Research & reports

Anna Stage (17743305), Marie Caroline Vermund (11075551), Mads Bølling (6661577), Camilla Roed Otte (21175813), Alberte Laura Oest Müllertz (21175816), Peter Bentsen (3527732), Glen Nielsen (10468844), Peter Elsborg (8894495) · Figshare · Europe

This is the SPIRIT checklist for the FoodACT protocol, a multimethod, quasi-experimental study preregistered with ClinicalTrials.gov (#NCT05839080) investigating how the existing Danish school garden program Gardens to Bellies (GtB), delivered at six locations across Region Zealand and Region of Southern Denmark, affects fourth-grade pupils' food literacy, climate change literacy, school motivation and physical activity. Approximately 1,600 pupils attending GtB form the intervention group and approximately 1,600 pupils from non-participating schools form the control group, with pupils in the eight-session program growing, preparing and cooking foods; outcomes will be measured via pre/post surveys, accelerometry in a 900-pupil subsample, text-message surveys and semi-structured and focus-group interviews, analyzed using linear mixed models and thematic analysis. As a protocol document, it describes study design rather than results.

Rodriguez, Eliza · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States

A community outreach and education project in Gonzales, California, was implemented by the organization Savor the Local in partnership with the City of Gonzales and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, aiming to raise awareness of healthy eating and identify barriers to accessing nutritious food among the city's working-class residents. Activities included distributing an informational pamphlet, a follow-up survey, and support for a community garden and healthy cooking classes. Eight survey participants reported a better understanding of the importance of healthy eating and helped identify some reasons residents were not easily accessing healthy foods; the project reported meeting its goals of increasing awareness and gathering feedback on food-access barriers.

Jennifer Newell, Siobhan Cox, Rory Doherty · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Global

A systematic review synthesized literature on the oral bioaccessible fraction (BAF) of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and lead in vegetables grown on contaminated soils, drawing values from multiple online databases across potentially toxic elements (PTEs), in vitro test methods, and vegetable types. The review starts from the premise that many urban and peri-urban brownfield sites carry a legacy of soil metal and metalloid contamination, so crops grown there may pose human health risks. Median PTE BAFs ranked Cd > Ni > Cr > As > Pb; among in vitro methods, the unified BARGE method (UBM) produced the highest median BAFs (63.0% gastric, 59.6% gastrointestinal); and by crop type, BAFs ranked non-vegetables (e.g., rice, fungi) > legumes > root vegetables > bulb vegetables > leafy vegetables.

Kelley AT, Boger R · EcoHealth · 米国・ニューヨーク市ブルックリン

A survey of mosquito larval abundance and genera across 22 community gardens in Brooklyn, New York. The authors frame these gardens as social spaces providing food sovereignty to many New Yorkers, while the arrival of Aedes albopictus and the longtime presence of Culex pipiens make socialising in them more dangerous — Ae. albopictus is associated with dengue, Zika and chikungunya, and Cx. pipiens is a longstanding West Nile virus vector. Because both breed in human-made plastic containers, knowing their preferred container types and locations can inform gardeners' best management practices. Non-purposeful container types and lower total volumes of water were significant predictors of higher mosquito densities, though these variables did not predict egg-laying preference.

Otoadese D, Kamara I, Onyango E · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · カナダ・アルバータ州

Community gardens are increasingly popular in Canadian cities and can be transformative spaces where immigrants develop self-reliant strategies for accessing culturally familiar, healthy food — yet many facilitators and barriers limit the engagement of racialized groups such as Black-identifying immigrants. Using a socio-ecological framework and a community-based participatory research approach, this mixed-methods study combined structured surveys (n = 119), in-depth interviews (n = 10) and two Afrocentric sharing circles, with participants recruited through African immigrant-serving community organisations in Alberta. Barriers at several levels of the socio-ecological model interacted to shape interest and engagement, while access to collective gardens was associated with significant benefits: maintaining healthy foodways, knowledge exchange, growing social capital, and community connections supporting overall wellbeing. The authors offer an accessible framework for addressing these barriers and for making urban agriculture initiatives more inclusive and culturally responsive.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

This EPA page (last updated December 22, 2025) explains chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative used since the 1940s for utility poles, posts, and other structural lumber. Manufacturers voluntarily ended CCA use for residential wood products in December 2003. EPA notes cancer and non-cancer health risks for workers and environmental risks to aquatic invertebrates and plants, while stating there is no health risk to the general public; removal of existing CCA structures is not mandated, though periodic sealant coating is recommended to reduce leaching.

