Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2066 results(24 / 83)
Recent challenges and new possibilities with urban agriculture in Victoria, British Columbia
2022Abdolzaher Ghezeljeh, Jutta Gutberlet, Denise Cloutier · Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes · Canada (Victoria)
This study used qualitative research methods to explore the main barriers to urban agriculture as perceived by community-based groups in Victoria, British Columbia. Data from 18 semi-structured interviews and two community mapping workshops with residents, government officials, and non-governmental groups revealed "urban agriculture zones" and "garden-style" apartment housing as important avenues. However, progress towards far-reaching changes requires an efficient urban agriculture development process, including creating site inventories, increasing stakeholder participation, reducing waitlists, and tackling high land prices.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityFull Issue
2022Contingent Horizons · Contingent Horizons The York University Student Journal of Anthropology · Canada (Winnipeg)
This paper uses the Rainbow Community Garden in Winnipeg as a case study to discuss the benefits and challenges of community gardening for new immigrant and refugee families. Through a literature review and interviews with gardeners, the study emphasizes the role of food and community gardens in facilitating cross-cultural interactions, providing culturally appropriate food, and expressing cultural identity. The main conclusion is that for new immigrant and refugee participation, a garden is not only physical soil but also an important place for practicing culture and engaging in meaningful cross-cultural interaction beneficial for adjusting to a new life in Canada.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationInterregional Differences in Agricultural Development across Circumpolar Canada
2022Rose Seguin, Mark Lefsrud, Treena Delormier, Jan Adamowski, Helen Fyles · ARCTIC · Canada
This review explores interregional differences in agricultural development across circumpolar Canada, including Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut. Yukon and the Northwest Territories are the most agriculturally developed, with government support for commercial agriculture. In contrast, Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut have fewer agricultural initiatives, though local efforts exist for community gardens and greenhouses.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsHorta comunitária e Psicologia Social: um relato de experiência
2022Marília Alves dos Santos, W. D. B. S. Bonaci, L. S. FOGANHOLO · Fractal Revista de Psicologia · Brazil (São Paulo)
This report describes a supervised internship experience in Social and Community Psychology conducted in 2017 with an intergenerational community garden group at a social assistance institution in rural São Paulo state. Key observed results of this intervention among group members included the learning of various cultivation techniques, the strengthening of interpersonal relationships, the development of group autonomy and self-organization, and the group's formation as an important support network.
CommunityFood educationHealthAGRICULTURA URBANA E PERIURBANA EM PRESIDENTE PRUDENTE/SP: CARACTERIZAÇÃO DOS PRODUTORES
2022Audrey Ferreira Rosa · Formação (Online) · Brazil (Presidente Prudente)
A survey was conducted among 13 urban and peri-urban farmers in Presidente Prudente/SP, Brazil, to analyze their profiles. This survey was part of a master's research conducted between 2018 and 2019. The findings indicated that there is no single or homogeneous profile characterizing urban and peri-urban farmers, and the information obtained differed from farmers in other Brazilian municipalities and states, highlighting the heterogeneity of individuals involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture.
Urban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsCommunityShould I Pay or Should I Grow? Factors Which Influenced the Preferences of US Consumers for Fruit, Vegetables, Wine and Beer during the COVID-19 Pandemic
2022Meike Rombach, David Dean, Tim Baird, Jacob Kambuta · Foods · United States
This study investigated factors determining US consumer preferences for growing and processing horticultural products (fruit, vegetables, wine, beer) versus buying them, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using PLS-SEM, findings showed that engagement with horticulture pre- and post-pandemic influenced preferences for growing/processing, and this engagement was significantly impacted by attitudes towards US growers. Attitudes towards COVID-19 and human values like self-enhancement, conservation, and self-transcendence were also significant, but openness to change was not.
DIYCommunityEconomicsHealthNutrient and toxic elements in soils and plants across 10 urban community gardens: Comparing pXRF and ICP‐based soil measurements
2022Ainsley C. McStay, S.L. Walser, Eric C. Sirkovich, Nicolas Perdrial, Justin B. Richardson · Journal of Environmental Quality · United States
This study evaluated portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) measurements of macronutrients, micronutrients, and toxic elements (As, Pb) in soils and plants from 10 urban community gardens across the eastern United States. It found that pXRF and traditional methods provided agreeable estimates for some elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb) but not for macronutrients (Ca, K, P). While pXRF is an accurate tool for screening Mn, Cu, Zn, and Pb, macronutrients were poorly estimated in fruits, leaves, and roots, and genus-specific and garden-specific factors may be important for plant uptake models.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceFrom Weslandia to Urban Gardening
2022Aria Razfar, Beverly Troiano · · United States (New York City)
This chapter presents action research conducted by an elementary teacher in a second-grade classroom in New York City, United States, where a gardening unit was implemented. The gardening unit was part of a thematic unit on "community," a theme that emerged from surveys of student interests, experiences, and problems. The origins of critical urban gardening trace back to 1970s New York, when communities reappropriated green space.
