Research & reports

Josiane Santos da Silva, Marta Cristina Marjotta-Maistro · Nucleus · Brazil

Using a case-study approach with secondary data from official sources (including IBGE) and scientific literature, this study built a socioeconomic diagnosis of Marituba, a municipality in Pará state, Brazil, to inform public policy for urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP). Findings show precarious infrastructure development relative to Belém, particularly in security and basic sanitation, but relatively better education and health indicators, contributing to a medium Municipal Human Development Index among Brazilian municipalities; agriculture in Marituba is diversified and mainly vegetable production, characterized as family-run and urban/peri-urban, conducted near the urban center.

Nathan McClintock, Christiana Miewald, Eugene McCann · · North America

This chapter explores urban agriculture (UA) as fundamentally political practices, examining its role in neoliberal governance and sustainability policy-making, and as an object of contestation. It relates UA motivations and practices to processes of urbanization and political economic restructuring. The chapter highlights that UA is a site of political contestation, arising from broader political economic shifts.

Naomi Robert, Kent Mullinix · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Canada

This study assessed Official Community Plans (OCPs) from 61 municipalities in British Columbia, Canada, to identify focal points and gaps in local government food system planning. It found that policies addressing food access and urban agriculture were most prevalent, but recognition of Indigenous foodways was scarce. Gaps were identified in post-production capacity, waste management, and environmental stewardship, suggesting a need for coordinated policy efforts beyond urban agriculture.

Renata Blumberg, Rosa Huitzitzilin, Claudia Urdanivia, Brian C. Lorio · Capitalism Nature Socialism · United States (New Jersey)

This article examines the challenges and possibilities of community gardening in small, peripheral cities with large immigrant populations, using concepts from feminist geography and food justice research. Focusing on the "Raíces Del Sur" community garden in Passaic, New Jersey, as a case study, it argues that these concepts provide a useful framework for enacting ecofeminist visions through community gardens. The study emphasizes the need for greater ecofeminist engagement with community gardening initiatives in cities throughout New Jersey.

Gabrielle Roesch‐McNally, Jacqueline Ann Nester, Andrea Basche, Eric Christianson, Emily Zimmerman · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Iowa)

Story County, Iowa, despite being in a highly agriculturally productive state, faces significant food insecurity. In 2014, 15.2% of its residents (nearly 14,000 individuals) were food insecure, with 45% of them not qualifying for government assistance. The county dedicates only 2.4 acres of cropland per thousand residents to fruit, vegetable, and nut production, significantly lower than the US average of 32 acres, highlighting a paradox of hunger amidst agricultural abundance.

Lorrilee McGregor, Pamela Toulouse, Marion Maar, Nancy L. Young · International Journal of Indigenous Health · Canada

A narrative analysis of eight focus groups with 33 caregivers in six First Nation communities in Canada explored determinants of dietary decisions. Caregivers identified changes in food systems due to factors like wage economy participation, low income, hunting/fishing regulations, and processed food availability. These factors have altered food systems and influenced dietary choices, leading communities to pursue initiatives such as community gardens, freezers, and hunting camps to regain food sovereignty.

Shannon Donovan · Case Studies in the Environment · United States (Anchorage)

A multi-faceted needs assessment, including a community survey, stakeholder workshop, and key informant interviews, was conducted in Anchorage, Alaska, to explore the strategic expansion of its community garden system. The study found that demand for community gardens far outweighs supply. To sustainably meet diverse needs, expansion efforts should focus on accessible locations, gardener capacity building, and strengthening partnerships.

Daniela Adil Oliveira de Almeida, Gabriel Mattos Ornelas, Melissa Luciana de Araújo, Luisa Melgaço Ferreira Jorge Marques, Camila Marina Teixeira Ferreira, Victor Gabriel de Souza Lima, Patricia Cristina Coutinho Nardini, Rodrigo Pinto da Matta Machado, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil

The process of systematizing the experience of AUÊ!, the Urban Agriculture Study Group at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, helped to record and critically reflect on the group's trajectory. This systematization made it possible to identify the qualities, potentialities, and gaps in the group's performance.

