Research & reports

Elmira Ramazanova, Manvitha Marni, Roger Wong, Leah Gable, Zezhen Pan, Zorimar Rivera‐Núñez, Daniel E. Giammar · Environmental Geochemistry and Health · United States (St. Louis)

A study in St. Louis, Missouri, examined total metal/metalloid concentrations and in-vitro Pb bioaccessibility in soil from twenty community gardens. Lead was identified as a metal of concern, with soil in 21% of sampled plots containing Pb concentrations above recommended thresholds for gardens. Although Pb bioaccessibility was low (< 5.4%), total metal/metalloid concentrations varied spatially within gardens, and Pb and As concentrations correlated positively with garden age, highlighting the importance of multiple plot sampling.

Elías Machado · Editora Científica Digital eBooks · Brazil (Guarapuava)

This study examines the relationship between climate change, urbanization, and urban and peri-urban agriculture in Guarapuava-PR, Brazil. It emphasizes how regional atmospheric variability intensifies existing socio-environmental vulnerabilities. Guarapuava's climate, characterized by high thermal amplitude, frequent frosts, and irregular rainfall, significantly conditions agricultural production systems, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, negatively affecting productive cycles.

Ada Folques, Mario R. Paredes, Vanessa Apaolaza, Patrick Hartmann · Business Strategy and the Environment · United States

This study examined demand-side drivers of consumers' willingness to pay for food forest produce in the United States, using a quota-based online panel sample of 845 adults. It focused on nature connectedness, perceived health risks from monoculture farming, climate change concern, and need for uniqueness. All four factors positively influenced willingness to pay, with nature connectedness being the most influential. The impact of climate change concern on willingness to pay was stronger among consumers with low uniqueness-seeking and weaker among those with high uniqueness-seeking.

Alexa McLaughlin, Stephanie Ward Chiasson, Jeanne Godin · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada (New Brunswick)

This process evaluation assessed the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of the New Brunswick School Food Pilot Project (NBSFPP) using the RE-AIM framework in eleven schools across New Brunswick, Canada. While school administrators reported positive impacts on program optimization, student leadership skills, food literacy, and eating behaviors, no significant effect was found on teachers’ perceptions of students’ diet or academic outcomes. Program sustainability was largely dependent on receiving funding.

Enaira Liany Bezerra dos Santos, Maria Betânia Ribeiro Torres, Rodrigo Guimarães de Carvalho, Mayra Alves Pinheiro · International Journal Semiarid · Brazil (Mossoró)

This study analyzed the potential for food cultivation in public squares in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Researchers mapped 42 public squares, measured free areas via satellite imagery and on-site visits, and projected productive potential based on a model garden. Findings showed 16 squares have potential for gardens, with a total free area of 4,898.00 m², cultivable area of 2,742.82 m², and a productive potential of 31.93 tons of food per year.

Jake Simkins, Elijah Burt, Finnbarr Kelly · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States (California)

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Construction Management students undertook the City Farm SLO Sheep Shed Foundation Slab project to improve a livestock shelter's structural integrity. The project involved removing an existing shed, preparing subgrade in muddy winter conditions, and constructing a reinforced 5-inch, 4500 PSI concrete slab with drainage. This hands-on endeavor demonstrated technical competency in construction and site logistics, with lessons learned including equipment coordination and adapting to site constraints.

Piedley Macêdo Saraiva, Aline Maia de Macedo, Cicera Giovanna Michelly Ferreira de Oliveira, Enzo Fernandes Sá, Laysa Yanne Silva Moreira, Thayla Sousa de Oliveira, Rayna Petrola Rocha Dias Milfont · Revista Ibero-Americana de Humanidades, Ciências e Educação · Brazil

This study analyzed the implementation of a vertical garden in a nursing home in Juazeiro do Norte-CE, Brazil. The intervention contributed to the reuse of construction waste, the production of toxic-free food, and increased opportunities for interaction among residents and caregivers. However, it also revealed limitations related to the vulnerability of the target audience, scheduling incompatibilities with the academic team, and the institution's dependence on continuous garden maintenance.

