Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2066 results(17 / 83)
Urban Agriculture and Community Resilience
2023Chuo Li · Landscape Journal · United States (New Orleans)
This research investigates post-Katrina urban agricultural development in Village de L’Est, New Orleans, Louisiana, using archival research, interviews, and field observations. It reveals how urban agriculture became an integral part of community rebuilding schemes and contributed to resilience in this urban ethnic community. The development of urban agriculture was essential to the community’s long-term resilience strategies, promoting community empowerment and enhancing food security and resilience.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsHealthAcción comunitaria y agricultura urbana en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México
2023Gustavo Córdova Bojórquez · Estudios Sociales Revista de Alimentación Contemporánea y Desarrollo Regional · Mexico (Ciudad Juárez)
This study evaluated community action in an urban agriculture intervention project in the Campestre-Virreyes neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. A qualitative evaluation using participant observation and semi-structured interviews was employed. While concrete community action was identified, participants' specific capacities in urban agriculture were found to be insufficient to meet their food needs or improve their economy.
CommunityFood educationCertificación de productores ecológicos en SGP Lima: Reporte basado en la estrategia de la intervención piloto
2023Maikol Muñoz, Duvert Ventocilla, Cristina Fonseca, Willy Pradel · · Peru (Lima)
In response to Peru's significant food insecurity in 2022, the Institute of Development and Environment (IDMA) and the International Potato Center (CIP) organized an awareness campaign for World Food Day, focusing on the contribution of agroecological family farming in Metropolitan Lima's Valleys. A central forum, "DIALOGUES ABOUT HEALTHY DIETS FOR EVERYONE, 3X7," highlighted the roles of small farmers in food generation and the importance of common soup kitchens, noting how urban agriculture producers supplied inputs for these kitchens.
Food sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureWelfareCommunityStingless bee keeping: Biocultural conservation and agroecological education
2023Elda Míriam Aldasoro Maya, Ulises Rodríguez‐Robles, María Luisa Martínez Gutiérrez, Guelmy Anilú Chan Mutul, Teresita Avilez López, Helda Morales, Bruce G. Ferguson, Jorge Mérida‐Rivas · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Mexico (Tabasco)
Meliponiculture, or stingless bee breeding, in Mesoamerica serves as an effective tool for agroecological education, scaling, and pollinator conservation. In Tabasco, Mexico, activities included documenting contemporary knowledges, community agroecological workshops, guided visits to an institutional meliponary, and promoting school gardens, utilizing "knowledge dialogues" as a methodological approach. The study identified characteristics of stingless bees and their cultivation, such as their ecological and cultural importance, role as pollinators, association with community values, and productive potential, making them excellent mediators for biocultural conservation and agroecological education.
Food educationBiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityUrban Agriculture Overview of Sustainability Using GRA Methodology
2023· Building Materials and Engineering Structures · United States
This study examines the significance of seeds in defining sustainability within urban agriculture, which is viewed as an agricultural operation in a non-rural setting emphasizing communication, education, and farm goods. Using Gray-associated analysis, the study evaluated various crops, finding that spring beans received the highest rank and autumn beans the lowest.
CommunityEconomicsClimate changeOrganic cycleSociotechnical Adequacy and Solidarity Economy
2023Ricardo Toledo Neder, Lívia Cristina Barros da Silva Wiesinieksi, Emilene Eustachio, Iasmin de Sousa Jaime, Simone Parrela Tostes, Rafael Oliveira dos Reis · LaSUS FAU eBooks · Brazil
This book presents the fundamentals and basis of a multi-professional course in Science, Technology, and Society (CTS) residency, offered in Brazil in 2021. The course features a pedagogical practice integrating research, teaching, and extension, addressing themes of Habitat, Agroecology, Health, and Associated Work. It involved 15 master's and doctoral students and over 50 individuals from social movements, professionals, and government technicians, discussing topics such as solidarity technology, sociotechnical adequacy, and solidarity economy.
