Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2067 results(31 / 83)
UM OLHAR GEOGRÁFICO A PARTIR DA HORTA ESCOLAR: EDUCAÇÃO SOCIOAMBIENTAL E SOBERANIA ALIMENTAR
2020Stéfanny da Cruz Nóbrega, Lara Cristine Gomes Ferreira · OKARA Geografia em debate · Brazil (Goiânia)
This article presents results from a university extension project between the Federal University of Goiás and elementary school students in Goiânia, Brazil. The project focused on socio-environmental education through an agroecological school garden, integrating theory and practice with didactic sequences on agrarian geography topics like food consumption awareness, socio-biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and soil management. Activities included workshops on vertical gardens and composting, a soil workshop, and field trips, aiming to exchange knowledge on agricultural production forms, agroecology, and food sovereignty, valuing family farming.
Food educationFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityCompostHeat Treatment Reduces Bacterial Contamination of Medicinal Plants Grown in A Community Garden
2020Cleusa Fernandes Ramos, Andréia Assunção Soares, Isabela Carvalho dos Santos, F. Ramos, Odair Alberton, Luciana Kazue Otutumi, Lidiane Nunes Barbosa, Ricardo de Melo Germano, Daniela Dib Gonçalves, Luiz Sérgio Merlini · Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology · Brazil
This 2020 study in Brazil evaluated the bacteriological quality of six medicinal plants from community gardens, including Cymbopogon citratus and Aloysia citriodora. Analysis of cold extracts revealed bacterial contamination, with Plectranthus barbalus showing the highest aerobic mesophile count and Aloysia citriodora the highest coliform count at 45°C. However, the study concluded that heat treatment (boiling for teas) can significantly reduce or eliminate this bacteriological contamination, making the plants safe for consumption.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthFood educationGRUPO DE AUTOCUIDADO APOIADO PARA PORTADORES DE DOENÇAS CRÔNICAS NA ATENÇÃO PRIMÁRIA À SAÚDE: UM RELATO DE EXPERIÊNCIA
2020Idaene Socorro da Silva, Alexciane Priscila da Silva, Thayna Karoline Sousa Silva, Delton Manoel dos Santos Silva, Hannah Shiva Ludgero Farias, Cáio Dantas Ribeiro, Jéssica de Oliveira Campos, Camilla Peixoto Santos Rodrigues, Osvaldo Nascimento Pascoal, JacksonGeorge Gomes dos Santos Araújo, Adriana Maria da Silva · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil
From August to December 2018, a supported self-care group for chronic disease patients was implemented in the Maués neighborhood of Vitória de Santo Antão/PE, Brazil. The group consisted of 14 in-person meetings with an average participation of 20 community members, utilizing strategies such as community garden construction and maintenance, nutritional education, and physical activity promotion. This experience yielded positive impacts, including the empowerment of participants in their health-disease process and an understanding of the importance of self-care.
CommunityHealthWelfareMaking community-supported agriculture accessible to low-income families: findings from the Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids process evaluation
2020Jennifer Garner, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Karla L. Hanson, Alice S. Ammerman, Jane Kolodinsky, Marilyn Sitaker, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Translational Behavioral Medicine · United States
A process evaluation of the Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK) randomized trial, conducted across 4 states and 12 farms, assessed whether cost-offset community-supported agriculture could improve diet quality among children in low-income families. Intervention households (n=305) purchased a 50% subsidized share of local produce and were invited to nutrition classes. Results showed the mean CSA season was 21 weeks, with a median CSA pickup rate of 88% of the weeks. Most adults (77%) and children (54%) attended at least one class, and 82% of caregivers reported consuming most or all produce.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityHealthWelfarePedagogical Vegetable Garden: a participant-research of teacher’s training on education by projects
2020Sérgio Murilo de Souza Filho, Vanessa Aparecida Alves de Lima · · Brazil (Joinvile-SC)
A participant research on teacher education using a project-based learning model was conducted with three teachers from a municipal school in Joinvile-SC, Brazil. The study involved seven meetings with the teachers and three diagnostic tools, including a semi-open questionnaire and a focus group. The experience demonstrated that garden pedagogy can dynamize content within the school curriculum, and a pedagogical garden was constructed with the help of students throughout the process.
