Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
667 results(17 / 27)
Drought, water access, and urban agriculture: a case study from Silicon Valley
2017Lucy Diekmann, Leslie Gray, Gregory A. Baker · Local Environment · United States (California)
This case study in Santa Clara County, California, used interviews and surveys to explore the implications of historic drought for urban agriculture (UA). It found that metropolitan California's decentralized water supply and diverse institutional arrangements create an uneven landscape of water access for UA. This results in geographically and socially differentiated pressures on UA water users to change water-consuming practices, with responses varying due to site-specific sociotechnical arrangements and UA purposes.
Governance failureClimate changePolicyUrban–rural linkageFarming in the City: Investigating the Policy Implications for Urban Farming in Regina
2017Osazuwa Osayomwanbor · Open MIND · Canada
This study discusses the concept of urban agriculture in Regina, Canada, its growth, and the implications of municipal bylaws and policies on urban agricultural activities. It uses policy frameworks from other cities to suggest changes needed to improve Regina's urban agriculture landscape and presents practical actions required for urban agriculture to thrive in Regina.
PolicyCommunityFood justice or food sovereignty? Understanding the rise of urban food movements in the USA
2016Clendenning J., Dressler W. H., Richards C. · Agriculture and Human Values 33:165-177 · United States
Through interviews with activists in Oakland and New Orleans, analyzes how food justice and food sovereignty have become embedded as concepts, strategies and practices in the rise of US urban food movements.
CommunityPolicyWelfareLead in Urban Soils: A Real or Perceived Concern for Urban Agriculture?
2016Brown S.L., Chaney R.L., Hettiarachchi G.M. · Journal of Environmental Quality, 45(1):26-36 · United States
A review examining the risk that urban soil lead poses to urban agriculture. It concludes that adding compost, organic matter and phosphorus improves soil properties and reduces both the bioavailability of soil lead and fugitive dust, so urban agriculture is unlikely to raise children's blood lead. The findings support the safety of compost-centred soil management in urban gardens.
CompostHealthPolicyOrganic cycleFood Policy: Urban Farming as a Supplemental Food Source
2016Bessie DiDomenica, Mark Gordon · Journal of Social Change · United States
This study explores urban farms as a secondary food source and examines common themes across the public, nonprofit, private, and academic sectors, using a Northeastern U.S. city that implemented a formal urban agriculture program as its case study. It notes that food systems can be disrupted by external forces (weather extremes) and internal forces (zoning regulations). The authors argue that urban farms offer greater food visibility and access in low-income areas, but conclude that local food alone cannot feed large populations.
PolicyCommunityAvailability and Accessibility of Vacant Lots for Urban Cultivation in Post-Katrina New Orleans
2016Yuki Kato, Scarlett Andrews, Cate Irvin · Urban Affairs Review · United States (New Orleans)
Based on interviews with 44 urban growers in New Orleans, this study examines their experiences establishing urban agriculture projects on publicly and privately owned lots through purchase or lease. It finds that publicly owned lots are easier to identify but insecure to access due to bureaucratic processes and shifting policy, while privately owned lots are easier to lease but hard to identify; neither offers significantly more secure land tenure, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of urban agriculture.
PolicyCommunityEffects of greening and community reuse of vacant lots on crime
2016Michelle Kondo, Bernadette Hohl, SeungHoon Han, Charles Branas · Urban Studies · United States (Youngstown)
Using a difference-in-differences design, this study evaluates Youngstown's 'Lots of Green' program, comparing crime around newly treated vacant lots—via a cleaning-and-greening 'stabilization' treatment and a 'community reuse' treatment involving mostly community gardens—to matched untreated control lots. It finds statistically significant reductions across crime classes for at least one treatment type, with community-initiated greening associated with greater reductions in serious, violent crimes, alongside spillover reductions in contiguous areas but increases in motor vehicle thefts.
CommunityPolicyUrban agriculture and the sustainability fix in Vancouver and Detroit
2016Walker Samuel · Urban Geography · Canada/USA (Vancouver, Detroit)
Critical analysis of how Vancouver and Detroit governments deployed urban agriculture rhetorically within economic-development narratives as a 'sustainability fix'. Argues municipal embrace of UA was selective and discursive, serving governance legitimacy more than substantive food or equity outcomes.
PolicyMy Drought is Different from Your Drought: A Case Study of the Policy Implications of Multiple Ways of Knowing Drought
2016Ellen Kohl, John A. Knox · Weather Climate and Society · United States (Georgia)
This paper examines the relationship between scientific definitions of drought and water management politics, using a case study of the 2007–09 drought in Georgia, USA. Data from archival research, direct observation, and interviews with urban agricultural sector members, environmental regulators, and government officials revealed how stakeholders produced and utilized multiple understandings of drought. The study found that stakeholders can leverage drought complexity to achieve political goals and alter water management, as demonstrated by the green industry in Georgia in 2009.
