Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9077 results(300 / 364)
Il ruolo delle aree non urbanizzate nei contesti metropolitani: scenari di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici
2013Daniele La Rosa, Francesco Martinico, Riccardo Privitera · TERRITORIO · Italy
This study discusses how non-urbanized areas in metropolitan contexts can be reconsidered for new land uses, combining peripheral urban agricultural production with environmental protection for climate change adaptation and ecosystem service production. Through a review of urban planning instruments in Mascalucia, a new land-use scenario for non-urbanized areas was proposed using a land suitability model that combined land cover and fragmentation analysis.
PolicyClimate changePeri-urban agricultureBiodiversityPemodelan dan Simulasi Berbasis Agen untuk Sistem Kegiatan Urban Farming Komunitas Bandung Berkebun
2013Senoaji Widianto, Cahyadi Nugraha, Khuria Amila · · Indonesia (Bandung)
This study presents an Agent Based Modeling & Simulation method to model the urban farming activities of the Bandung Berkebun Community in Bandung, Indonesia. The model shows the effect of system parameters such as the intensity of community programs, campaigns, and the availability of land for gardening on the growth of these activities. The output of the simulation model suggests that these activities can help to increase the supply of vegetables for the people of Bandung.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyResearch on specialized level of agricultural structure in Beijing
2013LI Rui-fen · Journal of Beijing University of Agriculture · China (Beijing)
This paper aimed to recognize the comprehensive level and scale of the agricultural structure in Beijing, China. It also sought to identify developing differences within Beijing's agricultural sector.
EconomicsPolicy비혼 여성 활동가들의 공동체 농사를 통해 본 도시농업의 여성주의적 실천 가능성
2013김효정 · 한국여성학 · South Korea
Through in-depth interviews and participant observation research targeting women's activist organizations established since 2010, the characteristics of urban agriculture cases led or participated in by unmarried women in their 20s and 30s were analyzed. Unmarried women activists met the growing demand for safe and healthy food among single-person households through community farming in urban areas, practicing agriculture not only for food production but also as a lifestyle pursuit and recreational culture. However, their practices face limitations such as urban space constraints, difficulties for unmarried women to relocate to rural areas, excessive ecological value attribution, and a lack of solidarity with rural communities.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsUrban–rural linkageTactics of Development Zone Construction Under the Direction of the Theory of Garden City
2013Ran Shu · Journal of Huaiyin Institute of Technology · China
This study examined the guiding significance of the over 100-year-old Garden City theory for the construction of new development zones in China. Addressing issues like continuous development and urban-rural separation in Chinese cities, the research analyzed the core ideas of the Garden City theory and its relevance for development zone construction. It discussed the ideal composition of development zones, including city groups, urban complexes, urban green space systems, urban agriculture, and rapid transit systems, as well as development tactics encompassing city construction, industrial development, urban-rural integration, social management, and policy formulation.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageCultivating new meaning in the urban landscape : increasing food security and social capital through urban ecology : research article
2013Dominique Rossi Breetzke, Christina Breed · Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir kunsgeskiedenis · South Africa (Pretoria)
This paper explores using abandoned urban land for allotment community gardening in Sunnyside, Pretoria, South Africa, through a case study along the Walker Spruit. It tests the hypothesis of increasing food security and social capital through urban ecology design. Findings suggest that allotment culture and permaculture can reconnect people with urban nature, proposing a design concept to unite neighborhoods and provide social and biophysical services sustainably.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthClimate changeMaatschappelijke kosten-batenanalyse stadslandbouw : de cases voedseltuin Rotterdam, de Nieuwe Warande en Hazennest Tilburg
2013Ruud Abma, U. Kirchholtes, J.E. Jansma, M.P. Vijn · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Europe
Urban agriculture is a subject of societal interest, seen as a promising contributor to sustainable urban development. It offers alternatives for agricultural professionals, accessible locations for urban residents to relax and learn, and often improves the physical and social environment of neighborhoods.
EconomicsCommunityHealthUrban–rural linkageGardening as Ethnographic Research: Volunteering as a Means for Community Access
2013Andrew Flachs · Journal of Ecological Anthropology · Global
This paper demonstrates that ethnographers can gain a more effective qualitative understanding of community gardens by volunteering as gardeners. Volunteering helps researchers access various aspects of the garden community. It also offers an anthropological perspective on the common idea that many individuals join community gardens solely for economic benefits.
