Research & reports

Laura Avila, Johannes Scholberg, Nancy E. Roe, C. M. Cherr · HortScience · United States (Florida)

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) was tested as a summer cover crop in a Community Supported Agriculture vegetable operation in Southeast Florida, United States, from 2003 to 2005. The farm system compared sunn hemp (SH) with a conventional summer fallow, followed by winter/spring tomato and pepper and then sweet corn. Tomato and pepper received 0, 67, 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003, and 0, 100 or 200 kg N/ha in 2004/05; sweet corn received 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003 and 100 kg N/ha in 2004/05. Average SH biomass was 3.7 Mg/ha. In 2003, tomato yields following SH without supplemental nitrogen were similar to the fallow treatment fertilized with 200 kg N/ha. By the third year, tomato and pepper yields in SH plots were 25% and 26% higher, respectively, than conventional plots, while conventional pepper fertilized with 200 kg N/ha showed only 8% higher yield than plots given 100 kg N/ha plus cover crop. Sweet corn yields were low overall but increased when the preceding tomato/pepper crop received higher nitrogen rates: in 2003, sweet corn fertilized with 200 kg N/ha following an SH-fall vegetable rotation produced 17% higher marketable yield than the fallow treatment, and in 2004–2005, sweet corn within the SH–unfertilized tomato system produced 29% higher yields than a comparable conventional system. The results indicate that in this rotation, both fall vegetable crops and sweet corn benefit from residual nitrogen, with SH mineralization affecting not only the immediately following crop but also yields later in the year.

Juliana Portela do Rego Monteiro, Maria do Socorro Lira Monteiro · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Brazil

A study of 43 urban gardens in Teresina, Piauí state, Brazil, analyzed via primary data collection and field research whether the gardens function as a means of generating work and income and improving socioeconomic conditions without degrading the environment. Most gardeners were women over 45 with incomplete elementary education, earning up to one minimum wage, originally from the state's interior, who had worked in agriculture before joining the gardens and worked them as a family. Most had not participated in training since entering the program, used their own resources for production, concentrated 70.08% of output on cilantro, chives and lettuce, and sold produce mainly on-site; soil amendment relied mostly on manure with limited chemical fertilizer, and only 36.81% of gardeners used pesticides. The study concludes that low remuneration, stemming from limited crop diversity, poor organization and lack of financing, led some family members to seek alternative income.

Cristiane Cardoso Pessôa, Marcelino de Souza, Ilaine Schuch · Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional · Brazil

This study interviewed 38 and later 20 families in five neighborhoods of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on the contribution of urban agriculture to household income and diet. Results showed that the activity does not necessarily provide additional income but does produce meaningful savings, since certain foods no longer need to be purchased; the food produced supplies important nutrients but lacks foods richer in minerals, which the families do not grow themselves, and the activity functions more as subsistence, non-market production that supplements diets with fresh food relatively free of industrial contaminants.

Myreide Marinez Da Silva, J. L. P. Araujo, Aryon de Almeida Barbosa, Ariana Ferreira da Silva, Leyla Menezes de Santana, C. R. R. S. França · · Brazil

This study assessed the economic viability of an agroecological system for growing vegetables in the Nova Descoberta community, in the interior of Petrolina, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) was the economically dominant crop, accounting for nearly 85% of the garden's total monetary income, followed by lettuce (Lactuca sativa) at over 13%, while all remaining crops together reached only 2.3% of total sales value, though the study notes their cultivation was expected to expand with the continuing agroecological conversion process to diversify species grown.

Morris A. Davis, Michael G. Palumbo · Federal Reserve Board FEDS Working Paper 2006-25 · United States

Builds a database of home values, structure costs and land values for 46 large US metropolitan areas from 1984 to 2004, and shows the land share of a home's market value rose from about 32 percent in 1984 to about 50 percent by 2004. Reports that since 1998 nearly all large US cities saw substantial real increases in residential land prices.