Malone M., Johnson B., Richard SI., Garcia N., Hamlin S. · Journal of Environmental Management · United States (Seattle)

Compares heavy-metal concentrations in vegetables grown in urban community gardens in the Seattle metropolitan area with produce from the grocery stores participants regularly used — a question set by the partnering farmers themselves. Metal concentrations frequently exceeded health guidelines in both, but were generally higher in the community-garden produce. Cadmium and lead posed the greatest risk and may exacerbate health risks for some populations.

Michelle A. Fleming, Colleen Saxen, Dusty Columbia Embury · Science and Children · United States

An article examining a practice combining nature-based observation with creative writing in a kindergarten classroom at an urban public school in the United States. Centred on a school garden inhabited by a spider and a squirrel, the activity had kindergarteners record scientific observations of the garden's resident flora and fauna before creatively writing fable stories inspired by those observations. The kindergarteners were reported to be highly engaged, to have improved their scientific understanding, and to have learned to communicate information creatively; the cross-curricular activity is described as deepening students' understanding of how living things survive in the school garden and developing their observation and critical-thinking skills.

AltTech LLC & Subsidiaries, The People's Coalition of Planet Earth · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · United States

This paper presents Project Ubuntu's "Big Green Web," a proposed nationwide U.S. framework of interconnected, renewable-energy-powered community-governed food forests intended to provide free, open-access food production for communities of color, drawing on principles of food sovereignty, environmental justice and mutual aid; the paper examines the framework's theoretical foundations and operational structure as a proposed model rather than reporting outcomes from an implemented program.

Christine Jie Li, John H. Schulz, Sa Tun Bo Bo · Journal of Community Practice · United States

Semi-structured interviews with 18 Burmese refugees in the United States explored their experiences across three types of community-assisted garden programs — individual backyard gardens, personal-use community gardens, and enterprise community-assisted gardens. The interviews produced three broad themes (benefits, challenges, and issues with recruitment and support), with reported benefits including strengthened family relationships, access to culturally relevant and fresh organic vegetables, reduced food budget spending, and improved social relationships, alongside challenges that the study describes as a complex mixture affecting refugees' nutritional, economic and social well-being.

Swayangsiddha Nayak, Lalita Dhal, Sheri Dorn, Julie H. Campbell · Urban forestry & urban greening · United States

A longitudinal qualitative participatory action research study conducted between 2023 and 2024 at a Southeastern U.S. university examined how international students engage with an autonomous, student-led campus community garden, using Berry's Acculturation Theory to explore motivations and the physical, social and psychological barriers they encountered. The study found a cyclical acculturation process in which the garden's autonomy fostered belonging through growing culturally relevant produce and intercultural exchange, while limited institutional support generated uncertainty, mistrust and communication barriers that caused students to oscillate between feelings of integration and separation, eventually prompting self-advocacy and co-leadership structures among the students.

Roberto Arturo Berríos Zepeda, Jorge Vírchez · OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development · Canada

A 2026 article examines the city of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, as a case of sustainable transformative economy at the municipal level. Historically defined by intensive mining and severe ecological degradation, the city has pursued environmental restoration and socio-economic change through combined efforts of local government, industry, universities, nonprofit organizations, and grassroots initiatives. It describes examples including the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee, Earth Care Sudbury, the Good Food Box, and the Sudbury Community Garden Network, and how civic participation and inter-institutional collaboration have reoriented local development toward ecological stewardship, food security, and social equity.

Joshua Garcia, Mariel Mondragon-Becerra, Ivan Moya martinez, Connie Tsz Fai Wong, Zoe Caron, Katherine Kravitz, Elaine Owyang, Olukayode Jegede, Rebecca Ryals, Cristina Lazcano · Discover Sustainability · United States

A 2026 study conducted with Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont (LEAF), a small urban farm in the San Francisco Bay Area, US, tests whether regenerative agriculture can support soil health and biodiversity in an urban landscape, comparing uncultivated soils, soils managed regeneratively for four years (Regen.4), and soils managed regeneratively for 10 years (Regen.10). Soil chemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, and lead concentration differed significantly between plots, likely reflecting each plot's management and land-use history. While total soil carbon did not differ between plots, Regen.4 had a higher proportion of labile carbon than the uncultivated plot along with a greater abundance of soil microorganisms and nematodes, and Regen.4 soils also showed improved physical properties — higher aggregate stability and lower compaction — compared with both the uncultivated plot and the Regen.10 plot.

