Research & reports

Kathleen Tims, Mark Haggerty, John Jemison, Melissa Ladenheim, Sarah Mullis, Elizabeth Damon · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

A case study of the long-running Orono Community Garden (OCG) program in Orono, Maine, used survey data and personal interviews to examine rural senior food insecurity, analyzing senior participation, impact on food security status, and participants' perceptions of the program. The OCG program increased food access by delivering fresh food directly to senior households in need, alongside other local food assistance programs in Orono. Participants also viewed the OCG program as a destigmatized, socially acceptable source of food access, in contrast with other food assistance programs.

James A. Allen, Andrew C. Mason · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States

This study visited 14 food forests in the American Southwest — all but two located in urban or peri-urban areas — and interviewed the founder or manager at 12 of them. The sites spanned a wide range of physical environments, community types, and ownership arrangements found in the region. Despite challenges such as a hot, dry climate and difficult soil conditions, the researchers found clear evidence that food forests can be successfully established in urban areas there; beyond food production, the forests provided benefits such as mitigating the urban heat island effect, increasing local biodiversity, and improving neighborhood aesthetics, though the study notes a need for additional research.

Midori ASAOKA · Japanese Journal of Environmental Education · United States (California)

This paper traces the history of the Life Lab program in Santa Cruz, California, United States, and re-evaluates it from a sustainability education perspective. Life Lab, a non-profit established in 1979, grew out of "Nature Study" in an elementary school garden into a science-based environmental and sustainability education program emphasizing pupil-centered, experiential learning and critical thinking to build connection to the Earth; participants learn ecological soundness, key agroecology concepts, and relationships among insects, flowers, vegetables, other foods, and humans. The paper discusses farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and the Community Agroecology Network (CAN) in the Santa Cruz area as examples of organic and agroecological movements, arguing that direct producer-consumer relationships foster alternatives to the global corporate market, and proposes introducing sustainability education into Japanese food and agriculture education by building school gardens.

Zachary R. Schumm, Diane G. Alston, Lori R. Spears · Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington · United States

This study examined behavior of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB, Halyomorpha halys) in the agricultural landscape of Utah, United States, using pyramid and sticky panel trap captures and visual plant inspections. First discovered in Utah in 2012, with crop damage first reported in 2017, BMSB was sampled at nine orchard and community garden sites (each under 2.5 ha) growing peach, apple, pear, tart cherry, and diverse vegetables, testing whether Utah's high-elevation (>1,200 m) agricultural regions, arid climate, and small production fields surrounded by suburban development alter attraction patterns and monitoring effectiveness compared with other BMSB-invaded regions. Sampling covered four within-site locations (exterior, border, border-interior, center) across early, mid-, and late season. Results did not support a preference for field-site borders found in other U.S. regions and crop situations. Pyramid traps captured significantly more BMSB than sticky panel traps throughout the season and significantly more than visual inspections in mid- and late season; correlation between pyramid and sticky panel trap catches was weak in both 2018 and 2019. The study concludes pyramid traps, especially combined with visual inspection near pheromone-baited traps, are optimal for Utah's low-population, small-field (<2.5 ha) agricultural landscape, and that border-focused management strategies may be less effective there than in regions with larger fields and higher BMSB infestations.

Michelle Cristine Medeiros Jacob, Cecília Rocha · Local Environment · Canada

This study of community gardens in Toronto, Canada, examines a governance model in which community members plan, implement, and manage a garden with political and/or administrative support from government or non-governmental organizations, using participatory observation and interviews with gardeners, garden coordinators, NGO representatives, and government members across neighborhoods with diverse economic, social, and cultural characteristics. From the participants' own perspective, governance structures with administrative support appeared to benefit the longevity of community gardens, particularly in low-income areas, and land access, funding, human resource support, and educational opportunities were identified as typical needs across the projects studied. The authors note that tradeoffs between bottom-up and top-down governance models remain to be examined in future research.