Christine Porter · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Wyoming)

This mixed-methods study, conducted over five years with five food justice Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) in the U.S., including quantifying harvests from 33 gardeners in Laramie, Wyoming, and surveying 20 of them, documented benefits of home and community gardening. Four categories of benefits were identified: improving health, producing quality food in nutritionally meaningful quantities, providing cultural services, and fostering healing and transformation. The findings illustrate a range of health, food, cultural ecosystem services, and social change outcomes from gardening.

Mitch Rose · Antipode · United States (Detroit)

This paper discusses the Detroit urban farming movement, conceptualizing the economy as an over-productive and wasteful system of energy exchange. It argues that the inefficient, redundant, and wasteful nature of urban farming in Detroit is an appropriation of potentialities within the general economy. The study highlights that diversity is not a result of positive relations but emerges from the prolific nature of the general economy.

Fabiola Bernal, Edith Yolanda Romero Hernández, Krystal Dennicé González Fajardo, Susana Sánchez Viveros, Rebeca Monroy‐Torres · Revista Espanola De Nutricion Comunitaria-spanish Journal of Community Nutrition · Mexico

This cross-sectional comparative study in Mexico compared food security levels among beneficiaries of community kitchens within the National Crusade against Hunger program, differentiating between those with and without a community orchard. The study involved three community kitchens: one with an orchard and two without. Results showed that the frequency of food security was 16.67% for kitchens with an orchard and 10.00% for those without. Furthermore, 48.93% of beneficiary households from kitchens with an orchard reported having a variety of foods, compared to 14.28% for those without.

Sonya Sachdeva, Marla R. Emery, Patrick T. Hurley · Society & Natural Resources · United States

This paper investigated how wild food foraging is framed in print and digital news media and how these depictions varied over a 15-year period including the Great Recession, using automated content analysis. Results showed that prevalent framings represented foraging as either a self-provisioning practice or a source of luxury commodities and experiences, with economic uncertainty appearing to affect the frequency of each framing by news media sources. These distinct framings may influence future regulatory landscapes of foraging.

Natalia Matesanz Ventura · · United States (New York City)

This article examines over fifty self-managed community gardens in Loisaida, New York, which form an informal network combining "affection" and "dissidence" to create "affect-dent" spaces. These gardens, established since the 1960s, reconfigure public space by opposing administration, the real-estate market, media invasion, and the appropriation of public space by the private sector. The study highlights how these spaces challenge dominant power structures and serve as a reference in contemporary architecture of the common.

Paola Brum · PIXO - Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade · Brazil (Pelotas)

The "Ocupação Canto de Conexão" is an occupied abandoned building in Pelotas, Brazil, near the Federal University. It provides student and popular housing, a community garden, and cultural activities for residents, students, and the homeless. For nearly two years, the space has been maintained by volunteers and community contributions, operating without public funding.

Rodrigo Clemente GOIS, Flamarion Dutra Alves, Evânio dos Santos Branquinho · Geografia (Rio Claro) · Brazil (Alfenas)

This article aims to characterize urban and peri-urban agricultural activities in Alfenas, Brazil, and analyze the encroachment of real estate speculation on these properties. It notes that Alfenas has seen an increase in residential developments occupying areas previously used for livestock and agriculture. The study suggests organic farming as a viable alternative to mitigate socio-environmental problems arising from this encroachment.

Nancy F. Sonti, Erika S. Svendsen · Society & Natural Resources · United States (New York City)

Semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in New York City explored their motivations for gardening. Gardeners' motivations were found to be both personal and collective, with community gardens providing a space for reflection and a deep connection to nature for many. Joy and personal fulfillment consistently remained the most prevalent motivations over time, while the impulse to improve the community decreased, and food production and cultural identity connections became more common motivations.