Food educationCommunityPolicyUrban gardens in promoting Food and Nutrition Security and sustainable development in Salvador, Brazil
2022Manuela Alves da Cunha, Ryzia de Cássia Vieira Cardoso · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (Salvador)
A descriptive study was conducted to highlight the contribution of urban gardens to promoting Food and Nutrition Security and sustainable development in Salvador, Brazil. Data collected from urban garden farmers in the city showed that the gardens have been promoting work and generating income for families, contributing to food supply and security. In addition to producing fresh vegetables for the local population, the activity contributes to ecosystem balance and sustainability.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCommunityClimate changeHorta na escola: o ensino de química a partir da produção de adubo orgânico
2022Carine Borchert Rosa, Daniela Mueller de Lara, Erli Schneider Costa · Revista Eletrônica Científica da UERGS · Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)
This study at Escola Estadual de Educação Básica Santa Rita in Nova Santa Rita, Brazil, applied a research-oriented teaching proposal to students, focusing on inorganic functions through organic fertilizer production using school waste. Students built a garden, collected waste, produced organic fertilizer, and validated results. The study observed mutual aid among students, developed their intervention capacity, and noted a positive change in their approach to discarded waste like potato peels, banana peels, eggshells, and mate.
Food educationCompostOrganic cycleContradições na prática coletiva da agricultura urbana: uma análise Bourdieusiana
2022Ana Clara Aparecida Alves de Souza, Fernando Dias Lopes · Cadernos EBAPE BR · Brazil (Porto Alegre)
This two-year participatory investigation of Horta da Formiga, a collective urban garden in Porto Alegre, Brazil, analyzed how key agents reconcile inherent contradictions. The study found that while individuals exhibit agency, structured conditions within the social field prevent the organic and diverse reconciliation of contradictions. This occurs despite agents aligning with state-legitimized capital.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceOn-Farm Spatial Composition, Management Practices and Estimated Productivity of Urban Farms in the San Francisco Bay Area
2022Joshua Arnold · Processes · United States (California)
A survey of 29 urban farms in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2014 to 2017 examined on-farm spatial composition, management practices, and estimated productivity. Findings showed a large proportion of farm area dedicated to infrastructure and underutilized potential production space. All surveyed farms adopted diverse agroecological practices, and measured farms were productive with estimated seasonal yields of 7.14 kg/square meter, comparable to actual yields at two farms.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityBiodiversityAgricultura urbana em Curitiba: um fenômeno heterogêneo e desigual
2022Elizandra Flávia Araujo, Marcos Paulo Fuck · Cadernos de Ciência & Tecnologia · Brazil (Curitiba)
This study aimed to identify and characterize different categories of urban agriculture practitioners in Curitiba. A descriptive study using bibliographic and documentary analysis found that urban agriculture activities are concentrated in peripheral areas of the city, with most participants having a monthly family income of up to two minimum wages. Despite a wide range of actors engaging in these practices, their visibility and inclusion in the political agenda occur asymmetrically.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageReflexión del impacto de las áreas verdes en Lázaro Cárdenas Michoacán, México
2022Universidad de Guadalajara, Ofelia Barrios Vargas, María Lourdes Rebolledo García, Adán Rubio Cuevas · GESPYE Gestión Pública y Empresarial · Mexico
This study diagnosed urban gardens in Lázaro Cárdenas de Ocampo, Michoacán, Mexico, identifying private and community gardens and a 20% increase in gardens in 2020 compared to the previous year. A cross-sectional study with on-site interviews, recordings, and photographs was conducted. The findings suggest that urban gardens served as occupational therapy and family integration during COVID-19 confinement, demonstrating promising resilience in the population.
DIYCommunityHealthImpact of a School-Based Gardening, Cooking, Nutrition Intervention on Diet Intake and Quality: The TX Sprouts Randomized Controlled Trial
2021Landry M., van den Berg A., Hoelscher D., Davis J. · Nutrients, 13(9):3081 (MDPI) · United States
A randomized controlled trial across 16 mostly Hispanic, low-income elementary schools in Texas evaluating the TX Sprouts intervention, which embedded gardening, cooking and nutrition lessons. Children in intervention schools significantly increased vegetable intake, showing that garden-centered food education can improve children's dietary quality.
Food educationHealthCommunityEffect of Grafting Rootstock on the Antioxidant Capacity and Content of Heirloom Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Hydroponic Culture
2021Greathouse J., Henning S., Soendergaard M. · Plants 10(5):965 · United States
Grafted heirloom tomatoes (Black Krim, Green Zebra) and standard Big Beef onto rootstocks in hydroponics, measuring antioxidant capacity, phenolics, and lycopene. Specific rootstocks raised antioxidant capacity and altered phenolic content of heirlooms.
