Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
598 results(21 / 24)
Massachusetts Avenue Project: Urban Farming and Job Skills for Youth
2012Rebecca 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.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEconomicsCommunity Gardens Involving Young Children as a Potential Obesity-Prevention Strategy: A Systematic Review to Inform Future Research and Practice
2012Teri Burgess‐Champoux · SOPHIA (St. Catherine University) · United States
This systematic review aims to summarize scientific literature on community gardens as a means to increase fruit and vegetable intake in preschool-aged children (2-5 years) in childcare settings in the United States. The review, limited to peer-reviewed journals published within the past five years, seeks to identify research gaps. Data analysis is ongoing, and future research is needed to address the benefits, effectiveness, sustainability, and policy impacts of community gardens.
CommunityFood educationHealthPotencialidades das visitas técnicas para o desenvolvimento de competências: o caso da horta comunitária do morro da coroa.
2012Rafael Ângelo Fortunato, Elza Neffa, Maria Geralda de Miranda · · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This qualitative study investigated the potential of technical visits to the Morro da Coroa Community Garden in Santa Teresa/RJ, Brazil, for competence development. The research analyzed the experiences of visitors and visited individuals, with students replicating activities in another Rio de Janeiro community (Morro do Salgueiro) and producing a documentary. The findings highlight the importance of technical visits for developing new competencies in areas such as educommunication, action research, and social technology.
CommunityFood educationViolence prevention, health promotion coming together: Projects creating healthier neighborhoods
2012Teddi Dineley Johnson · The Nation'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.
CommunityWelfareHealthFood educationGrowing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland
2011Corrigan 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.
WelfareCommunityFood educationThe Effects of School Garden Experiences on Middle School-Aged Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Associated With Vegetable Consumption
2011Ratcliffe M.M. · Health Promotion Practice · USA
A study of garden-based education for middle school-aged students; 236 completed a Garden Vegetable Frequency Questionnaire and 161 a taste test, showing improved recognition, attitudes, preferences, and willingness to taste vegetables, plus greater variety eaten.
Food educationHealthGreening Buffalo's Vacant Lots
2011Chris Szczygiel · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States (Buffalo)
Greening vacant lots is one of the most cost-effective ways for the city of Buffalo to improve its neighborhoods. A program to clean up, green up, and maintain vacant lots can combat blight, raise property values and tax revenue, lower crime rates, and improve residents' quality of life. Greening lots can provide various community benefits, including jobs, educational opportunities, and a local source of fresh, nutritious food.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationHealthHere Live the Stories: Working the Land through Indigenous Knowledge
2011Joyce Rain Anderson · Journal of international women's studies · United States (Bridgewater)
A project in Bridgewater, United States, is creating an Indigenous garden at the BSU community gardens, involving the construction of a traditional wetu dwelling and the cultivation of a "three-sisters" and medicinal garden. Local Native participants are constructing and tending the garden, and will be instructed in ancestral ways. The initiative aims to support and advance Native culture, allowing students and community members to learn about traditional gardening and dwelling construction from a Native perspective.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceCultivating Knowledge In The School Garden: New Ways Of Teaching Literacy To ESL Students
2011Michele DuRivage · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States (New York)
This thesis project developed original garden-based lesson plans to teach literacy to fourth-grade ESL students. A field study conducted during the spring semester of 2009 at Increase Miller Elementary School in Westchester County, New York, showed that using nature as inspiration, students produced imaginative writing pieces, demonstrating growth in their literacy skills.
Food educationCommunityDesigning a School Garden Space that Emphasizes Children's Wants and Uses Permaculture Design Methods
2011Mikhaela Mullins · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Lincoln)
This case study at Saratoga Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska, aimed to identify children's desires for a garden space. A school garden was constructed, and an after-school garden club was implemented, where participating students drew their ideal gardens. Elements from these drawings were categorized as 'highly desired' or 'somewhat desired' and subsequently integrated into a proposed garden design plan for Saratoga, which utilizes Permaculture design methods for sustainability.
Food educationDIYOrganic cycleCommunity Perspectives on Barriers and Strategies for Promoting Locally Grown Produce From an Urban Agriculture Farm
2011Alice Hu, Ángela Acosta, Abigail McDaniel, Joel Gittelsohn · Health Promotion Practice · United States
This qualitative study identified strategies to promote locally grown produce from an urban agriculture project, Produce From the Park (PFP), among low-income neighborhood residents and community organization representatives (20 interviews, 2 focus groups, 3 participant observations) in a mid-Atlantic city in the United States. Informants identified structural and cultural barriers to purchasing healthy food, including price, location, food culture, and lack of interest, and proposed strategies such as distribution via mobile food carts and farm stands, marketing new foods through taste tests and cooking demonstrations, and youth mentorship. These strategies were inexpensive and incorporated cultural norms and local assets.
CommunityFood educationHealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice2010 Student Organic Farm
2011Jennifer Marie Vazquez · · United States
In 2010, the ISU Student Organic Farm (SOF) completed its fifth season at the ISU Horticulture Research Station and began selling Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for the first time. This initiative aimed to address the challenges of voluntarily managing an acre of organic vegetables. The effort led to increased participant involvement, greater food production and distribution, and improvements in infrastructure and soil fertility, including the purchase and installation of drip irrigation and the planting of a winter cover crop.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood educationOrganic cycleOutdoor Classrooms: Introducing an Agriculture Program at Grand Valley State University
2011Kendall Gilbert · ScholarWorks - GVSU (Grand Valley State University) · United States
This project aims to utilize the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Community Garden for agricultural studies, research, education, and outreach. It seeks to expand opportunities for GVSU students, the campus community, and the greater Grand Rapids area to engage in gardening fieldwork. The project intends to promote GVSU as a new field site for agricultural education and production, bridging the gap between students and food systems.
