Research & reports

Sima Patel, Rod MacRae · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Canada

A land parcel analysis in Toronto, Canada identified 77 parcels totaling 1,270 acres (514 hectares) of potential land for community supported agriculture (CSA) farming — about 1 percent of the city's surface area — with much of it located in northeast Toronto. Five commercially viable scenario types were constructed with varying land use, zoning, institutional and residential characteristics, but considerable challenges remain for widespread implementation, leading to policy and program recommendations including pilot projects, institutional linkages, program supports, training and extension.

Kynda R. Curtis, Voravee Chakreeyarat, J. Dominique Gumirakiza · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States

A brief discussion piece frames growing interest in local food systems as a potential response to challenges in the globalized food system and as an avenue for promoting agricultural and rural sustainability. It does not present a specific research method or findings.

Monica M. White · Race/Ethnicity Multidisciplinary Global Contexts · United States (Detroit)

This article analyzes the experience of black women activists in Detroit who engage in urban agriculture as a form of resistance. They use urban gardening to reassess cultural roots, reclaim personal power, and build a sense of community. The study examines their efforts to transform vacant land into a community-based food system and safe, green spaces, challenging racial and class-based barriers to healthy food access.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Patrice Sutton, David Wallinga, Joanne Perron, Michelle Gottlieb, Lucia Sayre, Tracey J. Woodruff · Health Affairs · United States

This article examines evidence that the intensive use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, and fossil fuels in food production, as well as chemicals in food packaging, are potentially harmful to human reproductive and developmental health. The US food production system, while relatively low in cost, often yields food that is high in calories and low in nutritional value. The authors conclude that policies to advance a healthy food system are necessary to prevent adverse reproductive health effects.

Marina de Fátima Brandão Carneiro, Igor Martins de Oliveira, Gabriel Alves Veloso · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil

This article discusses food and nutritional security, urban poverty, and their relationship with urban agriculture, which arises from the urbanization process. It analyzed quantitative data from the Pan-American Health Organization and Pastoral da Criança in two neighborhoods of Montes Claros, Brazil, to map poverty distribution and child malnutrition. It concludes that the search for more effective and continuous alternatives for food insecurity is increasingly urgent, as hunger has only increased globally despite various initiatives.

Maura Neves Coutinho, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · Revista Geografias · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)

This article discusses urban agriculture (UA) concepts and practices, focusing on initiatives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, by both residents and local government. It considers UA's potential for ecological, productive, and inclusive cities, but notes the difficulty of secure access to urban land. The discussion on UA is still fragile and faces challenges in becoming an effective social policy.

Maura Neves Coutinho, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · Anais ENANPUR · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)

This paper discusses urban agriculture (AU) practices occurring in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, both through informal and spontaneous initiatives by residents in peripheral neighborhoods and as an object of public intervention by the local government for specific purposes. The study concludes that secure access to urban land for maintaining AU practices is difficult, and the discussion on AU remains fragile, facing challenges for its implementation as a social policy impacting urban policies.

Jack Russell Weinstein, Jay Basquiat · UND Scholarly Commons (University of North Dakota) · United States

This abstract explores philosophical questions regarding food and sustainability. It raises inquiries about why certain foods are eaten, the meaning of 'natural,' and the moral rules for food manufacturing and agricultural priorities. The text also questions the cultural and spiritual roles of food and responsibilities in providing food. Jay Basquiat is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bismarck State College who sustainably farms near Mandan, ND.

Alice 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.

Héctor Ávila-Sánchez · Norois · Mexico

This paper discusses socio-territorial changes in peri-urban food production spaces in Central Mexico, focusing on the impacts of urbanization on old rural areas. It highlights that peri-urban poor populations often face marginalization, degradation of their agricultural activities, and conflict over space with other social groups. The development of peri-urban agriculture has led to significant transformations in land use, production structures, and social and cultural aspects.