PolicyClimate changeUrban–rural linkageAgricultura urbana e gestão territorial em Recife/PE/Brasil: qual o lugar da agricultura urbana no planejamento da cidade?
2016Rúbio José Ferreira, Cláudio Jorge Moura de Castilho · Ateliê Geográfico · Brazil (Recife)
This text examines the place of urban agriculture and its practitioners in the urban planning process in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The main results indicate that urban agriculture and urban farmers are not effectively considered by Recife's urban planning technicians. This may be due to urban agriculture being a social practice used by people from the "lowest layers" of society in a marginal area of the local urban economy.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsWelfareFrom the ground up: Community gardens in New York City and the politics of spatial transformation, by Efrat Eizenberg
2016Roger Mark Selya · Journal of Urban Affairs · United States (New York City)
Efrat Eizenberg's study on community gardens in New York City and the politics of spatial transformation explores how groups of poor, ethnic, and racial minorities managed to obtain land for community gardens. This abstract only presents the research questions and does not detail the methodology or findings.
CommunityPolicy" But Our Hands Are Tied ": Assessing School Gardening Efforts at Title I Elementary Schools in Pinellas County, Florida
2016Alexandra Grace Lancey · · United States (Florida)
This ethnographic study in Pinellas County, Florida, investigated school gardening efforts at Title I elementary schools, focusing on an organization that installs gardens in "failing" schools. The research found that strict public school standards and neoliberal education reform paradoxically prevent teachers and administrators from fully utilizing school gardens for nutrition education. This limits their effectiveness in discussing nutrition, healthy eating, and local food, as the focus shifts to state-regulated education standards, revealing significant infrastructural challenges.
Governance failureFood educationHealthPolicyCommunityFood and Fuel Administration
2016David J. Bettez · · United States (Kentucky)
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover as head of the US Food Administration to promote food conservation and increase production. In Kentucky, Fred Sackett served as federal food administrator, implementing programs like “meatless” and “wheatless” days, encouraging housewives to use substitutes and children to grow school gardens. The federal government also established a Fuel Administration, headed in Kentucky by Wiley Bryan, who encouraged fuel conservation and increased production, and attempted to ensure equitable coal distribution during the 1917-1918 winter shortage.
Food educationCommunityPolicyThe Narrators
2016Starecheski, Amy · · United States (New York City)
This chapter examines the contested nature of value, urban citizenship, and property claims through the study of squatting, urban homesteading, and community garden activism in the South Bronx, New York City. It highlights how squatters' initiatives, while challenging neoliberal privatization, could also be coopted into a discourse of individual responsibility in a neoliberalizing city. The research explores how squatters claimed a right to the city based on their labor and citizenship, and used history and property rights to redefine their urban presence amidst renegotiated meanings of debt and homeownership.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe landscape of urban agriculture in California’s capital
2016N. Claire Napawan, Stacie A. Townsend · Landscape Research · United States (California)
This study investigated the landscape of urban agricultural practice in Sacramento, California, examining past and present urban agricultural projects, advocacy, and city and state policies. The research found that community interest in urban agriculture is outpacing local policies in Sacramento. The authors concluded that city-wide initiatives might improve efforts at increasing opportunities for new urban agriculture projects.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceYou Can't Common What You Can't See: Towards a Restorative Polycentrism in the Governance of Our Cities
2016Amy Laura Cahn, Paula Z. Segal · The Fordham urban law journal/Fordham urban law journal · United States
This paper argues that the invisibility of community-stewarded spaces, such as community gardens, within urban governance frameworks in North American cities leads to their enclosure and loss. It highlights that marginalized residents often have the least acknowledged claim to urban space. The study suggests that making existing community-stewarded places visible and exposing pathways to access is crucial to prevent enclosure and promote equity.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyHealthColumbus Community Gardens
2016Amanda Rees, Bert Melix, Chuck Lawson, Cory Hart · CSU ePress (Columbus State University) · United States (Columbus, Georgia)
During the 2016-2017 academic year, a professor and student from Columbus State University collected data from community garden sites in Columbus/Phenix City. This project involved the creation of a GIS digital map, which was then used to develop a quad-fold map for distribution at Georgia Organics events. Georgia Organics provided a mini-grant for the project.
