Research & reports

Qazi Shafayetul Islam, Nasima Akter · European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · Canada (Toronto)

This qualitative study, involving nine community organization representatives and 15 volunteers in Toronto's priority neighborhoods, identified significant barriers to providing and receiving free food support during COVID-19. Community members faced a lack of information, language barriers, social stigma, and fear of COVID-19. Organizations struggled with insufficient information on needs, limited transportation, storage space, committed volunteers, and funding, highlighting systemic and financial challenges in effective food support programs.

Wanda Martin, Lindsey Wagner, Kerry Marshall · Human Geography · Canada

This qualitative study investigated the controversy surrounding urban hen bylaws in Canadian cities, based on semi-structured interviews with 15 urban residents. The research identified three main areas of struggle: the need for education on urban agriculture, differing values for city life, and tensions between individual rights and the collective good. The findings expose challenges in urban hen legislation.

Ashley Gripper, Rachel C. Nethery, Tori L. Cowger, Monica M. White, Ichiro Kawachi, Gary Adamkiewicz · Social Science & Medicine · United States (Philadelphia)

This descriptive epidemiologic study in Philadelphia used spatial regression to analyze associations between Black neighborhoods, poverty, food access, and urban agriculture. Fully adjusted spatial models showed significant associations between Black neighborhoods and urban agriculture (RR: 1.28) and between poverty and urban agriculture (RR: 1.27). Neighborhoods with higher proportions of Black residents and lower incomes tended to have more community gardens and urban farms, with the association between low food access and urban agriculture generally increased in Black neighborhoods.

R.A. Seguin, J. Garner, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, M. Sitaker, E.H. Morgan, J.M. Kolodinsky, W. Wang, A. Ammerman, F.A. Becot · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States

This research used a customized input-output model to simulate the economic impacts of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients shifting food purchases from traditional retailers to direct-to-consumer venues in four US states. Both scenarios, increased outreach and financial support for SNAP use at direct-to-consumer channels, showed a positive, albeit modest, economic impact at the state level. Most increased economic activity was in the produce farming sector.

Jones, Brett Bryan · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States (California)

This paper details the construction of an observation deck at City Farm SLO, a non-profit organization in California that supplies food banks and offers educational gardens. The deck, located at the highest point of the property, was built as a senior project by three Cal Poly CM students, each with distinct roles in design and construction. The project involved overcoming challenges posed by the hilltop location, from conceptualization through to construction.

Valéria Borges Yonegura, Jennifer Domeneghini, Júlio Celso Borello Vargas, André Luiz Lopes da Silveira · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Curitiba)

This paper focuses on mobility issues in the southern region of Curitiba, Brazil. It points out that the benefits of urban agriculture, particularly the ecological advantages of short food circuits, are hindered by the isolation of its growers. The lack of accessibility in peripheral areas, due to distance or insufficient infrastructure investment, suggests a loss of opportunities in utilizing the transport system.

Wanda Martin, Anh Pham, Lindsey Wagner, Adrian D. Werner · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Canada

A social return on investment (SROI) evaluation was conducted for the 2018 growing season of the Garden Patch, an urban agriculture program of the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre in Canada. Investments in the program were valued at CA$96,474, while outcomes such as vegetables, gardening skills, health, and work/educational experiences were valued at CA$155,419. The study conservatively estimates that CA$1.61 of social value was created for every dollar invested in the Garden Patch.

Shirley A.A. Beresford, India J. Ornelas, Mark Bauer, Geraldine A Garrity, Sonia Bishop, Brandon Francis, Eileen Rillamas‐Sun, Linda Garcia, Filiberto S A Vecenti, Kevin Lombard · AJPM Focus · United States

The Yéego! Healthy Eating and Gardening Study was a group-randomized controlled trial in 6 elementary schools in the Navajo Nation to evaluate a school-based healthy eating and gardening intervention over one school year. Students in intervention schools showed 0.22 points greater self-efficacy for eating fruits and vegetables compared to comparison schools. While self-efficacy to grow fruits and vegetables increased in intervention schools, it did not increase significantly more than in comparison schools.

Graham Ambrose, Kirti Das, Yingling Fan, Anu Ramaswami · Landscape and Urban Planning · United States (Minneapolis-St. Paul)

An exploratory study in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, USA, directly compared happiness (net affect, average happiness, and meaningfulness) associated with household versus community agricultural gardening, surveying 118 household and 55 community gardeners. For both groups, gardening's net affect ranked among the top five daily activities. Community gardeners reported statistically higher net affect and peak meaningfulness while gardening compared to household gardeners. Community gardeners' net affect correlated negatively with family-companionship and positively with neighbor-companionship. Female and low-income household gardeners reported higher gardening net affect than their counterparts.