Soren T. Anderson, Sarah E. West · Regional Science and Urban Economics 36(6): 773-789 · United States (Minneapolis-St. Paul)

A hedonic analysis of home transactions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area finds that the value of proximity to open space is higher in dense neighborhoods, those near the central business district, high-income, high-crime, or with many children. Warns that applying the metro-wide average value to a specific neighborhood can substantially overestimate or underestimate what open space is worth there.

Erin M. Tegtmeier, Michael Duffy · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States

A survey of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operations across the Midwest United States characterized their operations and profitability. The study presented the characteristics and profitability of these CSA operations.

K. Brandon Lang · Journal of Sustainable Agriculture · United States

This study tested eleven hypotheses on member satisfaction in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) using survey data from 204 members of 5 mid-Atlantic CSAs during the 2000 growing season. Results indicated that satisfaction positively correlated with supporting alternative agricultural practices, frequency of CSA visits, years of membership, and the likelihood of shares meeting produce needs. Being vegetarian, female, older, or a working member were additional predictors of satisfaction.

Fernando Neira Orjuela · Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos · Mexico

This study examines San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, a town of 12,553 inhabitants in the Xochimilco borough in southern Mexico City that engages in urban agriculture, through a survey of 185 households, to determine whether greenhouses are a viable option for generating household income and which forms of family economic participation and sexual division of labor prevail. It also examines whether access to financial resources, age, and educational attainment give wives greater say in decision-making and freedom of movement, comparing them with wives engaged in paid and unpaid non-farm activities in the same town.

Nicholaus K Harris · · United States (California)

An assessment in West Oakland, California, evaluated new community food programs — community gardens, mobile markets and local farmers markets — that went beyond typical food banks to address food insecurity. In spring 2005, the researcher interviewed program leaders and 45 West Oakland residents. Results showed residents were generally aware of how to eat healthily but unable to do so because of limited proximity to vendors stocking healthy foods; many used the farmers market, but few relied on the other community food programs, and residents living close to the farmers market and community gardens benefited more than those elsewhere. The study concludes that educational campaigns and the placement of additional food programs are needed to improve access.

Fernando Neira Orjuela · · Mexico

This study focuses on San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, a town of 12,553 people in the Xochimilco delegation in southern Mexico City. Because the town practices urban agriculture, a survey of 185 households provided an opportunity to examine whether greenhouses are a viable option for generating household income, and the forms of family economic participation and sexual division of labor that shape this. The study also sought to clarify whether access to economic resources, age, and schooling grant wives the final say in household decision-making and freedom of movement, comparing them with wives engaged in salaried and non-salaried non-agricultural activities.

Laura Lawson · Journal of Planning History · United States

This historical review of US community garden programs since the 1890s reveals an ambivalent relationship between community gardens and the planning profession. While praised for serving environmental, social, and individual objectives, community gardens are largely ignored in long-range planning due to being perceived as opportunistic and temporary. This highlights unresolved tensions between professional planning and civic concerns, and between comprehensive planning and local interventions.

CAST · · United States

This comprehensive report by a twelve-member task force examines the changing role of agriculture in urban settings within historical and contemporary American society. It outlines geographic, demographic, and economic changes in rural and metropolitan life, considering policy issues such as land preservation, alternative market opportunities, sprawl, taxation, and food security. The report also presents research and educational challenges for higher education institutions.

J. S. [UNESP] Gonçalves, S. A. A. dos [UNESP] Santos, F. F. CURADO · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Corumbá)

This work, part of the "Food Security and Citizenship" project coordinated by Embrapa Pantanal in Corumbá and Ladário, Brazil, aims to promote healthy food production. It seeks to improve the food quality of the urban population by creating alternatives for better food and nutritional security and income generation in these areas.

Eva C. Worden · HortTechnology · United States

A study using case study interviews to identify community-supported agriculture (CSA) growers' perspectives in the United States, focusing on their information sources and motivations. Like most organic growers, but unlike most conventional growers, few CSA growers had a family background in agriculture; common information sources and strong informal communication were observed among CSA growers, whose primary sources were other growers, printed material, and conferences, while conventional agricultural information sources such as the cooperative extension system and formal agricultural education were underutilised and ranked lowest in importance. CSA growers were motivated by multiple goals - marketing, education, community, and environment - with marketing the most frequently cited primary goal, followed by consumer education; for many CSA growers, the marketing motive was not purely monetary but also philosophical, pursued as a vehicle for achieving "right livelihood" and building an associative economy that redefines society's relationship to food and land.