Food sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageFood educationDuring COVID-19, Californians sought food security, connection and solace in their gardens
2023Lucy Diekmann, Summer Cortez, Pauline Marsh, Jonathan Kingsley, Monika Egerer, Brenda B. Lin, Alessandro Ossola · California Agriculture · United States (California)
A survey of 603 home and community gardeners across California was conducted between June and August 2020 to assess trends in gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gardens were valued as therapeutic spaces to escape pandemic stress and as safe outdoor places for socializing. Concerns about food supply led to increased interest in growing food for security and self-sufficiency, though 62% of home gardeners struggled to access gardening supplies.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeVertical Farms: A Sustainable Solution to Urban Agriculture Challenges
2023Wenhao Zhu · Highlights in Science Engineering and Technology · United States (Chicago)
This paper focuses on the characteristics of vertical farms, using The Plant vertical farm in Chicago as an example to describe its design and performance, and analyze its advantages and design principles. The success of The Plant is attributed to saving raw materials and waste disposal costs through waste utilization, staggered electricity consumption, and insulated structures to maximize energy cost savings. However, while small-scale pilot projects of vertical farms have achieved some success, many constraints remain for scaling them up due to high construction and operation costs and high technical levels.
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsClimate changeUsing TAPE to assess agroecology on women-led farms in the U.S.: Support for environmental and social practices
2023Lianna Gomori-Ruben, Chantal D. Reid · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This study examined women farming in the United States to analyze if their practices align with agroecology, using the FAO’s 10 Elements of Agroecology and the TAPE tool. A mixed-methods case study design collected web-based survey and interview data from 87 participants. Participating women farmers tended to lead agroecological farming projects that provide direct nutritional, environmental, educational, and social services to their communities, aligning with FAO elements. Farm size and region were significant in the prevalence of agroecological practices; farms of 50–100 acres were most likely to integrate animals, and farms in the Southeast were most likely to identify with conventional agricultural practices.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityWelfareFood educationReview: The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification, by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli
2023Sean M. Crotty · California History · United States (California)
Pascale Joassart-Marcelli's book "The $16 Taco" examines how food and power intersect to create landscapes of hunger and plenty in U.S. cities, using San Diego as a case study. It argues for the centrality of food in broader structural issues of social, political, and cultural inequalities, which manifest as material inequality. The book explores the impacts of food apartheid, a system of segregation that prevents certain groups from accessing nourishment, and explains the role of racist real estate practices in devaluing neighborhoods of immigrants and people of color.
Equity & displacementEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityDesenvolvimento sustentável e gênero: mulheres protagonistas na produção de alimentos
2023Maria Cecília Barreto Amorim Pilla, Cilene da Silva Gomes Ribeiro, Taciane Eloisa de Camargo · Ágora · Brazil
This research aims to analyze the historical, economic, and sociocultural processes that create the gender dimension within sustainable development and the emancipation of vulnerable women. It highlights that urban agriculture initiatives, such as community gardens, mobilize communities to transform degraded spaces into healthy ones, providing vegetables and fostering social interaction. The study emphasizes the need for women's inclusion in public policy to achieve legal, political, and social equality, thereby empowering them and reducing vulnerability.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyHealthEconomicsPlant growth and microbial responses from urban agriculture soils amended with excavated local sediments and municipal composts
2023Jordi Guimera Garcia, Natalie Bray, Yowhan Son, Aleah L. Butler-Jones, Sara Perl Egendorf, Jenny Kao‐Kniffin · Journal of Urban Ecology · United States (New York City)
In New York City, a study investigated plant growth (tomato, pepper, kale) in soils constructed from four municipal composts mixed with sediments from the NYC Clean Soil Bank, to assess the potential for safe urban agricultural soils. While Clean Soil Bank sediments enhanced plant growth when mixed with BRL compost, they also negatively impacted tomato aboveground biomass production by 29% in LES compost and tomato plant height by 18% in QBG compost, indicating variable effects depending on compost properties.