CommunityPolicyFood educationAgricultura urbana e periurbana: limites e possibilidades de constituição de um sistema agroalimentar localizado no município de Teresina – PI
2016Sérgio Luiz de Oliveira Vilela, Maria Dione Carvalho de Moraes · Revista Econômica do Nordeste · Brazil (Teresina)
This article discusses the importance of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) and the challenges of its management, particularly the need to institutionalize a Localized Agri-Food System (SAL) in Teresina, Brazil. The concentration of 46 gardens, occupying almost 140 hectares within Teresina, meets the basic requirements for establishing a SAL. Based on bibliographic research and empirical knowledge, the study concluded that adopting a SAL is a fruitful measure for Teresina to address necessary transformations in UPA, making it a significant part of the municipal planning agenda.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceAgricultural Roads in Vancouver
2016Laura Castrejon Violante · Open Collections · Canada (Vancouver)
This paper proposes the concept of an "agricultural road" in Vancouver, reshaping a low-transit street into a multipurpose space for urban agriculture. Defined as a pedestrian-oriented area, it would offer plots for growing food while also achieving sustainable urban development outcomes like social inclusion, recreational space, and greening the urban landscape. The agricultural road aims to reconnect urban life with food by providing a space for growing edible plants and fostering discussion and education.
CommunityFood educationPolicyClimate change“We’re Doing It Ourselves”
2016Suleiman Osman · Journal of Planning History · United States (New York City)
The origins of public-private parks in New York City trace back to the 1970s fiscal crisis. Due to severe budget cuts at the Parks and Recreation Department, thousands of volunteers in block associations and community groups began maintaining parks through "do-it-yourself" urbanism, including guerrilla horticulture and community gardens. These self-help efforts evolved into new public-private parks by the early 1980s, reflecting antistatist impulses from both the left and right in the 1970s.
CommunityDIYPolicyReverberações sociais e territoriais decorrentes de horta comunitária na perspectiva do planejamento urbano saudável
2016Dra. Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Mg. Arq.Adriana Aparecida Carneiro Rosa, Carolina Guida Cardoso do Carmo, rq. Danielle Pereira Montrezor · ARQUISUR Revista · Brazil (Conchal)
A Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) was conducted on a community garden project in Conchal, São Paulo, Brazil, implemented through a public-community alliance. The study, involving residents with plots in the garden, observed positive impacts such as improved quality of life for participants, enhanced social integration and participation, and an increased sense of belonging to the neighborhood. This type of urban intervention was concluded to have the potential for positive reverberations on directly involved users, the urban territory, and their relationship.
CommunityHealthPolicyReappearance of the Public: Placemaking, Minoritization and Resistance in Detroit
2016Alesia Montgomery · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · United States (Detroit)
A case study of downtown Detroit theorizes that the history of clashes between racial capitalism and social movements in public space reappears in the contradictory design of market-driven placemaking. This placemaking subordinates the black urban poor, even while incorporating black entrepreneurs and culture. Consequently, it suppresses the ability of African Americans to shape public space, despite the return of the white middle class to central cities.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsInventing Eco-Cycle
2016Sandy Smith‐Nonini · Anthropology in Action · United States
This article discusses lessons learned from Eco-Cycle, a social enterprise supporting sustainability education in central North Carolina, U.S.A., since 2011. Eco-Cycle faced the challenge that many social justice-oriented green initiatives emulating urban agriculture models are grant-dependent in early years and achieve economic sustainability with difficulty. However, this non-profit co-op of upcycler crafters and vintage vendors grew from the production and marketing of upcycled rain barrels, pursuing economic sustainability through a social enterprise approach.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityPolicyIdentifying opportunities and hurdles for food security: a critical examination of the City of Edmonton's food and agriculture strategy
2016Lorelei L. Hanson, Deborah Schrader · Interdisciplinary Environmental Review · Canada (Edmonton)
This case study critically examined the development of a food and urban agriculture strategy in Edmonton, Canada, using survey data and semi-structured interviews with citizens and stakeholders. It explored the transformative potential of local urban food initiatives and identified hurdles in moving beyond maintaining the status quo. The study aimed to identify leverage points for long-term local food system transformation within conceptualizations of sustainability.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityA NEW VISION FOR AN OLD INSTITUTION: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES FOR URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE AT THE WALTHAM EXPERIMENT STATION
2016Kevin C. Hartzell · ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst) · United States (Massachusetts)
The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Waltham Experiment Station in Waltham, Massachusetts, is slated for redevelopment as a model for multi-use urban agriculture production, research, and education. This project will focus on educational and research categories within the theme of cultural ecosystem services. The aim is to strengthen urban and peri-urban agriculture activities through this new vision for extension.
Urban–rural linkageFood educationCommunityPolicy