Research & reports

Efrat Eizenberg · Antipode · United States (New York City)

This paper analyzes community gardens in New York City as an urban space argued to function as the commons in a neoliberal city. It unpacks this space according to three Lefebvrian moments: material space, representations of space, and lived space. Engaging alternative conceptualizations of social relations in the urban space, it complicates and explicates the notion of the commons and its actually existing manifestations.

Bethaney Turner · Local Environment · Australia

Based on an ethnographic study of community gardeners in the Australian Capital Territory, this article argues that fostering an embodied form of sustainability, which accounts for individual embodied engagement in these collective spaces, is critical for achieving sustainable urban living outcomes. It suggests that individual embodied engagement in collective spaces like community gardens can contribute to reconnection to the socio-cultural importance of food. This process may offer pathways to developing broader engagement with the food system and a long-term commitment to sustainable living practices.

Lucy Jarosz · Gender Place & Culture · United States

This article examines the motivations of women farmers involved in community supported agriculture (CSA) in a US metropolitan region, based on interviews. It argues that these women's motivations reflect an ethics of care, centering their work on nourishing themselves and others. Their choices are shaped by the urban context, race, and middle-class status, expressing self-care and a post-capitalist politics that challenges neoliberal subject formation.

Melea Press, Eric J. Arnould · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States

This study examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs gained legitimacy as a market form in the United States, using a socio-historical lens. It argues that American pastoralist ideology, linking historical agrarian ideals with modern CSAs, helped integrate them into the mainstream. The research suggests that the Internet further aided this legitimation by fostering personal commercial communications and de-massification, reinforcing egalitarian principles and community perceptions central to pastoralist ideology while masking cultural contradictions.

Robert Emmett · ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment · United States (Los Angeles)

The South Central Farm in Los Angeles, a 14-acre community garden cultivated by hundreds of residents for over a decade, was a significant site against environmental racism. However, urban development ultimately led to its destruction. As of this writing, satellite images show the former lush gardens replaced by a scraped, vacant field, highlighting the impermanence of such community-led green spaces in the face of dominant urban development narratives.

Chiara Certomà · Local Environment · Global

This paper investigated the emergence of the urban gardening movement as a form of post-environmentalist political practice. Despite the general acknowledgment of environmental issues, Post-Environmentalism suggests that environmental thinking is becoming increasingly "de-politicised." This study aimed to suggest that "re-politicisation" of environmental politics is possible by considering political practices emerging in urban space. Critical urban gardening, for instance, uses biological material as a form of political expression and activates material-semiotic networks in the urban environment.

Lesley Acton · Papers from the Institute of Archaeology · Global

This article examines the changing demand for allotment gardens and the motivations of plot holders, refuting the assumption that economic reasons are primary. It finds that while allotments have historically alleviated hunger, the social aspect primarily motivates most plot holders. Allotments are valued by individuals and collectives as part of history and cultural heritage.

Jin Qian · Xiandai chengshi yanjiu · Europe; United States

This paper compares allotment gardens in Europe and community gardens in the United States. It notes that stable European allotment gardens rely on policy frameworks, national laws, and cooperation among local government, public, private, and non-profit organizations. In contrast, American community gardens often depend on loosely organized non-profits to acquire land and foster community autonomy without official support.

Stephen Odede. Shisanya, Sheryl L. Hendriks · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This study evaluated the contribution of community gardens to alleviating food insecurity for 53 community gardeners in Maphephetheni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, it was found that 89% of these households were anxious about food supplies, consumed insufficient food, and were severely food insecure. Additionally, 72% consumed poor quality food. Community gardens were unable to solve the problem of food insecurity, but their contribution to consumption cannot be entirely ignored.

Ácacio Figueirêdo Neto, Silvana Belém de Oliveira, Marcos Santos Lima, Mariana Rocha Amorim, Raquel Mota Figueiredo · Revista Semiárido De Visu · Brazil (Petrolina)

This study evaluated the effect of organic compost on the cultivation of "Brasília" carrots and their post-harvest characteristics in a community garden in Petrolina, Brazil. Experiments used compost made from 40% cured goat manure and 60% plant residues. Carrots were harvested 92 days after sowing and analyzed for moisture, soluble solids, titratable acidity, carotenoids, and pulp firmness. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in key physicochemical characteristics between treatments, suggesting organic compost is a promising tool for maintaining carrot quality and nutritional content post-harvest.

Louiza M. Boukharaeva, Marcel Marloie · Espaces et sociétés · Russia

In Russia, the collective management of urban gardens provides places for relaxation and food production, attracting all population categories. These gardens are considered socially compensatory, stabilizing, and therapeutic, acting as shock absorbers for social, economic, and food crises.

Chris 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.

Yang Yu-xian · Huazhong Nongye Daxue xuebao · China (Wuhan)

This paper investigates farmers' professional cooperative organizations in Wuhan, China, examining their social basis, characteristics, and organizational forms. It identifies these cooperatives as a new type of rural economic organization and an effective vehicle for modern urban agriculture. The study concludes that developing such organizations is necessary for them to become an important industrial basis for modern urban agriculture and rural areas.

