Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
7626 results(301 / 306)
White Space, Black Space: Community Gardens in Portland, Oregon
2000David Billings · · United States
A study of Portland, Oregon, examines claims that the well-documented benefits of community gardens are inequitably distributed across society. Portland is recognized as a sustainability leader with an abundance of community gardens and urban agriculture, yet it is also one of the whitest urban cities in the United States, where people of color — and the black community in particular — have faced a legacy of oppression and marginalization. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and extensive observation of community gardens, the research finds that the whiteness of these garden spaces functions to marginalize black individuals and contributes to the ongoing oppression of the black community. It also documents how Portland's black community engages in community gardening as a means of resisting these and broader effects of structural racism.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyThe greening of the "barrios": Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba
1999Altieri M.A., Companioni N., Cañizares K., Murphy C., Rosset P., Bourque M., Nicholls C.I. · Agriculture and Human Values · Cuba (Havana)
This study analyzes Cuba's grassroots urban agriculture movement that emerged after the 1989 Soviet collapse, showing how ~8,000 gardens nationwide operated on agroecological principles without synthetic inputs, providing Havana with thousands of tonnes of produce by 1996.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunity gardens and sustainable land use planning: A case‐study of the Alex Wilson community garden
1999Seana Irvine, Lorraine Johnson, Kim Peters · Local Environment · Canada
This case study provides an analytical account of the Alex Wilson Community Garden in Toronto, Canada, examining the connections between ecological restoration and community gardening. The garden, opened in June 1998, reflects Alex Wilson's work by linking these two enterprises to nurture relationships between people, communities, and the landscape. Its design reconstructs the natural and cultural history of southern Ontario with native plant species, aiming for a positive impact on local biodiversity. The participatory planning process involved various stakeholders and utilized planning tools like conservation easements.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageIs This a Women's Movement? The Relationship of Gender to Community-Supported Agriculture in Michigan
1999Laura DeLind, A. Ferguson · Human Organization · United States
This paper explores the role of gender within Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) using a Michigan CSA as a case study. It notes that women constitute a majority of active CSA membership and seeks to understand what attracts them and the nature of their involvement. The study finds preliminary answers within the wider context of new social movements.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceAnalysis of the Present Condition of an Allotment Garden in Japan
1999Megumi Higuchi · Japanese Journal of Human Geography · Japan
This paper analyzed the Minuma Fureai Garden in Kawaguchi City, Saitama prefecture, finding that its operation costs exceed annual income from user fees (15,000 Yen/person/year), with municipal subsidies covering 18% of total income. While land use regulations keep rent low, deregulation could threaten the garden's existence. A user survey revealed 70% of users were over 50, and 60% re-applied after a one-year contract, though this varied by distance.
Economic viabilityCommunityPolicyEconomicsAbout the Meaning and Role of Edible Landscape in Urban Residential Area
1999Isami Kinoshita, Jin Yoshikawa · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This study identified the meaning and role of edible landscapes in urban residential areas by comparing three districts in Japan: Nezu, Taishido, and Kokubunji-shinmachi. Through observation, interviews, and questionnaires, five common meanings and roles were found, including providing fresh food, fostering memories, promoting communication, preserving folk customs, and encouraging ecological thinking despite maintenance challenges.
CommunityFood educationDIYEffect of Service Learning on Attitudes towards Students with Severe Disabilities
1999Martha S. Burns, Nicholas J. Certo, Keith Storey · Education and training in mental retardation and developmental disabilities · Global
This quantitative study explored regular education students' attitudinal changes towards students with severe disabilities through inclusive service learning projects. The study involved a first intervention group of 12 volunteers who created a community garden with 8 students with severe disabilities, and a second intervention group of 12 Outdoor Education students who assisted 8 students with severe disabilities at a Special Olympics event. An attitudinal questionnaire was administered before and after the projects, and a control group was also included, but the abstract does not report the findings.
CommunityFood educationWelfareTierra Nueva -- A passive solar cohousing project
1999K. Haggard, Phillip J. Cooper · Solar today · United States (California)
The Tierra Nueva Cohousing Project in California comprises living units, a common house, community orchard, community gardens, play space, future shop space, and parking. The units incorporate thermal mass, solar heating, passive solar cooling, and perimeter insulation on slabs. The design of the project was collectively agreed upon by the entire community.
CommunityDIYClimate changeIdentifying Policy Opportunities to Increase Physical Activity in the Southeast Asian Community in Long Beach, California
1999Mary Anne Foo, Jason Robinson, Monica Rhodes, Lillian S. Lew, Maichew Chao, Sadira Sokhan Dy, William Eir · Health Education · United States (California)
This article describes how implementing policy changes in organizations and communities supported physical activity in the Southeast Asian community in Long Beach, California. Case studies from the Families in Good Health program illustrate the components of successful policy development for physical activity. Increased policy opportunities occurred when high levels of five factors were present: program champions were cultivated; strong partnerships were formed; the community gave approval of program results; community leaders were involved; and organizations or resources were ready for policy development.