Jason J. Czarnezki · Pace Digital Repository (Pace University) · United States

This article considers legal, theoretical, and practical steps towards a more sustainable food model. It argues that two changes are necessary to alter modern American food consumption: increased awareness and increased availability. The article reiterates the need to increase information available to consumers and the consequences of food choices, further arguing that structural changes in the food system are necessary to increase access to sustainable foods.

Juliana Duz Ricarte, José Maria Gusman Ferraz, Janice Rodrigues Placeres Borges · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil (Porto Ferreira/SP)

This study identified and characterized 91 urban agriculture (UA) units in two low-income communities in Porto Ferreira/SP, Brazil, applying a structured questionnaire to 20% of the sample. It found that UA primarily involves low-income residents, with 83.0% of producers having rural origins and practicing agriculture mainly for subsistence. UA ensured access to fruits and vegetables for 77.8% of participants and reduced food expenses for most.

John Friedmann · · United States

This paper discusses the evolving role of planners in the American metropolis, noting a shift from a vague "public interest" to engagement with diverse causes such as urban agriculture, food security, and community development. It highlights that many planners now work in non-profits on specific issues, and professional organizations have recognized the need for a more compelling expression of professional values to guide professionals.

Marcos Antonio de Castro Marques Teixeira · Aleph UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences · Brazil

This study surveyed urban gardens in Santa Maria da Codipi and Dirceu Arcoverde, Teresina, Brazil, to assess their economic viability for gardeners. The study found that urban gardens in both areas do not provide income security for those who work them. Problems identified include petty theft, low education levels, lack of technical assistance hindering investment in new crops, and pesticide use creating a competitive disadvantage.

Shane 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.

Lester Scott Lakey · BearWorks (Missouri State University) · United States (Missouri)

An ethnographic study of two farms in the Springfield Plateau region of the Missouri Ozarks was conducted to assess the effects of "local food" movements on farmers. The study found that local farms share qualities with traditional family farms. It also revealed significant variability in farmers' motivations and attitudes, ranging from farming as a means to earn family income to farming as a way to build networks connecting farmers and consumers within the community.

Kathryn 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.

Marina de Fátima Brandão Carneiro, Antônio Maurílio Alencar Feitosa, Dulce Pereira dos Santos, Gabriel Alves Veloso, Igor Martins de Oliveira · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil (Montes Claros)

This study investigated the role and importance of urban agriculture in Montes Claros, MG, Brazil, as a dynamic activity creating a specific rural-urban interaction space. Using bibliographic and documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews with farmers, iconographic production, and geotechnologies for mapping, the research found that urban agriculture is a reality in intra-urban spaces. It occupies vacant lots and backyards with diverse activities, generating work, employment, income, food security, and products for local commerce.

Julian S. Yates, Jutta Gutberlet · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · Brazil (Diadema)

This paper analyzes food waste flows in Diadema, Brazil, through an urban political ecology lens, focusing on integrated organic waste management for composting and urban food production. While presented as a means for positive socioecological change, the process is characterized by conflict and potential exploitation. Broader structural conditions also constrain the system's ability to offer an alternative to existing waste-management models.

Kathleen Lynn Wensuc · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · United States (Colorado)

This study investigates consumer understanding of food labeling and the marketability of authentically healthy, organic foods from independent farms. Conducted in Boulder, Colorado, it explores potential confusion between "organic" and "natural" products and reasons for participation in community supported agriculture programs. Findings suggest that a misperception between the terms "organic" and "natural" may not exist, but distinguishing them remains important.

Samuel W. Lewis · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · United States (California)

In summer 2010, 11 high school students from under-resourced communities in Pomona, Montclair, La Puente, and Chino Hills, California, were paid to participate for six weeks (five days a week, 30 hours a week) in the Youth Earth Connections (YEC) summer internship program, funded by the 2010 Davis Projects for Peace and a Pomona College Summer Undergraduate Research Project Award. The program was designed to connect movements for food and environmental justice with farming work, and weekly survey responses from interns suggest that experiential urban farming programs at the high school level can connect students with issues of environmentalism and social justice and motivate action against the industrial food system and the environmental injustices they experience.