CommunityEconomicsUrban Gardens: Part of a Whole System Approach
2013Laura Lavid · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This article discusses the impact of urban gardening on a city's food system, noting that while it is not the sole solution, it offers significant benefits beyond economics. It cites historical data from World War II, where 20 million victory gardeners produced 44% of fresh vegetables in the United States. Recent studies estimate community gardens can yield $500 to $2,000 worth of produce per family annually, and a Denver study found community gardeners ate significantly more fruits and vegetables than non-gardeners.
CommunityEconomicsHealthFood sovereignty & justiceA Survey of the Heavy Metals Present in the Soil of a Potential Urban Garden: A Service Learning Approach
2013Kyle Kessler, Seth Umbenhauer, Alison R. Noble · Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science · United States (Harrisburg)
Eight soil samples were collected from an urban land plot in Harrisburg, PA, to determine concentrations of copper, nickel, zinc, and lead and assess suitability for an urban garden. While copper, nickel, and zinc concentrations were below EPA recommended limits, lead concentrations ranged from 26 ± 1 mg/kg to 402+ mg/kg, with some samples exceeding EPA standards for heavy metals in home and vegetable gardens. This indicates potential lead contamination in the soil.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityCSA & TeikeiNostalgia, anticonsumo simbólico e bem-estar: a agricultura urbana
2013Bruno Henrique Comassetto, Gabriela P. Solalinde Z., João Vicente Rosa de Souza, Marcelo Trevisan, Paulo Ricardo Zilio Abdala, Carlos Alberto Vargas Rossi · Revista de Administração de Empresas · Brazil
A qualitative study with in-depth interviews of urban agriculture specialists and practitioners in nine neighborhoods of a large Brazilian capital explored the meaning of urban agriculture as a consumption phenomenon. The findings indicate a dual motivation for practicing urban agriculture: an extrinsic motivation (example) and an intrinsic motivation (well-being). The practice is linked to concerns for the environment, health, and personal well-being, as well as nostalgic respect and pride for cultural heritage.
HealthCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceIntegrating local agriculture into nutrition programs can benefit children's health
2013Rachel E. Scherr, Rachel Cox, Gail Feenstra, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · California Agriculture · United States (California)
Research indicates that garden-based nutrition education increases fruit and vegetable preferences and consumption in children, and Farm to School programs promote increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and participation in the National School Lunch Program. A survey of UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) advisors and directors in California reported that all respondents implemented garden-based nutrition education and Farm to School programs, but evaluation occurred much less frequently.
Food educationHealthCommunityAnalysis on Urban Agriculture Park Development Patterns at Home and Abroad
2013LI Xiao-shuan · Anhui nongye kexue · Global
Urban agriculture development patterns at home and abroad were studied, combined with actual cases, to discuss future urban agriculture development patterns. This study aims to provide a reference for the planning of modern urban agriculture parks.
PolicyCommunityCommunity Garden Interventions
2013Melvin Delgado · Columbia University Press eBooks · United States
This chapter focuses on community gardening as an intervention aimed at addressing obesity, tracing its history in the United States back to the late nineteenth century as a response to social and economic crises. While community gardens can achieve various social, economic, political, educational, and health-related goals, the chapter also discusses potential pitfalls of community gardening. It emphasizes a social justice perspective for community gardens, particularly regarding community inclusion and participatory democracy.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthFood educationPolicy15201 - Horta Comunitária Vida Nova - Relatos Agroecológicos em Espaços Urbanos
2013Marcos José de Abreu, Renato Barretto Barbosa Trivella, Letícia Oliveira de Melo, gisa Garcia, Alexandre Cordeiro, Óscar José Rover · · Brazil (Santa Catarina)
The Vida Nova community garden, established in 2009 in Jardim Janaina, Biguaçu, Santa Catarina, Brazil, serves women from rural and urban areas facing food and social insecurity. This project aimed to disseminate participatory agroecological methodologies in urban agriculture. It resulted in a 36-page educational booklet and a course, leading to group strengthening, increased community gardens, and diversified cultivation in the neighborhood.