PolicyHealthCommunityThe Policy of Facilities and Management of Allotment Garden Based on an Analysis of User's Conscious
1999Keiichi Moritsuka, Yoshiyuki Tokunaga, Hiraku Hoshi, Hiroshi Suda · INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING REVIEW · Global
This paper proposes policies for allotment garden facilities and management, based on a survey of users' consciousness. The survey found that some users rent gardens that do not satisfy their purpose due to a lack of publicly available information about allotment gardens. The paper concludes that garden managers must publicize the purpose of establishing gardens and show eagerness, while users should communicate with managers, guides, and other users.
Governance failurePolicyCommunitySchool Gardening: Improving Environmental Attitudes of Children Through Hands-On Learning
1999Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · Journal of Environmental Horticulture · United States
Project GREEN, a school garden program, was integrated into seven elementary and junior high schools in Kansas and Texas to evaluate its impact on students' environmental attitudes. Students' environmental attitudes were significantly more positive after participating, with post-test mean scores 0.26 points higher than pre-test scores. Demographic analysis showed that female, Caucasian, and rural students exhibited more positive environmental attitudes compared to other groups.
Food educationCommunityFarmers' markets offer new business opportunities for farmers
1999Gail Feenstra, Christopher Lewis · California Agriculture · United States (California)
A survey of farmers' market managers in California indicated that farmers' markets provide growers with opportunities to expand their businesses through new market venues, value-added products, and connections with agritourism. Rural markets offered strong community support and tourist links, while small-town markets showed the most new vendors and room for growth. Metropolitan markets, though harder to access, yielded the highest gross sales and increased demand for value-added products.
EconomicsCSA & TeikeiCommunityUrban–rural linkageCOMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA): A HYPOTHESIS TEST OF MEMBERSHIP ACTIVITIES AND UTILITY
1999Jane Kolodinsky, Qingbin Wang, Leslie L. Pelch, Kolodinsky, Jane M., Wang, Qingbin, Pelch, Leslie · 1999 Annual meeting, August 8-11, Nashville, TN · United States
A 1999 study tests whether membership activities of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Vermont, US, generate utility directly. Based on survey data from Vermont, it finds that both time spent picking up produce at the farm and time spent cleaning and putting away produce at home yield utility directly, and that the direct utility from picking up produce is greater than that from cleaning and putting it away.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsField to Family Community Food Project
1999Jan L. Flora, Robert Karp, Shelly Gradwell · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States
A 1999 article introduces the "Field to Family Community Food Project," which began in Iowa, US, in 1997. The project was intended to support the "Magic Beanstalk" community supported agriculture (CSA) initiative — a local food system in which farmers provide fresh food, fiber, and related products directly to area consumers — by forming partnerships with churches, social service organizations, Iowa State University, and other community groups.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityWelfareHavana's self-provision gardens
1999Angela Moskow · Environment and Urbanization · Cuba
The promotion of urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba, as a response to the acute food scarcity that developed after Soviet aid and trade were sharply curtailed in 1989, is examined through research including interviews with households engaged in urban agriculture. The paper describes the contribution of Havana's 26,000 self-provision gardens to household nutrition and income and to community environmental quality, and discusses lessons that can be drawn from this experience.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthEconomicsLos bosques andino-patagónicos como fuentes de alimento
1999Eduardo H. Rapoport, Ana H. Ladio · Bosque (Valdivia) · Argentina
This study gathered information on the potential contribution of non-timber forest products to the food system of developing countries. Natural plant communities normally contain about 10% native vascular species that can be edible, and this proportion can rise to 20-30% in disturbed habitats, or 30-90% when only weeds are considered. Point-sample frequencies of edible individuals recorded along transects in suburban Austrocedrus chilensis forests near Bariloche, Argentina, ranged from 15% to 66%. The probability of finding at least one edible plant in a random 0.25 m² sample (calculated from n=317 samples) was 0.675, rising to near 1.0 when calculated per hectare. In western Patagonia, the number of exotic edible weed species exceeds 90. The mean available edible biomass in vacant lots in Bariloche was 1,253 ± 392.8 kg/ha, based on 193 samples of 1/4 m² each. The study includes a table of quantitative frequencies for edible weeds and a list of 60 native food plants from Patagonian forests.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageNumerical Determination of Planting Layer Thickness in Rooftop Garden from the Aspect of Soil Water Consumption
1999Hyeong-Seok Choi, Yoshiyuki Amemiya · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan
Artificial planting soil layers used in settings such as rooftop gardens typically have a two-layer structure: a coarse drainage layer and a planting layer. Assuming no irrigation, this study examined the required layer thickness based on soil physical properties and weather conditions. Using 30 years of rainfall records for Tokyo, the logarithmic cumulative distribution of the number of days between rainfalls was well fitted by a normal distribution, with the number of days between rainfalls corresponding to 95% and 99% occurrence probabilities being 29 and 64 days, respectively. Numerical calculations for a two-layer system with a 100 mm lower layer examined the relationship between layer thickness and the time until the planting layer wilts on average from initial moisture; at 99% probability, the required planting layer thickness was 236 mm, roughly half the 424 mm required for a single-layer system.
