka, Zambia, examines the impact of climate change and urban governance on urban agriculture, which serves as a source of food and income for poor households amidst deteriorating economies. The study finds that urban agriculture is often excluded from urban development and planning policy, posing significant challenges for small-scale farmers to achieve food security. A lack of policies supporting the urban poor, combined with climatic changes like drought and flooding, makes it difficult for households to adapt to the changing urban environment.

Teddi Dineley Johnson · ˜The œNation's health · United States (Denver)

This abstract describes various projects aimed at creating healthier neighborhoods in the United States. Examples include liquor retailers in Louisville, Kentucky, removing alcohol ads, utility boxes in Chula Vista, California, being transformed into art, and youths at risk for gang violence in a Denver neighborhood participating in a community garden. These initiatives focus on violence prevention and health promotion.

Kristen B. Crossney, Emily Shellenberger · · United States

A study examining the relationship between neighborhood quality and the presence of community gardens in Philadelphia, United States. Neighborhoods were characterized by population and neighborhood factors including race, ethnicity, and income, and t-tests assessed the statistical significance of differences between areas with a community garden and other parts of the city. The statistical results showed that while areas with community gardens faced more socioeconomic challenges, they underwent more positive change and improvement between 2000 and 2010 than other parts of the city.

Robert Connolly, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, Mallory L. Bader · Museums & Social Issues · United States

This paper examines the outreach program that the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, located on the grounds of a prehistoric earthwork complex in Memphis, Tennessee, has run toward the surrounding African-American community over the past decade. The archaeological site was first investigated, and the museum was founded, as a byproduct of 1930s Jim Crow-era segregation policies; since its founding, the site and museum have functioned as a place of academic privilege that ignored the surrounding community. Transparency and a commitment to community engagement are described as central to the outreach program, whose highlights include installing an African-American Cultural Heritage exhibit, hosting community events, establishing a community garden, and collaborating with community partners on service projects. Based on a participatory model, the museum has moved to position itself as a social asset and stakeholder in the Southwest Memphis community.

Brittany Minnick Hanson · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · United States

This study of several community gardens in Orange County, Central Florida, conducted structured interviews with gardeners and semi-structured interviews with garden leaders to examine effects on food insecurity, health, and community cohesion, as well as the challenges gardens face. Results showed benefits including increased fresh produce consumption, improved physical activity, better mental health, and stronger community cohesion, but about a third of the gardeners and a majority of the leaders identified lack of participation as a challenge.

Largo-Wight E., Chen W. W., Dodd V., Weiler R. · Public Health Reports · United States

Survey of 503 university office staff finding that as workday nature contact (gardens, plants, greenery) increases, perceived stress and general health complaints decrease, providing evidence for workplace greening and garden programs.

Corrigan 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.

White 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.

Monica 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.

Marina 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.

Marina 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.

Siny 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.

Juliana 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.

· · 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.

Matheus 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.

Sarah 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.

Julian S. Yates, Jutta Gutberlet · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · Brazil (Diadema)

This paper analyzes food waste flows in Diadema, Brazil, through an urban political ecology lens, focusing on integrated organic waste management for composting and urban food production. While presented as a means for positive socioecological change, the process is characterized by conflict and potential exploitation. Broader structural conditions also constrain the system's ability to offer an alternative to existing waste-management models.

Joshua M. Davis · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States

This paper evaluates the sustainability of the Market Basket (MB), a modified Community Supported Agriculture program run by Post Oil Solutions in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA, that provided local, fresh vegetables to low-income consumers at wholesale prices across two locations over two years, drawing on the author's experience as market coordinator, focus groups, interviews, and secondary data. Over 60 people participated in the MB during that period, and the paper argues the MB was an effective approach for increasing produce consumption, but issues affecting its sustainability remained unresolved — most notably funding to support a coordinator and increasing participation among generationally low-income consumers — with steps to address both currently underway.

Tommy Bleasdale, Carolyn J. Crouch, Sharon L. Harlan · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

Researchers studied a struggling community gardening program in a low-income minority neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona, operated within a larger local food initiative led by a nonprofit community development organization. Based on interviews and participant observation used to build an exploratory survey, the study found that while residents had gardening interest and experience, awareness of the program itself was low, perceptions of gardening's benefits and burdens varied among current gardeners, ex-gardeners, and those who had never gardened, and the benefits residents cited often differed from the goals stated by the local food initiative.

Walker 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.

Draper 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.

Alaimo 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.