Abdul Rahim Mohammed Sabtiu, Isaac Kwame Sraku, Christopher Mfum Owusu-Asenso, Yaw Akuamoah-Boateng, Richard Tettey Doe, Emmanuel Nana Boadu, Judith Dzifa Azumah, Nana Aba Setorwu Eyeson, Anisa Abdulai, Godfred Amoateng, Simon Kwaku Attah, Fred Aboagye-Antwi, Yaw Asare Afrane · BMC Infectious Diseases · Ghana (Accra)

A 2025 entomological study in Accra, Ghana, that sampled mosquitoes at ten sites grouped into five categories — irrigated urban farming (IUF), low, middle and high socioeconomic status, and peri-urban — to compare vector distribution, biting behaviour and infectivity. Human landing catches and Prokopack aspiration collected 41,747 mosquitoes in total; 48.63% (10,466/21,520) of Anopheles gambiae s.l. came from the irrigated urban farming sites, far above peri-urban (18.06%), high (16.42%), middle (13.74%) and low (3.15%) socioeconomic sites. Indoor-caught An. gambiae s.l. had a higher sporozoite infection rate (4.56%, 16/351) than outdoor (3.78%, 9/238; χ² = 6.78, P = 0.009), and Tuba, an irrigated site, had the highest rate at 6.41% (10/156). The authors conclude that irrigated urban agriculture drives urban malaria transmission in Accra and that indoor control plus management of immature vector habitats in farming areas is needed — evidence of a public-health trade-off in which irrigated growing creates vector habitat alongside its food and livelihood benefits.

Chimwemwe Chiutula, Andrew G. Mtewa, Amon Abraham, Richard Lizwe Steven Mvula, Alfred Maluwa, Fasil Ejigu Eregno, John Njalam'mano · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Malawi (Blantyre)

At the Soche Wastewater Treatment Plant in Blantyre, Malawi (built in the 1950s, current design flow 4,100 m³/day), whose effluent irrigates nearby gardens, researchers measured heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in effluent, soil and six vegetables (three exotic Brassica varieties plus indigenous pumpkin, sweet-potato and amaranth leaves). Soil zinc reached 56.4 ± 0.5 mg/kg against a WHO limit of 36 mg/kg; vegetable stems reached 4.65 mg/kg chromium (limit 2.3) and 4.09 mg/kg lead (limit 0.3), and leaves 0.31 mg/kg cadmium (limit 0.2). Health risk indices peaked at 92.28, far above the safe threshold of 1. Limitations: sampling at a single time point (November) with no seasonal variation, and total-element rather than speciation analysis.

Gerald Quarcoo, Samuel Armoo, Augustina Angelina Sylverken, Matthew Glover Addo · PLOS ONE · Ghana

A study of 179 urban vegetable farmers in Accra (n=125) and Tamale (n=54), Ghana, with stool samples from 168 of them. Tamale recorded 0% soil-transmitted helminth infection, while Accra recorded Ascaris lumbricoides 5.1%, Ancylostoma duodenale 2.5% and Strongyloides stercoralis 0.8%. Not using personal protective equipment was strongly associated with infection (odds ratio 4.3, 95% CI 1.03–18.00, p=0.04); PPE use was 72% in Tamale versus 41% in Accra. The results indicate that occupational health risk in urban farming varies sharply by site and working practice. Limitations include farmers declining to give samples for superstitious reasons and the near-absence of prior studies on this population.

Gabson Baguma, Gadson Bamanya, Hannington Twinomuhwezi, Allan Gonzaga, Timothy Omara, Patrick Onen, Simon Ocakacon, Christopher Angiro, Wilber Waibale, Ronald Ntuwa · Journal of Xenobiotics · Uganda (Kampala)

In the Luzira Industrial Area of Kampala's Nakawa Division, Uganda — a park hosting metal fabrication, pharmaceuticals, brewing and plastics — researchers sampled 20 composite soils and 20 yam tubers from five sites (four under industrial influence, one control) in March 2024 and measured copper, cadmium, chromium, zinc and lead. Soils held 137.30–162.30 mg/kg zinc, 39.50–54.53 mg/kg lead and 28.70–42.13 mg/kg copper. Tubers held less (zinc 6.68–33.1, lead 0.023–0.291, cadmium 0.013–0.116 mg/kg), yet hazard indices for children exceeded the safe threshold at every industrial site (HI = 1.14–2.06) and total cancer risk of 1.27 × 10⁻⁴ to 5.83 × 10⁻⁴ exceeded EPA limits, with cadmium and chromium the main drivers. Limitations: standard EPA exposure parameters rather than population-specific data, and no metal speciation.

Chmielewski J., Wszelaczyńska E., Pobereżny J., Florek-Łuszczki M., Gworek B. · Sustainability · Poland

The study sampled 112 items — 72 vegetable and 40 fruit — from 16 allotment gardens in Warsaw and measured Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd. Vegetables accumulated markedly more heavy metals than fruits, and leafy vegetables grown near high-traffic roads carried the highest Pb, Cd and Zn. Lead exceeded permissible limits by six to twelve times and cadmium by one to thirteen, leading the authors to advise against growing tomatoes in urban settings. Only trace amounts appeared in fruits, and the Hazard Index rated the fruits alone as safe. The paper calls for continuous monitoring of urban garden soils, remediation of contaminated ground and safer growing practices.