Alan da Silva Vinhaes, Antônio Nivaldo Hespanhol · Revista de Geografia · Brazil (Porto Ferreira)

This study aimed to understand and analyze urban agriculture practices in Porto Ferreira, Brazil. Fieldwork, including a survey of 60 urban farmers, revealed that urban gardens promote social inclusion for low-income individuals, unemployed people, the elderly, and women. Among the surveyed farmers, 55 used their produce for self-consumption or sold it at their production sites, two sold at the market, and three sold directly to supermarkets.

Michael Wells · · United States

This study describes "Project GREEN," a school-wide program led by Michael Wells, principal of Munster High School in Indiana, aimed at creating a sustainable school garden. The program seeks to increase high school students' engagement in STEM disciplines and introduce them to real-world problems.

Larissa Siqueira Chaves, Giovanna Simokado Magalhães, Soraya Nór · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This article reflected on the potential of feminism in urban development as a practice of counter-hegemonic architectures. Through a cartography of central Florianópolis, it was shown that only ten streets in the city center were named after women, revealing that patriarchal patterns are fixed in the territory. Women in urban agriculture are presented as individual and collective body-territories that construct a counter-hegemonic praxis in urban spaces and social movements, politically building alternatives that foster care, reproduction of life, reconnection with nature, protection of popular traditions, as well as gender issues and the right to the city.

Daniel Sax, Lorien Nesbitt, Shannon Hagerman · Environment and Planning E Nature and Space · Canada (Vancouver)

A case study of an urban farm in Vancouver, Canada, facing displacement due to redevelopment, revealed that urban residents engaged in urban greening can be both implicated in and impacted by green gentrification processes. The study highlighted the power dynamics farm members navigate to preserve land access and found that the farm's identity was co-opted by development agents as a branding tool. This research contributes to understanding the limitations of development processes in accounting for green gentrification risks.

Corona-Munoz, Sergio · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States

"Growing Character" is a three-lesson series modeling how agricultural spaces, particularly school gardens, can integrate social emotional learning (SEL) and social justice education. The program aims to empower students with skills for healthy emotional management and socially conscious behavior through an educational experience.

Danielle Treadwell, Lisa Hickey, Tabitha Petri, James M. Stephens · EDIS · United States (Florida)

This publication provides considerations and best practices for selecting the best crops to transplant and how to prepare transplants for home and community gardens in Florida. It notes the benefits of starting one's own vegetable transplants, as varieties available in retail centers are often not the best-tasting or best-adapted for the local area.

Rachel Bechtold, Catherine W. Shoulders, Jennie Popp, Donald M. Johnson, Lisa S. Wood · Natural sciences education · United States

This study evaluated the process and efficacy of installing a demonstration plot along a multiuse trail in Southeast Kansas to educate the community on rehabilitative plots. The greatest perceived challenges for this case study were the allotment of time and money for initial costs of the demonstration plot and addressing methodology for plant blindness in viewers.

Emmanuelle Melis, Emma Louise Armitage, Yuxin Ma, Amelia Weiss, Brian E. Robinson · McGill Science Undergraduate Research Journal · United States (Chicago)

This study investigated the location of urban commercial farms in Chicago, Illinois, and whether there is a significant disparity between the social demographics of production and sale points. All production and distribution points for commercial urban farming companies were geocoded and analyzed against socioeconomic indicator data from the 2016 US census, including median annual household income, mean home value, and percent racialized minority population. Findings revealed statistically significant differences in socioeconomic indicators between census tracts of farm and sale point locations, showing a skewness of farm locations towards lower socioeconomic status areas and sale point locations towards higher socioeconomic status areas. This suggests that while farms are more likely to be located in marginalized neighborhoods in Chicago, most produce grown by these farms is sold in more privileged areas.

Elvis Albert Robe Wandscheer, Rosa Maria Vieira Medeiros · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This study investigated the interrelations between urban agriculture and local institutions in Belém-PA and Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil. In both municipalities, actions were observed that were implemented temporarily but lacked continuity. Porto Alegre showed more commercial channels derived from previously established institutional relations, while Belém presented several elements without alternative solutions for problems related to high temperatures and navigation distances.