Justina Walker-Mohamed, Stephanie Johnston, Silvia Sarapura, Charlotte Potter, Tristan Cook, Paul Benalcazer, Red Rock Indian Band, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg, Biinjitiwaabik Zaagging Anishinaabek, Niigaaniin (Mamaweswen) · Rural Review Ontario Rural Planning Development and Policy · Canada

This poster presentation describes knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) practices in the Braiding Food Systems (BFS) project, a community-based agri-food research initiative with First Nations in Canada spanning community gardens, seed lodges and youth engagement. The approach centers relationships, mutual and reciprocal learning and sharing, and equal value for diverse forms of knowledge, co-developing place-based KTT strategies and materials, and is intended to open a conversation on community engagement and participation in KTT for Indigenous agri-food and rural research. No specific outcomes or measured results are reported.

Subin Babu Neupane, Pedro F S Toledo, Katerina Velasco-Graham, Felipe N. Soto‐Adames, Arash Kheirodin · Journal of Integrated Pest Management · United States

This is the first report documenting the invasive thrips species Thrips parvispinus, native to Southeast Asia, in Texas, USA. Samples collected from 12 locations across Texas -- including greenhouse facilities, large retail outlets and community gardens -- from plants showing foliage injury confirmed the species' presence in November 2025, and detections across multiple counties suggest it has been introduced to multiple locations and may be widely distributed in the state.

Jackson Borges de Carvalho, Murilo Couto Lacerda, Linia Dayana Lopes Machado, Rejaine Silva Guimarães · Contribuciones a las Ciencias Sociales · Brazil

A documentary literature study examined urban agriculture in Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil, where 288 productive units exist despite the municipal master plan and local legislation not explicitly addressing the practice, focusing on the need for municipal regulation. Drawing on federal, state, and municipal legislation, academic studies, territorial diagnostics, and empirical survey data from Primo et al. (2014), the study found that urban agriculture holds socio-environmental, food, and community relevance but faces a lack of technical assistance, legal insecurity, and scarce institutional support.

E. Christian Wells, Sarah Combs · Practicing Anthropology · United States

A paper examines 'healthfields'—former brownfields, land whose contamination history impedes redevelopment and which in the US are disproportionately concentrated in underserved communities of color linked to poor health outcomes—redeveloped through participatory approaches to provide health benefits such as recreational parks, community gardens, and health care centers. Noting that healthfields are difficult to realize because local governments often see them as low-return investments offering little tax-base benefit relative to operation and maintenance costs, the paper describes the history and outcomes of a university-community partnership redevelopment project that catalyzed additional development including attainable housing, evaluating its public health contribution using an established land-reuse model for safely cleaning up and reusing contaminated brownfields.

Mya O. Price · · United States (Appalachia)

This chapter examines how community-supported agriculture (CSA) empowers Black farmers through innovations and community partnerships in Appalachia and nearby regions of the United States (2026). It traces CSA's roots to Booker T. Whatley's 1960s clientele membership clubs, explaining how shares, upfront payments and risk-sharing stabilize farm income while improving local access to fresh food. Case studies include Swanson Family Farm's buyer's club near Atlanta, Southside Community Farm's BIPOC-centered urban model in Asheville, and Cleav's Family Market's traditional Kentucky CSA. The chapter also addresses persistent barriers — limited resources, systemic discrimination and land access — and highlights the support networks and policy impacts shaping CSA success for Black-led food equity efforts.

Kate Holbrook · Digital Commons - RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) · United States

The American public library, described as a "palace for the people," was established as a free, democratic haven for the public's literary and educational needs, and has since expanded its services beyond book access to include tool rentals, warming centers, postal services, and more. Building on the public library's identity as a democratic commons, this study proposes a physical expansion of the Boston Public Library into Copley Square. Drawing on the library's autonomous architectural language, the proposal extends its social and educational services through the lens of food systems, allowing patrons to take part in the production, processing, and output of urban agriculture.