Kipelo A., Atibu E., Sivalingam P., Poté J. · Environmental Challenges · Democratic Republic of the Congo

The study sampled domestic and irrigation water at Kinshasa's main gardening sites and measured faecal indicator bacteria alongside toxic metal concentrations — addressing head-on the sanitary risk sitting under the city's market gardening, in the water that irrigates its vegetables. The publisher does not make the abstract openly available, so only the study's scope is recorded here.

Panțiru I., Ronaldson A., Sima N., Dregan A., Sima R. · Systematic Reviews (Springer), 13:45 · Global

An umbrella review and meta-analysis comparing prior reviews of diverse gardening interventions, including home, allotment, community, and therapeutic gardening. Synthesizing 40 studies, it finds a significant positive effect of gardening and horticultural therapy on well-being, quality of life, and health status.

Shimpo N. · Landscape and Urban Planning, 251:105148 · Japan

Analyses how a suburban-Tokyo community garden (Seseragi Garden, Hino City) was managed for resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gardeners proactively set rules through discussion and sustained activity, helping maintain food security, physical and mental health, ikigai and social networks, thereby contributing to community resilience.

· 農福連携等推進会議（内閣官房） · Japan

Government vision (2019, revised 2024) promoting noufuku—agriculture-welfare collaboration enabling people with disabilities to participate in society through farming—as national policy, covering awareness, training, facility support, and market expansion via certification.

柏の葉スマートシティコンソーシアム, 国土交通省 都市局 · 国土交通省 都市局（スマートシティ実装化支援事業 報告書） · Japan

An MLIT support-program report documenting the implementation of Kashiwanoha Smart City, advanced by Mitsui Fudosan as co-developer through public-private-academia collaboration (UDCK). It covers the implementation and evaluation of resident-participatory initiatives across health, community and data use.

Ezzeddin N., Kalantari N., Abdollahi M., Amiri P., Amini B., Zayeri F. · BMC Public Health 24:118 · Iran

Cross-sectional study of rural Iranian women in a homestead food production program. Nutritional knowledge and decision-making empowerment positively predicted dietary diversity, while household food insecurity predicted it negatively.

Monsur M., Mansur M., Trina N.A., Cosco N. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(11):1485 · United States (Texas)

A randomized trial in eight Lubbock County childcare centers (149 children) testing standardized raised-bed garden intervention on preschoolers' fruit and vegetable knowledge and liking. Shows that collaborative childcare-garden programs can improve vegetable preferences even in semi-arid climates.

一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 · まちにわ ひばりが丘 公式活動報告書 · Japan

Annual report of the area-management organization after UR Hibarigaoka Danchi regeneration, documenting resident-led activities such as the shared garden and Niwa Marche at Hibari Terrace 118 and strengthened collaboration with developer subdivisions including Nomura, Daiwa, and Sumitomo.

住友不動産商業マネジメント株式会社, 武蔵野大学工学部サステナビリティ学科 · 武蔵野大学 / 住友不動産 共同プレスリリース · Japan

At Sumitomo Fudosan's Ariake Garden commercial facility, a resident-participatory container garden is launched jointly with Musashino University as a social experiment including urban permaculture workshops and wellbeing evaluation.

Giyarsih S.R., Armansyah, Zaelany A.A., Latifa A., Setiawan B., Saputra D., Haqi M., Fathurohman A., Lamijo · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study finds that Bandung's Buruan SAE urban farming programme meaningfully contributes to household food security, with diverse produce meeting community food needs, some participants achieving farming independence, and urban agriculture providing supplementary income. The research documents a transformation in citizen attitudes toward farming as a viable urban livelihood.

Chari F., Ngcamu B.S. · Local Environment · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)

This survey-based study of community garden farmers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe assessed the effectiveness of community gardens in promoting social inclusion for vulnerable urban residents, finding that garden participation enhanced social networks, food security, and livelihoods among marginalized groups.

Maeve Malone, Kabindra M. Shakya · Sustainability · United States

This paper reviews the state of heavy metal contamination (such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium) in community garden soils across the United States, noting that gardeners are exposed through pathways such as inhalation and ingestion. It states that contamination hot spots are higher in city areas with greater minority populations and lower incomes. The review outlines mitigation approaches including applying biochar and compost, using raised beds, and maintaining a natural pH.

Hannah M. Ohm, Thomas M. DeSutter, Christina L. Hargiss, Keith A. Anderson, Nathan E. Derby, Beverly Alvarez‐Torres · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States

This perspective article argues that, although urban agriculture is gaining popularity across the United States and national-level soil information exists, urban residents often have limited detail about the soils in their communities. It suggests that agencies such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service could expand existing soil survey programs (e.g., WebSoilSurvey) and that trace-element testing and interpretation would improve knowledge of the risks urban soils pose to food quality. The authors emphasize opportunities for local, state and federal entities to support the soil-science needs of urban growers.

· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei)

Studies land-use optimization to accommodate nutritional transformation of food systems in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China.