Food educationCommunityThe integration of food biodiversity in school curricula through school gardens and gastronomy in Brazil
2020Ana Rosa Domingues dos Santos, Nádia Lúcia Almeida Nunes, Alessandra Santos dos Santos, Camila Neves Soares Oliveira, Lídio Coradin, Daniela Moura de Oliveira, Neio Campos · · Brazil
This paper described the integration of food biodiversity into school curricula through school gardens and gastronomy activities in Brazil. School gardens were utilized as rich pedagogical tools in various classes, including arts, math, and languages, beyond the initially expected biology and geography. The gastronomy area focused on cultural and regional food habits and the technical and sensorial features of food, also serving as a pedagogical tool in classes from history and sociology to math and geography.
Food educationBiodiversityCommunityNina B. Hollis Research Impact Award Project: Garden-Based Learning
2020Sarah E. Cramer, Mercedes Tichenor · · United States
The Garden-Based Learning Project, a collaboration between Stetson University and a local elementary school, was developed to address the gap in teachers' comfort and skills with integrating garden-based learning into their pedagogy. This article describes the first year of the project, which aims to leverage the known benefits of school gardens, such as increased physical activity and improved student attitudes, while highlighting its accomplishments and future sustainability plans.
Food educationHealthCommunityNebraska School Gardens and the Potential for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Learning
2020Erin Ingram, Jenny Keshwani · Journal of Extension · United States (Nebraska)
A survey of Nebraska schools characterized existing school-based growing spaces and identified challenges limiting garden-based STEM learning. The study confirmed the use of these spaces for K-12 STEM instruction, particularly in sciences. However, opportunities for technology and engineering experiences were found to be limited, indicating a need for additional professional development support to expand garden-based STEM learning.
Limited or null effectFood educationCommunityEducators' Guide to Managing Red Imported Fire Ants in School or Community Vegetable Gardens
2020Megan Shearer, Amy Dabbs, Zack Snipes, Vicky Bertagnolli, Joshua Weaver · TigerPrints (Clemson University) · United States (South Carolina)
The South Carolina Statewide School Gardening program has established over 150 school gardens, but teachers report that fire ants are overrunning the gardens and negatively impacting student experience. This FAQ addresses how to safely manage fire ants in school gardens.
Food educationCommunityModeling the Potential Productivity of Urban Agriculture and Its Impacts on Soil Quality Through Experimental Research on Scale-Appropriate Systems
2020John Taylor · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (Rhode Island)
This long-term replicated trial in Rhode Island evaluated the yield performance and soil quality impacts of four small-scale food production systems over three summer growing seasons. While total marketable food yields (2.22 to 2.96 kg m-2) were modest compared to biointensive agriculture (4.64 kg m-2), individual crop yields often exceeded regional and national averages without soil quality loss. The study addresses a lack of experimental research on urban agriculture and provides a framework for normative research, offering more reliable yield estimates for modeling urban production potential.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityOrganic cycleClimate changeDeveloping a local definition of urban agriculture: context and implications for a rural state
2020Catherine Dobbins, Casandra Cox, Leslie D. Edgar, D. L. Graham, Amanda Philyaw Perez · The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension · United States
This study aimed to define urban agriculture for Arkansas, a rural state, by conducting 16 qualitative interviews using snowball sampling. It found that the Arkansas-specific definition evolved to small-scale, diversified, and sustainable farming within city limits, engaging with the market or community, and fewer than 10 acres. Participants also expressed hesitation to be defined solely as 'urban farmer'.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageBuilding racial bridges? Social capital among community gardeners in US food deserts
2020Jennifer Jettner, Mary Secret · International Journal of Social Welfare · United States
This study examined the relationship between race and racial diversity on social capital in community gardens located in food deserts in the southeastern USA. Cross-level regression models were performed on a sample of 52 gardeners from 10 community gardens, analyzing their “sense of community” and the “number of resources” obtainable from fellow gardeners. Results indicated that community gardens are excellent vehicles for promoting one’s sense of community regardless of race or garden’s racial composition, but they were less likely to increase the number of resources. Accessing a greater number of resources took longer and more effort, and increased perceptions of racial diversity had a negative relationship with the number of resources.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareNatural enemy–herbivore networks along local management and landscape gradients in urban agroecosystems
2020Stacy M. Philpott, Azucena Lucatero, Peter Bichier, Monika Egerer, Shalene Jha, Brenda B. Lin, Heidi Liere · Ecological Applications · United States (California)
This study investigated natural-enemy-herbivore co-occurrence networks associated with Brassica oleracea in 24 urban vegetable gardens in the California, USA central coast region. Increased floral richness and B. oleracea abundance were associated with increased parasitoid and non-aphid herbivore abundance, and increased network vulnerability. Increased vegetation complexity suppressed parasitoid abundance but boosted network vulnerability. High agricultural land-use cover around urban gardens was associated with lower predator, parasitoid, and non-aphid herbivore abundance, lower natural-enemy:herbivore ratios, lower interaction richness, and higher trophic complementarity.