Loren Alcorn · Proceedings of Student Research and Creative Inquiry Day · United States

A student research presentation on middle school students in the United States (2021) discusses the correlation between school gardens and nutrition education, asking whether students relying on school lunches actually benefit from the nutrition standards those lunches must meet. It argues that a school garden would let students learn to grow their own food, encounter new foods, and interactively learn how different foods affect health, with garden produce potentially incorporated into cafeteria lunches. Citing existing evidence that greater access to fruits and vegetables increases consumption and that school lunches generate substantial food waste, it suggests that nutrition education and exposure to new foods through a school garden could reduce that waste; the presentation itself does not report original measured data directly testing the garden-nutrition education correlation.

Gabriela Eustáquio Lacerda, Julliany Lopes Dias, Guilherme Nobre Lima do Nascimento, Ilsamar Mendes Soares · Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais · Brazil

Dried leaf bark and freeze-dried gel from Aloe vera grown in community gardens in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil were analyzed for chemical composition, phytochemistry, and heavy metals. Moisture content ranged from 7.06 to 10.62%, ash from 13.62 to 32.63%, crude protein from 5.58 to 7.47%, lipids from 0.58 to 2.04%, and crude fiber from 16.22 to 16.49%. Phytochemical analysis identified gallic acid, catechin, gallocatechin, ellagic acid, naringin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol. No heavy metals were detected in the samples analyzed. The authors note further research is needed on how seasonality affects these compounds.

Elisângela Brauner, Maria Cecília Pereira Santarosa, Cecília Elenir dos Santos Rocha · Revista Eletrônica de Educação Matemática · Brazil

This article analyzes a teaching intervention within Brazil's Residência Pedagógica pedagogical residency program, in the mathematics course, that used a community garden in basic education to investigate and teach the mathematical concepts of angles and polygons. Instruction proceeded through mathematical-modeling stages of gradually increasing complexity, and the intervention surfaced challenges including finding a site for the garden, students' prior knowledge of measurement, and recognizing patterns to solve modeling problems. It concludes that developing varied practices in the school setting favors and broadens mathematics learning.

Lilian Nadja Silva Brito, Renally Cristine Cardoso Lucas, Fernanda Ferreira de Andrade, Ygor Alexandre Beserra Sousa, Rilva Suely de Castro Cardoso Lucas, Renata Rocha Cardoso Madruga, Gabriella Barreto Soares · Revista da ABENO · Brazil

This article reports the experience of a group of dentistry students at the State University of Paraíba, Brazil, who, in the second half of 2018, formed a "health-promoting space" bringing together culture and art with the Unified Health System (SUS) at the Argemiro de Figueiredo Family Health Unit (USF) in Campina Grande. The space was built through an experience titled "Graffiti that brings life" and through the process of building a community garden at the USF. The activities were marked by strong interaction among students, the community, the health team, and local social resources, and they strengthened the bond between the health team and the population. The presence of dentistry students in primary care was observed to be important, with students recognizing that the dentist's role in primary care extends beyond providing oral health assistance.

Alessandra Polastrini, Cláudia Regina de Sousa e Silva, João Aparecido Bazzoli · Informe GEPEC · Brazil

This study examined whether urban community gardens in the central region of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil, fit a conventional or agroecological production model, surveying four gardens (in blocks 1006, 1106, 1206 and 1306 Sul) through questionnaires with 42 gardeners and interviews with two staff from the Urban Gardens program. Findings showed a mismatch between the number of registered gardeners and those actually working the plots; gardeners were mostly low-income, low-education women; use of products incompatible with agroecological production was documented, though a transition process was underway with gardeners adopting agroecology-based management techniques; and oversight and technical assistance existed but at levels insufficient to ensure adequate guidance for gardeners and product quality for consumers.