DIYCommunityUser Distance Analysis of the Allotment Gardens for the Aged Using the Geographic Information System.
1999Yasunari Miyake · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan
This study used a Geographic Information System to analyze the location of allotment gardens for elderly users in Gifu City, Japan, measuring both direct distance and road distance from users' homes to the gardens, and ran simulations of changes to garden provision. Increasing the number of garden plots and changing the composition of users shortened the user distance to some extent, while newly opening gardens in the city center — where none previously existed — greatly shortened the user distance.
ElderlyCommunityResource Guide on Urban Agriculture
1999ETC Agriculture · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Global
A resource guide compiling information on people and organizations with expertise relevant to formulating and implementing urban agriculture policies, plans and projects.
PolicyCommunityFood educationConsumer Benefits from Community Supported Agriculture Membership
1998Jack P. Cooley, Daniel A. Lass · Review of Agricultural Economics · United States (Massachusetts)
This study focused on consumer benefits, specifically cost savings, from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership. It measured quantities of produce in weekly shares for three CSA farms in Massachusetts and calculated retail values. Cost savings, determined by the difference between share prices and retail values for organic produce, ranged from 60% to 150% of share prices for the studied CSA farms.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityUrban Agriculture, Food Security and the Environment: Socio-economics, Land Use Conflicts and Cultivators’ Views
1998Godfrey D. Mudimu, Shepherd Siziba, Benjamin Hanyani‐Mlambo · OpenDocs (Institute of Development Studies) · Zimbabwe (Harare)
This study in Harare, Zimbabwe, examined the socio-economics of urban crop production on municipal lands, cultivators' views, and land use conflicts. Urban agriculture, a widespread practice for subsistence maize and food security, is not supported by planners and conflicts with urban land use provisions. Findings revealed a serious lack of environmental concern among cultivators, with most ignoring stream bank regulations and lacking knowledge of environmental effects.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityPolicyThe significance of the limits to growth for the discussion of social policy
1998F.E. Trainer · International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy · Global
This paper presents the "limits to growth" perspective, arguing that current living standards in rich countries are globally unsustainable. It criticizes profit maximization and market forces as inappropriate for the needs of the world's poor, and explores how to reduce per capita resource use and environmental impact through small-scale, self-sufficient economies. It suggests that access to communal property and services should replace income as the means to a satisfying life, and mentions the role of community gardens and workers in saving towns.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy既是现实的 又是未来的——北京朝阳区都市农业实验的意义
1998杨鹤鸣 · 城市问题 · China (Beijing)
This report reflects on the author's participation in urban agriculture research in Beijing's Chaoyang District since August 1997. The author found the experience profound, recognizing the urban agriculture experiment in Chaoyang District as representing the reality of suburban agriculture in China.
CommunityPolicySchools, Children, and Gardening: The Results of a Children's Garden Competition among Florida Elementary Schools
1998Sonja M. Skelly, Jennifer Bradley · HortScience · United States (Florida)
In Spring 1998, the University of Florida hosted a children's garden competition for approximately 100 elementary schools across Florida. The competition required schools to establish or use an existing garden and for teachers to integrate it into classroom instruction. A random sample of 500 students from participating schools completed an environmental attitude survey at the beginning and end of the competition, and teachers also completed a survey on garden use and its effect on students.
Food educationCommunityReport on a visit to South Africa to facilitate a participatory workshop for an urban agriculture project in Sobantu Village, KwaZulu-Natal, as part of the DfID funded project: "Support to the Institute of Natural Resources for institutional development in South Africa"
1998Adrienne Martin, B. Pound · · South Africa
This report describes a visit to South Africa to facilitate a participatory workshop for an urban agriculture project in Sobantu Village, KwaZulu-Natal. The visit's objectives were to identify organizational, social, technical, and financial issues and necessary activities to initiate an urban agriculture project with the Sobantu community, the Institute for Natural Resources (INR), and Department of Agriculture staff. Discussions also included a draft manual on FSR/FPR being prepared by NRI/INR.
CommunityFood educationWelfare