CommunityBiodiversityOrganic cycleSemillas de Justicia
2020Teresa Irene Gonzales · · United States (Chicago)
This 30-month ethnographic case study in La Villita, Chicago, based on 14 interviews, examines how Chicana activists challenge environmental racism and transform blighted spaces. The study highlights their use of "Chicana environmentalism," an asset-based framework, to cultivate local knowledge and create community assets, including a community garden and the transformation of a superfund site into a public park. These efforts have increased resident land ownership and civic activity, demonstrating the organizations' ability to address city-level racist development policies.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyA Espiral de Ervas como dispositivo estético-educacional, inspirando o cultivo urbano e a consciência ambiental
2020Fernando Marcelo Cardozo, Ramiro Bastos · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
An experiment conducted in Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil, between 2016 and 2019, involved over 40 events focused on constructing spiral herb beds in various city neighborhoods. These events, structured as permacultural workshops, aimed to transmit knowledge and stimulate knowledge exchange among participants. Lectures covered topics such as agroecology, urban agriculture, ancestral peoples, and community gardens, using technical, popular, and artistic languages to engage diverse audiences.
Food educationCommunityDIYA CRIAÇÃO DE UMA HORTA ESCOLAR COMO FERRAMENTA AO ENSINO DE EDUCAÇÃO AMBIENTAL/THE CREATION OF A SCHOOL GARDEN AS A TOOL FOR TEACHING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
2020Ananias Lima dos Santos, Ruandra Kaienne da Silva Laranjeira, Rodrigo Pereira, Maria Raquel de Carvalho Cota, Lionete Viana da Silva, Everton Ramos de Souza · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil
This study aimed to demonstrate that non-formal school spaces can serve as an alternative teaching-learning method for environmental education. The project, conducted with 5th-grade students at Escola Estadual Thomé de Medeiros Raposo, showed significant results from proposed activities and comparative questionnaire data. Students gained practical experience in conscious citizenship and adopted new behaviors through creating a school garden using recycled materials.
Food educationCommunityClimate changeWho practices urban agriculture? An empirical analysis of participation before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic
2020Lauren Chenarides, Carola Grebitus, Jayson L. Lusk, Iryna Printezis · Agribusiness · United States
This study examined household-level participation in urban agriculture (community and home growing) before (2017) and during (2020 lockdown) the COVID-19 pandemic in Phoenix, AZ, and Detroit, MI, using two online surveys and bivariate probit models. It found that considerably fewer individuals participated in community gardens compared to home gardening, and overall participation was lower in 2020 than in 2017. The continuity of individuals' participation in growing food at community gardens and home is fragile, and many urban households' food-growing practices may not yet be mainstream, suggesting other barriers inhibit participation.
Limited or null effectCommunityDIYHealthNutrition Policies, Practices, and Environments in Low‐Income Georgia Elementary Schools, United States, 2015‐2017
2020Dana Guglielmo, Sicha Chantaprasopsuk, Christi Kay, Eric T. Hyde, Chris Stewart, Julie A. Gazmararian · Journal of School Health · United States (Georgia)
This cross-sectional online survey assessed nutrition policies, practices, and environments in 113 Georgia SNAP-Ed elementary schools from 2015-2017. While most schools had wellness policies and provided nutrition education, fewer had policies limiting sugar-sweetened foods in classrooms or established school gardens. Minimal significant differences were found across school-level demographics.