Contamination & food safetyCompostOrganic cycleHealthClimate changeGuerrilla Gardening: At the Intersection of Birnam Wood and Minneapolis
2023Sarah Dimick · Critique Studies in Contemporary Fiction · United States (Minneapolis)
This study reflects on guerrilla gardening and its narratives by intersecting Eleanor Catton’s novel Birnam Wood with descriptions of gardens at police killing sites in the greater Minneapolis metro area. It argues that guerrilla garden infrastructures sprout in the soil of highly unequal power, often in the wake of the fatal exercise of state power, and in the shadow of a foreshortened environmental future. These are DIY infrastructures constructed by people weathering entwined environmental, political, and economic crises in the 21st century.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeJardim de Sequeiro: a rainfed garden technique, innovative in aesthetics and environmental quality, inspired by the Cerrado
2023Júlio Barêa Pastore, Paulo Henrique Honorato · Ornamental Horticulture · Brazil (Brasília)
The "Jardim de Sequeiro" is a naturalistic, seasonal rainfed gardening technique developed at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. The first experimental garden, over 5,000 square meters of rooftop gardens, was planted at the Instituto Central de Ciências. It relies entirely on rainfall and withers during winter drought, functioning as a temporary installation redesigned annually. Its first cycle ran from December 2020 to May 2021, yielding promising results despite pandemic difficulties.
DIYClimate changeBiodiversityMulticulturalism and Sustainability Education
2023Dilafruz R. Williams · · United States (Portland)
This chapter describes how courses at Portland State University have integrated sustainability themes to engage students with marginalized communities affected by ecological injustices. The 10-acre Learning Gardens Laboratory provides hands-on experiences in food cultivation, nutrition, and composting, fostering garden-based education as a means to address ecological and human oppression.
Food educationCommunityWelfareEarth First! 27, no. 5
2023E-Mag, Josh , Sophia , Star · Universitätsbibliothek der LMU · United States (New York City)
This document is the July 1, 2007, issue of "Earth First!," an e-magazine republished by the Environment & Society Portal. It features articles on various environmental and social activism topics, including the defense of New York City’s community gardens, legal issues faced by activists, and critiques of unsustainable activism. The publication includes an editorial by Dr. Hyena and notes that views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Rachel Carson Center.
CommunityPolicyDeveloping and Implementing In-Person and Virtual SoilSHOPs in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Community-Engaged Approach to Screen and Prevent Soil Lead Exposure
2023Eri Saikawa, Erin Lebow-Skelley, Rosario Hernandez, Faith Flack-Walker, Leann Bing, Candis M. Hunter · Journal of Public Health Management and Practice · United States (Atlanta)
In Atlanta, Georgia, in-person and virtual Soil Screening, Health, Outreach and Partnerships (soilSHOPs) were implemented through a community-engaged partnership to screen soils for lead. These soilSHOPs informed best practices for increasing awareness about lead exposure and led the US Environmental Protection Agency to identify a Superfund site, confirming soil lead contamination.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityFood educationPaying for nature‐based solutions: A review of funding and financing mechanisms for ecosystem services and their impacts on social equity
2023Austin Thompson‐Spain, Kyle S. Bunds, Lincoln R. Larson, Bethany B. Cutts, J. Aaron Hipp · Sustainable Development · United States
This scoping review examines funding and financing mechanisms for nature-based solutions and their impact on social equity in the United States. It finds that market-driven nature-based solutions can contribute to an inequitable distribution of urban ecosystem services. The distribution of benefits is influenced by local contexts, decision-making inclusion, and payment mechanisms, suggesting disparities in access for diverse and marginalized populations.
Equity & displacementPolicyEconomicsClimate changeCommunityProximity to Green and Blue Spaces and Serious Psychological Distress in Urban-Dwelling Older Adults: Analysis of Washington State BRFSS data (P2-12.006)
2023Adithya Vegaraju, Solmaz Amiri · Neurology · United States (Washington)
This study assessed the associations between proximity to green and blue spaces and Serious Psychological Distress (SPD) among urban-dwelling older adults in Washington State. The 2011–2019 dataset from the Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was utilized to assess SPD among residents aged 65 and over. Approximately 2% of urban-dwelling older adults had SPD. The odds of experiencing SPD were lower among urban-dwelling adults living within half a mile of green or blue spaces compared to those living further than half a mile from such spaces within Washington State.