Christopher M. Smith, Hilda E. Kurtz · Geographical Review · United States (New York City)

New York City community gardens have faced political contestation for thirty years, notably in 1999 when 114 gardens were slated for public auction and redevelopment. This article examines the controversy as a politics of scale, where garden advocates expanded the dispute beyond individual gardens and the city. The analysis highlights the significance of scale politics for grassroots organizations within a market-centric, neoliberal economic framework.

Jan Perez · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This 2003 research brief investigated the experiences of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) growers on the central coast of California. The study examined their motivations, economic viability, challenges, and issues related to equal access to their products. The research brief indicates that challenges and issues of equal access are present in CSA projects.

Gregory Hellmann Flatt · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States (Vermont)

This thesis examines the diversification of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement in Vermont, expanding beyond vegetables to include other products. The author, a CSA coordinator, documented several local businesses applying CSA concepts and practices in novel ways through participant observation, formal and informal interviews conducted at farmers' markets and agricultural conferences. The author concludes that CSA concepts and principles can be widely applied and represent a viable economic model for small- to medium-sized businesses that produce high-demand goods and services with local support.

Lynn A. Staeheli, Don Mitchell, Kristina Gibson · GeoJournal · USA (New York City)

Analyzes the Giuliani administration's 1998–1999 policy of transferring community gardens to housing development and auctioning 100+ gardens, exposing how a city 'greening then privatizing' policy reversed itself and treated public gardens as disposable exchange-value assets.

Karen Schmelzkopf · Urban Geography · United States (New York City)

This study examined the conflict over community gardens in New York City, arguing that it was a struggle concerning the right to space. The city, operating from an entrepreneurial governance perspective, claimed that the gardens represented a loss of exchange value and potential housing. The city used market economy rhetoric to dismiss incommensurable use values, thereby restricting rights to the city within a demonstration of power and "reason."

Sigrid Stagl, Sabine O’Hara · International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology · United States (New York City)

This study examined whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups are a broadly accepted or limited alternative food system, based on a household survey in two distinct socio-economic neighborhoods in upstate New York. The survey found that approximately 25% of respondents expressed interest in becoming CSA members, with similar interest levels in both wealthier and low-income areas. However, several factors preventing food demand through CSAs were identified, indicating that these barriers would need to be addressed for expansion.

C. Clare Hinrichs, Kathy S. Kremer · Journal of Poverty · United States

This 1997 case study examined a Midwest community supported agriculture (CSA) project that aimed to increase low-income participation through financial subsidies, using a telephone survey of 41 member-households. The study found that while subsidized households had lower incomes, the overall CSA sample was more advantaged in income, occupation, and education compared to local populations. The project inadvertently served the "advantaged" poor, indicating that social inclusion efforts in local food systems may not effectively reach the most vulnerable.

Manon Boulianne · Anthropologica · Mexico

A study on community organizations and urban agriculture in Mexico City and Cuernavaca suggests that the very meaning of participation becomes an issue for community organizations engaged in popular entrepreneurship development programs. It illustrates how the structuring effects of market production activities lead to a renegotiation of the meaning attributed to participation among the individuals and groups concerned.

CAST · · United States

A twelve-member task force report examines the changing role of agriculture in urban settings within American society. The report frames urban agriculture historically and contemporaneously, detailing geographic, demographic, and economic changes. Policy issues such as land preservation, alternative market opportunities, sprawl, taxation, and food security are discussed, alongside research and educational challenges for institutions of higher education.

Elena G. Irwin · Land Economics 78(4): 465-480 · United States (central Maryland)

Applies a hedonic pricing model to home sales in central Maryland and finds a price premium for permanently preserved open space relative to developable agricultural and forested land. Uses instrumental-variables estimation to address endogenous land-use spillovers and spatial correlation, and supports the hypothesis that open space is valued mainly for guaranteeing the absence of future development rather than for a specific bundle of amenities.