Food educationHealthPolicyCommunityRelações comunitárias vivenciadas numa pesquisa-intervenção no semiárido baiano
2020Karoline Oliveira da Silva, Renata Rodrigues dos Santos Oliveira · Revista Macambira · Brazil
This article reports experiences and reflections from an intervention research conducted in the Bastião Community in Retirolândia, Bahia, Brazil, with 12 women members of the Bastianense association. The research aimed to investigate the relationship between the community and medicinal plants, and to strengthen bonds among participants. The outcome was the implementation of a community garden of medicinal plants and the production of a socio-educational manual for its implementation.
CommunityPolicyHealthA Práxis da Agricultura Sustentável Urbana: possível caminho por percorrer na horta comunitária do IFG
2020GONZALO MARÍN OVIEDO, OLIVEIRA, ALESSANDRO SILVA DE · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Brazil (Anápolis)
The Federal Institute of Goiás, Anápolis campus, aims to contribute to overcoming socio-environmental problems affecting vulnerable communities in the region through sustainable agriculture in a community garden. This initiative proposes developing critical environmental education, discussing theoretical and practical aspects of the critical approach and its relationship with praxis. Historical-Dialectical Materialism guides the theoretical-methodological aspects, and Action Research is used for practical aspects.
CommunityFood educationWelfareAtlanta Residents’ Knowledge Regarding Heavy Metal Exposures and Remediation in Urban Agriculture
2020Lauren Balotin, Samantha Distler, Antoinette L. Williams, Samuel J. W. Peters, Candis M. Hunter, Chris Theal, Gil Frank, Taranji Alvarado, Rosario Hernandez, Arthur Hines, Eri Saikawa · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · United States (Atlanta)
This study investigated Atlanta residents' knowledge regarding heavy metal and metalloid (HMM) exposures and remediation in urban agriculture, following the detection of industrial slag and hazardous soil contamination in West Atlanta in 2018. Through surveys and follow-up interviews, it was found that participants were concerned about the potential health effects of soil contaminants but unconcerned with produce in their gardens. Gardeners' knowledge of HMM exposure sources and remediation methods was low and varied based on racial group.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunity8. Diverse Politics, Difficult Contradictions: Gentrification and the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance
2020Michelle Glowa, Antonio Roman-Alcalá · New York University Press eBooks · United States (California)
This chapter examines the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, analyzing its composition, genesis, and how it has confronted the tensions and limitations of neoliberal urbanization. Based on personal experiences and research, it proposes that justice-driven urban agriculture movements are influenced by political-economic changes and can be absorbed into existing neoliberal and pro-development trajectories. This indicates a critical finding regarding equity and the challenges urban agriculture faces in resisting gentrification.
Equity & displacementPolicyEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceComunidade que sustenta a agricultura: segurança alimentar e nutricional na agricultura urbana de Sete Lagoas (MG)
2020Glauco Régis Florisbelo, Angelina Moreira Melo, Alair Ferreira de Freitas, Pinheiro, Daniel Calbino · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This study analyzed how the implementation of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in an urban community garden in Sete Lagoas (MG), Brazil, contributed to food and nutritional security for consumers and increased the income of family farmers. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with farmers and questionnaires administered to consumers. The results demonstrated that the CSA strengthened social relations between farmers and consumers, added elements of food and nutritional security, and improved the income of farming families.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsHarvest of the Month for Early Childhood Education: Parent Perspectives
2020Christine Lux, Brianna Routh, Lacy Stephens · Journal of Human Sciences and Extension · United States
This exploratory study surveyed 21 parents from a campus-based preschool in the northwest United States during the 2017-2018 school year to understand the impact of the "Harvest of the Month" program on children's nutrition behavior at home. Findings indicated that a variety of program foods were served and consumed at home, but parents prioritized knowing food origins over serving local foods. Parents' knowledge of farm to ECE, reported farmer's market purchases, and CSA participation were limited, suggesting a need for targeted parent education.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthCSA & TeikeiFood miles & supply chainEdible Landscaping Using the Nine Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Principles
2020Tiare Saracino, Lynn Barber, Esen Momol, Tina McIntyre, Tom Wichman, Gail Hansen, Jen Marvin, Terra Freeman, Joseph Sewards, Wendy Wilber, Jacqlyn Rivas · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · United States (Florida)
The objective of this publication is to address the important concern of maintaining edible landscapes in a way that protects the environment for Florida's water quality. It introduces the framework of the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ principles and applies these principles to guide decisions about Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the care of edible landscapes.
DIYOrganic cycleClimate change