Karla L Hanson, Lynn Xu, Grace A Marshall, Marilyn Sitaker, Stephanie B Jilcott Pitts, Jane Kolodinsky, April Bennett, Salem Carriker, Diane Smith, Alice S Ammerman, Rebecca A Seguin-Fowler · Public Health Nutrition · United States

This study analyzed factors associated with participation in cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) among low-income households with children in ten communities across New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington states. Participation rates varied significantly (33% to 89% of weeks picked up) across communities. Offering multiple share sizes was associated with higher participation (76.8% vs. 57.7% of weeks), while offering community pick-up locations was associated with lower participation (64.7% vs. 78.2% of weeks).

Denise Arroyo-Lambaer, Luís Zambrano, Miguel Rivas, Diana Laura Vázquez-Mendoza, Fernanda Figueroa, Martha B. Puente-Uribe, Ana Cecilia Espinosa‐García, Marco A. Tapia-Palacios, Marisa Mazari-Hiríart, Daniel A. Revollo-Fernández, Alaíde Jiménez-Serna, Marco Covarrubias, Carlos Sumano · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Mexico (Mexico City)

This study investigated the needs and commercialization challenges of chinampa producers in Xochimilco, Mexico City, to assess the potential of a green label. The analysis, based on a literature review and producers' mental model analysis, found that unresolved issues like commercialization problems, consumers' unwillingness to pay fair prices, soil degradation, and poor irrigation water quality persist. These issues make it difficult for most producers to bear certification costs, indicating that implementing a green label would likely fail to deliver its intended benefits.

Arnim Wiek, Stefanie Albrecht · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Phoenix)

A multiyear transdisciplinary project in Phoenix, United States, analyzed the development of a sustainable urban food forest enterprise. The project built a coalition of supporters, secured a suitable site, codeveloped a vision and action plan, and fundraised a major start-up donation. However, research findings indicate that despite achieving success factors to some extent, an underdeveloped sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem jeopardizes long-term success and multiplication efforts.

Antônio Carlos Ribeiro Araújo Júnior, Roberto Xavier da Costa, Mirian Pereira dos Reis Oliveira · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

The "Programa Planta Roraima" project, initiated by the civil society organization Movimento ID, proposes establishing a Reference Center for Food and Nutritional Security in the Cidadão Housing Complex. This center will create an urban community garden to promote sustainable integration among immigrants, refugees, and socially/economically vulnerable nationals. The project aims to understand access to knowledge for food production, transformation, distribution, and consumption in small urban spaces, and to analyze access to income-generating technologies for vulnerable populations. Based on an analysis of the "PROJETO PLANTA RORAIMA: Minha Horta Comunitária Cidadã" developed by SETRABES, the project is relevant as it provides basic technical training in food production, fostering autonomy and integrating vulnerable populations as productive citizens, and demonstrates that idle urban spaces can be valuable for collective uses like community gardens.

R.A. Seguin, A.S. Ammerman, W. Wang, I. Lu, J. Kolodinsky, J. Garner, L.C. Volpe, E.H. Belarmino, L. Gonsalves, S.B. Jilcott Pitts, M. Sitaker, K.L. Hanson · UNC Libraries · United States

This qualitative study examined the experiences of 96 low-income participants in 28 focus groups across rural and micropolitan communities in New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington (USA) regarding nutrition education classes complementing a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. Participants reported improved nutrition knowledge, food preservation skills, and cooking behaviors, and a promoted sense of community. However, other obligations and class logistics were barriers to attendance, with recommendations for flexible scheduling and better integration of CSA produce into lessons.

Nehiby Alcántara Nieves, Rosa María Larroa Torres · Espiral estudios sobre Estado y sociedad · Mexico (Mexico City)

This qualitative study investigated the environmental, economic, and sociocultural functions of urban gardens in Mexico City, two years after the implementation of the Law of Urban Gardens (LHU). Data was collected through interviews and document review. It found that public officials tend to prioritize environmental functions, while users consider sociocultural functions most relevant.

Sofía Boza, Marcos Mora, Aracely Núñez, Macarena Espinoza, Karina Orellana · Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales · South America

This study aimed to explore the productive, commercial, and management strategies of small-scale vegetable growers in the Santiago Metropolitan Region (SMR) of Chile, their attitudes towards their activity, and to identify different profiles. A survey was conducted in person with 170 farmers, and the data was analyzed using descriptive and multivariate techniques. Results suggest that different characteristics and strategies are concomitant with certain attitudes that vegetable growers hold towards key aspects such as innovation or willingness to associate.