Doralice Sátyro Maia, Miriam Hermi Zaar · · Brazil

Drawing on field observation, photographic records, questionnaires and informal conversations, alongside prior research and government data, this study analyzes the persistence of rural practices — small-scale cattle dairying (vacarias) in João Pessoa and agricultural practices in Natal, both coastal cities in Brazil's Northeast — within areas classified as urban, describing these as "islands of rurality" that resist real-estate speculation and urbanization pressures, and calling for methodologies better able to distinguish urban from rural attributes in such hybrid spaces.

Becky Griffin, S. K. Braman · Journal of Entomological Science · United States

In 2017 and 2018, gardeners at 36 locations across 21 Georgia counties, United States, volunteered for the Georgia Pollinator Census pilot project, counting insects in September and October on an aster species and one other participant-chosen plant species (28 plant taxa were selected in total) while also receiving training in insect identification. Bumble bees, honey bees and wasps were sighted more often in rural areas, while carpenter bees, flies and other insects were sighted more often in urban areas; participants also showed increased entomological interest and insect knowledge, and the pilot's results were used to refine criteria for a larger, state-wide census.

Allea Martin, Amy Coplen, Lauren Lubowicki, Betty T. Izumi · Health Education & Behavior · United States

A Photovoice study of the CSA Partnerships for Health program in the United States, a subsidized community-supported-agriculture scheme designed to lower the cost barrier to fresh produce for low-income households. Twenty-eight participants photographed aspects of the program over 2 to 4 weeks and discussed selected images in focus groups; they reported that the program supported positive changes in their physical and social health and helped them learn about new foods, cooking and agriculture. Based on these self-reported, qualitative accounts, the authors suggest that a reduced-cost CSA membership combined with cooking education can support participants' ability to try new foods, build skills and improve health outcomes.

Valéria Borges Yonegura, Henrique Manoel da Silva · Confins · Brazil

A study of the Tatuquara neighbourhood and surrounding areas of Curitiba, Brazil, combining bibliographic review, historical-geographic analysis, and interviews with community gardeners (horteiros) conducted over 2017-2018, found that urban gardens improved local life, landscape and community safety and fostered topophilia and place attachment. Despite being used in city marketing, the practice's continuity is threatened by the possible end of a partnership with the electric utility and by pressure from the real-estate market.

Yasmin Koop‐Monteiro · Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale · Canada

Using neighbourhood census data from 2005 to 2015 in Vancouver, Canada, multilevel modeling assessed the effects of new community gardens along with median income, population size, homeownership and ethnic diversity on property crime. Median income, population size and new community gardens each showed significant negative effects on crime, with the addition of one community garden reducing neighbourhood crime by approximately 49 counts, a 1,000-person increase in population reducing it by 48 counts, and a CAD$1,000 increase in median income reducing it by 34 counts.

Isaac Kwadwo Mpanga, Ursula K. Schuch, Jeff Schalau · Current Research in Environmental Sustainability · United States

A study in north-central Arizona, United States, investigated land use and farm practices among small-scale growers and their role in resilient, sustainable local food production. Amid rising pressure from population growth and extreme climate on agricultural land, Arizona's average farm size fell 57% while the number of farms rose 127% between 1997 and 2017, and family farms under 10 acres now make up 50% of the state's farmer population. The study found that 52% of the surveyed small farms were family operations, with regenerative and sustainable practices predominating — cover cropping (27%), compost use (26%), crop rotation (23%), animal or green manure (22%), no-till (21%), and reduced tillage (18%) — while conventional practices such as intensive tillage (5%) and synthetic fertilizers (13%) were less common. For pest, weed, and disease control, 95% of growers used biological, cultural, or mechanical methods versus 5% using conventional synthetic chemicals, and for irrigation, 78% used water-saving methods (drip, subsurface, sprinkler) while 11% used open flood irrigation.