Heirloom & landraceHealthOrganic cycleConservation and Use of Latin American Maize Diversity: Pillar of Nutrition Security and Cultural Heritage of Humanity
2021Guzzon F., Arandia Rios L.W., Caviedes Cepeda G.M., Céspedes Polo M., Chavez Cabrera A., Muriel Figueroa J., Medina Hoyos A.E., Jara Calvo T.W., Molnar T.L., Narro León L.A. · Agronomy 11(1):172 · Latin America
Reviews the fundamental role of Latin American maize landraces for food security, livelihoods and culture, the threat of genetic erosion, and the current state of their conservation and use.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthCommunityAssociations between Food Policy Councils and Policies That Support Healthy Food Access: A National Survey of Community Policy Supports
2021Lange S. J., Calancie L., Onufrak S. J., Reddy K. T., Palmer A., Warnock A. L. · Nutrients 13(2):683 · United States
National survey showing that the presence of food policy councils is associated with local policies supporting healthy food access, including for food-insecure populations, underscoring their role in food system governance.
PolicyWelfareHealthSchool-based gardening, cooking and nutrition intervention increased vegetable intake but did not reduce BMI: Texas sprouts - a cluster randomized controlled trial
2021Davis J. N., Pérez A., Asigbee F. M., Landry M. J., Vandyousefi S., Ghaddar R., Hoover A., Jeans M., Nikah K., Fischer B., Pont S. J., Richards D., Hoelscher D. M., Van Den Berg A. E. · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 18:18 · United States
Cluster RCT in 16 elementary schools. A one-year gardening, cooking and nutrition program significantly increased children's vegetable intake but did not reduce BMI or other obesity outcomes.
HealthFood educationCadenas de valor cortas hortícolas en Lima - Perú
2021Rendón Schneir E. · e-Agronegocios, Vol. 7, No. 2 · Peru (Lima)
Analyzes short horticultural value chains (cadenas cortas) in Lima, showing that removing intermediaries improves farmer incomes and strengthens urban food security, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
EconomicsCommunityPolicySmall-scale urban agriculture: Drivers of growing produce at home and in community gardens in Detroit
2021Carola Grebitus · PLOS ONE · United States (Detroit)
Using an online survey of 420 residents in Detroit, Michigan, this study analyzed behavioral and socio-demographic drivers of growing produce at home and in community gardens. It found that trust, attitude, and knowledge affect home growing, while involvement and personality drive community gardening; household size affects home growing, and gender, age, and income affect community gardening. The findings offer implications for fostering small-scale urban agriculture through city planning and nutrition education.
CommunityDIYFood educationBeyond ‘food apartheid’: Civil society and the politicization of hunger in New Haven, Connecticut
2021Mary P. Corcoran · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (New Haven)
Based on 28 in-depth interviews and participant observation in New Haven, CT (Fall 2018), this article examines community-based food-justice activism across the urban agriculture and food-policy sectors. It finds that grassroots civil society groups largely set a broad and contradictory hunger agenda, that their work is structurally constrained by dependence on philanthropic funding and a fiscally weak municipality, and that a tension persists between depoliticizing and repoliticizing hunger—tensions sharpened by COVID-19 and the 2020 BLM mobilization.
PolicyCommunityExploring the needs of urban producers in a rural state: A qualitative needs assessment
2021Catherine Sanders, Casandra Cox, Leslie Edgar, Donna Graham, Amanda Philyaw Perez · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States (Arkansas)
This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with 16 urban farmers in Northwest and Central Arkansas to assess their needs and their interactions with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Needs were highly individualized by operation size, years in operation, and mission, but common needs included market pricing, co-ops, and equipment access; participants viewed Extension positively but noted it lacked resources specific to small-scale, sustainable farming.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyUrban agriculture: local government stakeholders’ perspectives and informational needs
2021Catherine G. Campbell, Shelli D. Rampold · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Florida)
Through a University of Florida IFAS Extension statewide survey of local government stakeholders, this study assessed attitudes, subjective knowledge, perceived benefits and barriers, and educational needs regarding urban agriculture. Respondents showed positive attitudes and moderate knowledge, and the findings support the hypothesis that a lack of basic knowledge about UA hampers efforts to foster it through local policy.
PolicyModels for cost-offset community supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programs
2021Marilyn Sitaker, Mackenzie McCall, Weiwei Wang, Mia Vaccaro, Jane Kolodinsky, Alice Ammerman, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Karla Hanson, Diane Smith, Rebecca Seguin-Fowler · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States
Using a qualitative approach, this study describes the organizational models and best practices of five well-established nonprofit cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programs in the US, which aim to increase low-income households' access to fresh produce while helping CSA farms grow. Administration took several forms—direct subsidies to member farms, acting as an aggregator/packer/distributor, or sourcing from an in-house incubator or food hub—funded through government grants, donations, and fundraising, with dedicated staff and community partnerships identified as key success factors.
EconomicsWelfareCommunity