Clétina Inês de Brito Rodrigues, Rafael Pereira Barros, Iraci Fideles, João Victor de Brito Rodrigues, Genilson Tabosa Wanderley, Glicia Luiza nunes · Fórum de Integração Ensino, Pesquisa, Extensão e Inovação Tecnológica do IFRR - e-ISSN 2447-1208 · Brazil

This project aimed to encourage the Guariba indigenous community in Brazil to produce vegetables through a community garden, promoting food access and security, work opportunities, and income generation. Activities included environmental and social education, entrepreneurship, and healthy eating practices. The project involved over 20 participants and resulted in the construction of a community garden and training for community members and student interns.

Stacy C. Moak, Caitlin P. S. McAteer, Heather A. Rossi, Merrill J. Schmidt · Journal of Community Psychology · United States (Little Rock)

This study investigated community perceptions of fresh food access in two target neighborhoods in Greater Little Rock, Arkansas. Through interviews at food pantries, online surveys with local experts, and asset mapping of healthy food resources, findings revealed that cost and transportation are barriers to fresh food access. Residents supported mobile markets and community gardens as viable options for increasing fresh food access.

Walter W. Furness, Courtney M. Gallaher · Local Environment · United States (Rockford)

A study in Rockford, Illinois, examined community gardens to assess their contribution to residents' access to fresh produce and other social benefits. Data was collected through interviews with gardeners, focus groups, and surveys of food pantry users. The findings indicate that while non-gardening community members benefit from increased produce provided by the gardens, they do not receive all the social and communal benefits associated with active garden participation.

Joakim Ethan Cohen · · United States

This thesis explores Black food justice organizations in Oakland and Detroit addressing food security in low-income communities of color. It argues that food deserts result from discrimination and marginalization perpetuated by racist laws and policies. The thesis explains how urban gardening enables Black people to regain control of the food system and promotes empowerment and self-determination.

Stephanie Wagner · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University) · United States (Syracuse)

This project explores Syracuse, NY's food environment and socio-economic issues pertaining to lack of food accessibility. It examines the existing network of Syracuse Grows community gardens, how architecture can intervene within it, and the architect's role in improving the local food environment. The goal of architectural interventions is to provide the community with a platform to kick start a larger change in the urban and socioeconomic fabrics of the city.

Daniel Calbino, I. Borges, Luis Antonio Andrade Rosas, C.T. Abreu, Fernanda Anziliero Gonçalves · COLÓQUIO - Revista do Desenvolvimento Regional · Brazil

This case study in Sete Lagoas, Brazil, discusses the advances and challenges of agroecological urban community gardens, which have a history of approximately 33 years. Research findings indicate that public policy enables income generation for producers, increased supply, and food security in the region. However, the study highlights the need for greater support to address producers' limited technical knowledge and the importance of more supportive interpersonal relationships.

Austin Brynjulson · Open PRAIRIE (South Dakota State University) · United States (Sioux Falls)

This research explored the role of urban gardens in Sioux Falls, SD, as a tool to combat food insecurity. It examined gardeners' experiences and how gardens affect perceptions of food security and eating behaviors. Additionally, the study investigated the nutritional quality of urban garden produce compared to store-bought equivalents, aiming to understand how urban gardens affect access to and consumption of nutritional food for the surrounding community.

Angelina Moreira Melo, Daniel Calbino, Yuri Gomes Figueiredo, Fabiola Paulino da Silva, E. R. de O. Carvalho · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

This empirical work, based on participatory research, analyzed the social relations between producers of the Vapabucu community garden in Sete Lagoas, Brazil, and municipal public support organs. Research results indicate that while agroecological knowledge has advanced significantly in the technical dimension of agronomic production, the social relations among producers still show contradictions inherent to agroecological assumptions.

Kaitlyn Lawrence · Digital Commons - Ursinus (Ursinus College) · United States (Philadelphia)

This study aims to understand urban farming in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by investigating who farms as a business, what they grow, their methods, and reasons for involvement. Recognizing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not track urban farmers, the research intends to develop an understanding of the collective identity of Philadelphia's urban farmers to help them better serve their communities.