Food educationCommunitySouth Sudan community garden project : Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
2011· · 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.
CommunityWelfareFood educationEconomicsSupporting Local Agriculture
2011Kathleen L. Cappellano · Nutrition Today · United States
This article outlines farmers markets, community-supported agriculture, school- and community-based gardening, and collaborative programs that provide access to fresh produce, in response to American consumers' growing interest in learning about how and where their food is produced. It highlights online resources that describe these programs and organizations, which inform people about the many benefits of local agriculture.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood educationEconomicsEducating Future Generations of Community Gardeners
2011Shane J. Ralston · PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) · United States
This paper presents a Deweyan argument that school gardening prepares students for community gardening, a political activity aimed at food security, education, and community development. School gardening can also prepare children for environmental political activism, particularly involvement in gardening movements, which is presented as an interpretation of John Dewey's "civic turn" to school gardening.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyA Extensão Universitária dentro de projeto de Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana com foco na agroecologia
2011Matheus 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.
CommunityFood educationWelfarePeri-urban agricultureThe Integration of School Garden Programs into Educational Curriculum
2011Annie Lowry · Digital Commons - Olivet Distinctive Heritage, Scholarship, & Creativity (Olivet Nazarene University) · United States (Illinois)
This project aimed to evaluate how gardening is integrated into classroom curriculum in several schools in Illinois and the factors leading to this integration. Qualitative data was collected from interviews with educational professionals from seven different sites, confirming previous research on the benefits of gardening and providing new insights into current and future integration of gardens into the classroom.
Food educationHealthCommunityTruck Farm (2010)
2011Louise Chawla · Children Youth and Environments · United States (New York City)
This article reviews the 2010 film "Truck Farm," directed by Ian Cheney, which explores urban gardening in New York City. The film follows Cheney as he cultivates a vegetable garden in his grandfather's pickup truck and visits other urban farmers and food experts across the city. "Truck Farm" combines serious exposition with humor, prompting viewers to consider the future of urban farming and the role of whimsy in sustainability. The reviewer suggests the film is a valuable resource for youth community gardening programs or food systems classes.
DIYCommunityFood educationCurrent and Emerging Issues in the New Urban Agriculture: A Case Study
2011Kathryn A. Peters · Journal of Food Law & Policy · United States
Urban agriculture in the United States takes various forms, including individual gardens on private land, public property, and church and school grounds. Key factors for success include land acquisition, zoning ordinances, access to affordable water, infrastructure, and support services like education and outreach. Major U.S. cities, such as Seattle (declared 2010 the Year of Urban Agriculture) and Cleveland (declared 2012 the Year of Local Food), recognize urban agriculture's important role in sustainable cities and local food supply systems.
CommunityPolicyFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceThe Honeybee Man by L. Nargi
2011Sarah Mead-Willis · The Deakin Review of Children s Literature · United States (Brooklyn)
"The Honeybee Man" by L. Nargi is a 2011 picture book about Fred, a Brooklyn resident who keeps three honeybee colonies on his townhouse roof. The book illustrates Fred's urban beekeeping, showing how his bees collect nectar across the borough and how he harvests and distributes honey to neighbors. It aims to educate young families about local ecology and human community, explaining bee behavior and the processes of beekeeping and honeymaking.
DIYCommunityPollinatorsFood educationAn evaluation of the California Instructional School Garden Program
2011Eric L. Hazzard, Elizabeth Moreno, Deborah Lane Beall, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · Public Health Nutrition · United States (California)
A mid-term evaluation was conducted on 3103 California public schools (80.6% of applicants) to assess the effectiveness of the California Instructional School Garden Program (CISGP). Many schools reported not achieving their predicted goals related to the CISGP grant, with only 39.4% of schools accomplishing all their garden-related goals. Additionally, 37.8% of schools reported that their school gardens were negatively affected by the California budget deficit, suggesting that the discrepancy between predicted and actual grant utilization may be due to a combination of budget shortfall and insufficient grant award amounts.
Limited or null effectFood educationPolicyEconomicsReview and Analysis of the Benefits, Purposes, and Motivations Associated with Community Gardening in the United States
2010Draper 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.
CommunityWelfareFood educationUrban agriculture and ecological citizenship in Philadelphia
2010Katharine Antonia Travaline, Christian Hunold · Local Environment · United States (Philadelphia)
This study explored urban agriculture's contribution to ecological citizenship in Philadelphia, United States. The analysis was based on participant-observation and open-ended interviews with leaders and community participants from seven urban agricultural organizations. The findings indicate that urban agriculture promotes public participation and social learning about environmental decisions.
CommunityFood educationPolicyDoes Socio/Economic Status Affect Environmental Awareness in Elementary School Children Interacting with School Gardens?
2010Grady C Erickson · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Lincoln, Nebraska)
This case study in three elementary schools in Lincoln, Nebraska, examined whether socio-economic background affects environmental awareness in children interacting with no-till, raised-bed school gardens. Surveys were used to measure environmental awareness. The hypothesis that lower socio-economic background would result in lower environmental awareness was inversely related to the findings. The school with the most impoverished background (Saratoga) showed the highest percentage of correct answers on environmental awareness surveys, while the school with the highest socio-economic scale (Norris) showed the lowest.
Food educationCommunity