Laryssa Roberta Alves Farias, Sanádia Gama dos Santos · Revista Interseção · Brazil

A qualitative case study examines a school garden project at a rural school in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil, carried out as part of the Mais Educação program (2018-2019), aimed at promoting good nutrition and environmental education practices by using unused spaces on school grounds for an organic garden. The results describe the development of pedagogical and environmental activities centered on growing vegetables for school meals, with a focus on good nutrition, health, and improving students' quality of life.

Kevin Bolduc · The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) · United States

A blog post published on 10 November 2021 by the US grant-assessment body CEP. Grantees spend roughly 8 hours a year on reporting for a typical grant and often more than 30 hours across a grant's life, yet only about 60 per cent get to discuss the report they submitted with their funder. Around 70 per cent of nonprofits said funders relaxed or cancelled reporting requirements during COVID. The author argues that unless foundations genuinely engage with what is submitted and discuss it with grantees, reporting requirements should be eliminated or drastically reduced.

Beatriz Salazar · CEPES (Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales) · Peru

A CEPES article describing biohuertos run by communal kitchens (ollas comunes) in metropolitan Lima, a practice underway for roughly a decade under the legal framework of Ordinance 1629 (enacted 2012). It cites implementation across 12 districts without giving specific garden or participant counts, and concludes that such urban agriculture initiatives should be incorporated into Local Climate Change Plans and funded under regulations for the country's food emergency law.

Mariela Jara · IPS Agencia de Noticias (Inter Press Service) · Peru

IPS News reported on 12 October 2021 on the 1,400 square-meter "Biohuerto Ayllu 21" garden in Sector II Group 21, Villa El Salvador, 25km south of Lima. Started in 2018, the garden has 40 plots of 6 meters each and separate production, training, seedling, harvest, post-harvest and sales zones. It is run by 12 families, all elderly women migrants, who work an average of two days a week growing chard, radishes, broccoli, celery, tomatoes, beets, basil, spinach and lettuce, mainly for household consumption.

Eduardo Sá · Articulação Nacional de Agroecologia (ANA) · Brazil

An article tracing three decades of Belo Horizonte's urban agriculture and agroecology policy, from the 1993 founding of the municipal food and agriculture policy department (SMAB) through the 2004 creation of Amau and the 2018 launch of a participatory organic-certification system (SPG-RMBH). It reports that in 2019 the city's food bank handled 387,905 tons of food and school meal programs served 84.7 million meals.

Mupeta M., Kuntashula E., Kalinda T. · Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development · Zambia (Kitwe, Lusaka)

Using propensity score matching on survey data from Kitwe and Lusaka, this study finds that urban agriculture participation increases household income by 13.7–19.1%, demonstrating a significant positive economic impact.

Charlotte Glennie · City & Community · United States (Seattle)

This study examines how culture shapes urban political and economic processes by analyzing documents and interviewing advocates of Seattle's P-Patch community garden program, which has secured near-permanence for its publicly owned sites. It finds that advocates leveraged cultural capital and Seattle's legal-policy infrastructure to institutionalize the gardens within urban planning, but notes that as amenities signaling sustainability the gardens also contribute to gentrification, so equity requires deliberate consideration.

Yuki Kato · City & Community · United States (New Orleans)

This study examines the development of the urban cultivation scene in New Orleans over the decade following Hurricane Katrina, focusing on entrepreneurial projects. Contextualizing in-depth interviews with growers, it finds that dominant motives shifted from social missions to economic interests as the city moved from recovery to redevelopment, and argues that the distinction between socially and economically motivated cultivation cannot be easily drawn.

Caitlin K. Kirby, Lissy Goralnik, Jennifer Hodbod, Zach Piso, Julie C. Libarkin · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Lansing)

A descriptive correlational survey (n=92) of the urban agriculture system in Lansing, Michigan, examining demographics, farm characteristics, motivations, barriers, and resilience indicators. Support actors (nonprofits, university extension, municipalities) were most strongly motivated by social and environmental justice, and motivations around community-building and justice correlated significantly with several resilience indicators.