Elizabeth S Schuering · Digital Commons-DePaul (DePaul University) · United States (Cleveland)

This paper examines urban agriculture as a strategy for managing vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio, a shrinking city facing population loss and economic decline. The study analyzed Cleveland's urban agriculture movement and municipal policies, including eighteen interviews with local policy experts. Findings indicate that the municipal government supports urban agriculture as a tool for the city's revitalization efforts.

MM Ruma · Bayero Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences · Nigeria

This paper examined wastewater reuse in urban farming in Katsina, Nigeria, by interviewing 130 households out of 276 registered with the Katsina Urban Planning Authority. It found that wastewater reuse in urban farming is a full-time, sole income source for many households and an indispensable activity for the town. Recommendations were provided for promoting and integrating this activity into local planning processes.

M. Tshitangoni, A. Okorie, Joseph Francis · Scientific Research and Essays · South Africa

In Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa, the performance of 30 poverty alleviation projects (12 community gardens, 8 poultry, 2 piggery, 2 bakery, 6 other) was reviewed. Based on structured questionnaires with 108 respondents, project performance differed by type. All bakery projects were successful, poultry projects achieved 62% success, and community garden and other projects each achieved 33% success. In contrast, all piggery projects performed poorly.

Pedro Paulo Videiro Rosa · Revista Geográfica de América Central · Brazil

This paper provides a preliminary analysis of a document by FAO and Brazil's MDS, which identified and characterized urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) initiatives in Brazilian Metropolitan Regions. The article relates this document to existing Brazilian legislation and public policies, discussing the refunctionalization of urban spaces to integrate economic, sociocultural, and environmental factors. It also reports on contemporary UPA experiences aligned with agroecology principles and discusses the definition of urban agriculture to identify bottlenecks in its promotion.

Huang Qin · Resources and Industries · China (Beijing)

This paper, based on a case study of Beijing, China, discusses the necessity of integrating urban agriculture into urban ecological infrastructure construction. Through data review and comprehensive analysis, it examines the diverse services of urban agriculture, urban morphological evolution problems, green space construction bottlenecks, and urban-rural integrated development requirements. The paper analyzes specific ways urban agriculture can support urban ecological infrastructure in suburban, outer suburban, and mountainous regions, proposing government policy guarantees like optimized planning and financial support.

Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine · FLASH - Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship & History (Fordham University) · Global

This article examines how existing land use plans and regulations can promote healthier and more sustainable communities through the regional foodshed movement. It discusses specific land use strategies applicable in urban and suburban settings globally, focusing on facilitating local and regional food production and distribution. These strategies include supporting smaller-scale community gardens, residential agricultural uses, and farmers markets, moving beyond traditional farmland preservation.

Michelle Melissa Althaus Ottmann, Nilce Nazareno da Fonte, Nério Aparecido Cardoso, Mailane Raizer da Cruz · Revista Acadêmica Ciência Animal · Brazil (Curitiba)

This exploratory study characterized urban agriculture (UA) practiced in the backyards of Favela do Parolin and the Fanny and Lindóia neighborhoods in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Data was collected through interviews, observational visits, and questionnaires with public school students. The research found that UA in these communities' backyards is still underexplored, especially its potential for food production and social interaction, indicating a need for collective organization.

Joyce 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.

Phumelelo Edwin Khomo · · South Africa (Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality)

An investigation was conducted into three urban agriculture projects in the townships of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa, examining their role as a local economic development mechanism for poverty alleviation. Five project participants from each project and three municipal officials responded to structured questionnaires. The study aimed to determine the projects' impact on participants' livelihoods, their role in employment creation, and participants' views on project sustainability.

A. K. Ango, Aliyu Abdullahi, Bello Bunza Abubakar · International Research Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science · Nigeria (Birnin Kebbi)

A study in Birnin Kebbi metropolis, Nigeria, during the 2009/2010 cropping season surveyed 100 urban farmers across 10 districts. The study found that urban farmers cultivate food crops and rear animals, but identified low capital, lack of adequate funds, strict land-use regulations, and lack of agricultural inputs as major problems. Socio-economic status, family size, and education level were significantly related to participation in urban farming.

W.-L. Rao, Fan Li, Rongjun Zuo, Runzhong Li · Plant Disease · China (Yunnan Province)

A survey of cherry trees in Yunnan Province, China, from 2008 to 2009 observed symptoms such as foliar chlorosis and reddening, stem deformity, and tree stunting. Leaf samples from 68 flowering cherry and 30 sweet cherry trees were tested by RT-PCR, detecting Little cherry virus 2 (LChV-2) in 87% of flowering cherry and 27% of sweet cherry trees, with an overall infection rate of 68.4%. This study represents the first report of LChV-2 in China.

Michele 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.