CommunityWelfareFood educationEconomicsIntegrated Pest Management in Urban Ghanaian Gardens: A Three-Year Impact Assessment
2013Chikwendiu Okechukwu, Femi Adekunle, Sunday Nwokolo · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Nigeria
A three-year mixed-methods study in selected urban areas of Nigeria assessed the impact of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) among gardeners. Community members' understanding of IPM principles significantly improved, with 20% initially reporting successful pest management strategies, increasing to 75% over the three years. The findings suggest that sustained education and support are crucial for effective IPM adoption in urban gardening communities.
CommunityFood educationPolicyUrban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Challenges and Opportunities
2013Simon Underhill, Underhill, Simon · Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development · Cambodia
This paper reported on trends in urban agriculture (rice, vegetables, cattle, swine, and poultry) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, since 1993. Approximately 20% (125 square kilometers) of the municipal area of Phnom Penh is used for agriculture, supporting nearly 300,000 livestock. Between 1993 and 2011, livestock populations declined but increased in 2011, while vegetable production and cultivated area decreased, and rice production increased.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyGrowing Community: The Impact of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program on the Social and Learning Environment in Primary Schools
2012Block K., Gibbs L., Staiger P., Gold L., Johnson B., Macfarlane S., Long C., Townsend M. · Health Education & Behavior, 39(4):419-432 · Australia
A mixed-methods evaluation of Australia's Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. It reported social and learning benefits including increased student engagement, confidence and willingness to try new foods, plus experiential, integrated learning and stronger school-community connections.
Food educationCommunityHealthPast results and future directions in urban community gardens research
2012Guitart D., Pickering C., Byrne J. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 11(4):364-373 · Global
Review of English-language community gardens research, summarizing who studies them, locations, methods, plants grown, participants, and the motivations, benefits and limitations, while outlining future research directions.
CommunityWelfareBiodiversityUrban food production schemes in Ireland 1917–1923
2012Forrest M. · Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes · Ireland
This historical study documents the government-sponsored urban food production schemes introduced in Ireland between 1917 and 1923 in response to World War I food shortages, tracing how allotment promotion policies were administered by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction and the Local Government Board.
CommunityPolicyFood educationThe Fruit of Folks Project: An Urban Farming Response to Local Hunger Background: Obesity, Food Insecurity, and the Rise of Urban Farming
2012Aleenah Mehta · Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning & Community-Based Research · United States
Framed around the argument that obesity and food insecurity in the United States are increasingly understood as conjoined rather than mutually exclusive problems, this paper introduces the Fruit of Folks Project as an urban farming response to local hunger. The abstract notes that the industrial food model's emphasis on producing ever greater quantities of food can itself threaten food security, defined as a person's or community's access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.
HealthCommunityConsumption of arsenic and other elements from vegetables and drinking water from an arsenic-contaminated area of Bangladesh
2012· Journal of Hazardous Materials · Bangladesh
In an arsenic-contaminated area of Bangladesh, residents ingest carcinogenic arsenic daily through home-grown vegetables and drinking water, posing a documented health concern.
HealthCan cities become self-reliant in food?
2012Grewal S., Grewal P. · Cities · Cleveland, United States
Using Cleveland as a post-industrial case study, three maximal scenarios achieved food self-reliance of only 4.2-17.7% by weight and 1.8-7.3% by expenditure, showing even ambitious urban production can supply only a small share of a city's food needs.
EconomicsPolicyExploring Food System Policy: A Survey of Food Policy Councils in the United States
2012Scherb A., Palmer A., Frattaroli S., Pollack K. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
National survey of US food policy councils describing their engagement in the policy process. Finds that although councils include policy goals in their missions, their actual engagement in and impact on the policy process is very limited, exposing a gap between stated ambition and delivery.
PolicyCommunity Volunteering as Neoliberal Strategy? Green Space Production in Berlin
2012Marit Rosol · Antipode · Germany (Berlin)
Documents how Berlin's municipal policy of promoting community gardening was an attempt to outsource public green-space maintenance to unpaid volunteers under 'roll-back'/'roll-out' neoliberalism. Based on empirical research, it shows the outsourcing strategy largely FAILED (volunteers could not sustain provision) while opening space for other private interests.
PolicyCommunityWelfare