Esteve Gaelle Giraud, Elora Bevacqua, Madeline Mercer, Nicholas Benard, Priya Nayak, Tawsha Trahan, Kathleen Merrigan · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This paper documents an early-stage Participatory Action Research (PAR) process to scale up urban agriculture in Tempe, Arizona, an arid, land-constrained city where four contiguous neighborhoods face high food insecurity and vulnerability. A transdisciplinary team of researchers, city staff and community-based organizations collaborated with residents to assess the state of urban agriculture, identify local priorities, and co-develop ten policy recommendations, through 86 food access surveys, mapping, practitioner interviews in Tempe and six other cities, and community workshops. Residents emphasized the need for urban agriculture spaces supporting food production, education, workforce development and community building, while limited funding, volunteer instability and poor communication of existing resources were identified as key barriers. Despite water scarcity and land pressures, the study argues that water-smart, strategically located urban agriculture can serve as resilience infrastructure addressing civic, environmental and social goals, and that participatory planning supported by trusted intermediaries can shape agendas before formal food policy structures exist, offering insights for other cities pursuing participatory food planning.

Lauren J Franks · FHSU Scholars Repository (Fort Hays State University) · United States (Kansas)

The Community Cultivation program, a grant proposal project focused on Hays, Kansas, in the United States, sets out a plan for how a community garden could improve access to healthy food in rural areas. Guided by the question of how community-based food initiatives can reduce nutrition-related disparities, the proposal responds to the HaysMed Community Health Needs Assessment, which identifies nutrition and fresh produce access as critical concerns for Ellis County. With an emphasis on food-insecure and low-income individuals, the planned garden aims to reduce health disparities tied to socioeconomic status and strengthen community connections by building gardening and cooking skills. It proposes a multi-phase implementation plan involving collaboration with sustainable landscapers, development of gardening infrastructure, and educational classes, with visitor logs and participant surveys planned to track access to fresh produce, garden usage and skills applied; data collection and analysis are planned to continue throughout implementation.

Thomas Anthony Pacheco · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · United States

This is a non-peer-reviewed, pedagogical guide, not an empirical study, that uses food insecurity and food deserts in Los Angeles County as a case study to translate sociological theories -- including Resource Mobilization Theory, Framing Theory, Legal Consciousness Theory, Collective Action Frames, and Political Process Theory -- into organizing strategies for activists and students. It sets out practical steps for securing funding, recruiting volunteers, framing injustice, engaging policymakers, and building interventions such as community gardens.

Ms. E. Indumathi, R. Ragavi, M. Sandhiya · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · United States

This article surveys initiatives that countries have developed over decades to address the impact of food waste on hunger, including food donation programs and partnerships between large grocery chains and local food banks. In the United States, such efforts are described as distributing food to roughly 37 million hungry Americans each year. Innovative approaches cited include establishing community gardens, expanding access to local farmers' markets, promoting purchase of local produce, and educating communities about the negative impacts of food waste. It highlights the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (FBCE), which provides food assistance and training through more than 800 partner agencies (food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters), and Waste No Food, a platform connecting food donors (restaurants, caterers, grocery stores) with food rescue organizations while letting donors track their donations.

Iasmin Emanueli Becker, Luciana Nunes de Oliveira, Jordana Marques Kneipp, Augusto Costa Bernardy, Edgar Cesar Rodrigues Maia, Juarez Felisberto · Revista Tópicos. · Brazil

As urban flooding, heat islands and water scarcity become more frequent in socioeconomically vulnerable peripheral areas, this qualitative case study analyzed how an agroecological community garden contributes to urban environmental resilience and efficient use of natural resources. Focusing on the Horta Comunitária Urbana Agroecológica Renova Vidas garden in Brazil, the study combined document analysis, non-participant observation and interviews, analyzed through content analysis. The garden was found to promote recovery of degraded land, conservation of natural resources and efficient water use, illustrating how local practices can contribute to urban resilience.