HealthCommunityElderlyRendimientos y eficiencia en el uso del agua de lechuga y tomate cherry en jardines urbanos
2023Posgrado en Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso Integral del Agua, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Estado de México, México, Hugo Antonio Fernández, R. Salazar, Posgrado en Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso Integral del Agua, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Estado de México, México, E. Fitz-Rodríguez, Posgrado en Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso Integral del Agua, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Estado de México, México, I.L. López-Cruz, Posgrado en Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso Integral del Agua, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Estado de México, México, Uwe Schmidt, Dennis Dannehl · Tecnología y Ciencias del Agua · Mexico (Mexico City)
Yields and water productivity of romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes were investigated in 13 urban gardens in Mexico City. Lettuce yields ranged from 0.10 to 1.20 kg m-2 with water use efficiency from 0.21 to 2.93 kg m-3, while cherry tomato yields ranged from 0.25 to 3.40 kg m-2 with water use efficiency from 0.32 to 5.52 kg m-3. Irrigation in these gardens is empirically done using potable water, showing an excess water supply of 0.27 to 0.4 m3 m-2 for a complete cycle of lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
Environmental trade-offsDIYEconomicsClimate changeRaised Food Prices Exacerbate Food Insecurity in Canada: A Call to Action
2023Rudra Dahal, Kamala Adhikari, Karen Tang · Journal of Community Medicine & Public Health · Canada
This paper discusses how record-high inflation rates and skyrocketing food prices in Canada exacerbate food insecurity, defined as inadequate food access due to financial constraints. Food insecurity is identified as a strong predictor of poor physical and mental health, higher mortality rates for those with chronic conditions, and increased healthcare utilization and costs. The paper suggests a comprehensive approach combining short-term solutions like community gardens and long-term policy interventions to address the root cause of inadequate income.
CommunityHealthEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceAGRICULTURA URBANA NA PAISAGEM VERDE PÚBLICA DO BAIRRO JARDIM TROPICAL, SERRA-ES.
2023Cleberson Saraiva · Revista Contexto Geográfico · Brazil (Serra)
This study investigated the relationship between the multifunctionality of urban agriculture and cultivated plants in the public spaces of the popular urban neighborhood Jardim Tropical, Serra-ES, Brazil. Using bibliographic, documentary, and field research, it found that these cultivated plants form a public green landscape. This landscape facilitates social relations for environmental revitalization and comfort, small-scale production of food and natural medicines, leisure, and social interaction, promoting a sense of belonging and characterizing urban agriculture's multifunctionality.
CommunityBiodiversityHealthHORTA COMUNITÁRIA COMO ATIVIDADE DE EDUCAÇÃO EM SAÚDE NAS UBS DO MUNICÍPIO DE TERESÓPOLIS
2023Márcia Emília Moreira De Luca, Carlos Alfredo Franco Cardoso, Gabriel Schwambach Del Piero, Vinícius Feitoza Xavier · Revista da Jopic. · Brazil (Teresópolis)
This study implemented community medicinal gardens in two Basic Health Units and a nursing home in Teresópolis, Brazil, to promote health education and raise awareness about the risks of improper medicinal plant use. Five plants with therapeutic benefits were chosen, and seedlings were offered to patients alongside discussion groups. This initiative aimed to provide information on basic health, facilitate access to plants, reduce medication costs, and indirectly increase family income.
CommunityHealthFood educationElderlyCharacteristics of Commercial Urban Agriculture in Florida
2023Catherine Campbell · EDIS · United States (Florida)
This publication provides an overview of commercial urban agriculture in Florida, detailing the size, production methods, and market channels used by urban farms. It also discusses urban farmers’ perceptions regarding the barriers, opportunities, and needs for their operations. The publication was written by Catherine G. Campbell and published in May 2023.
EconomicsPolicyUrban Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Designed to Promote Immunonutrition: A Pilot Study
2023Patricia Mehner-Karam, C. Gutiérrez, Juan M. Casillas Pintor, Miranda Ori-Orlansino, D A Perez-DeLaMora, Mariana Ruiz-Morales, E. G. Hernández-Martínez · Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies · Mexico (Mexico City)
This study achieved the design and implementation of a raised bed urban garden to be tested in western neighborhoods of Mexico City. The project comprised four stages: design and development of the prototype garden, selection of a vegetable palette to promote immunonutrition, production of educational materials for planting and care, and validation. Urban gardens offering diverse plant species easy to grow in urban microclimates promote a sustainable culture by leveraging new technologies and virtual education, which help ensure their use and permanence.
HealthFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity