Research & reports

Sonja M. Skelly, Jennifer Bradley · Applied Environmental Education & Communication · United States

A study (Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 2007) summarizing a 2000 investigation of school garden program variation and its impact on 427 third-grade students, developed a typology of nine garden types from a survey of 28 third-grade teachers, classified by activity intensity (high, medium, low) and garden form (flower, vegetable, or combination). Analysis of covariance found significant differences among garden types in students' attitudes toward science and toward the usefulness of science study. No significant differences were found among garden types in students' sense of responsibility or environmental attitudes; scores on those measures were uniformly high with little variation regardless of garden type.

Juliana Arruda, Nilson Antonio Modesto Arraes · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Campinas)

A 2005 study in Campinas, Brazil, analyzed the city's Community Garden Program (PHC) to support the formulation of new urban and peri-urban agriculture policies. Analysis of PHC management revealed an almost total disengagement between the program and sectoral policies such as education, health, and social action. However, individual actions were found to be important for project implementation and success, and the projects were significant in the lives of beneficiaries.

John A. Biernbaum · Crop Management · United States

This presentation was part of a USDA conference session exploring the expansion of education infrastructure in organic agriculture. The student-oriented presentation described target student audiences, outlined example curricular content for organic farming, identified K-12 education programs benefiting from organic farming content, listed sources of organic farming information, and detailed university student farming programs, specifically the Michigan State University Student Organic Farm (MSU-SOF) CSA program.

Rainbow A. Vogt, Lucía Kaiser, Robert B. Rucker · The FASEB Journal · United States (California)

A study involving 28 school food service directors and 20 stakeholders in California explored interest in purchasing local produce. Directors were motivated by fresher food, supporting the local economy, and aiding California farms, but faced barriers such as lack of producers, seasonal availability, budget, convenience, facilities, and transportation. The study concluded that program expansion and long-term viability depend on a coordinated produce distribution network between farms and schools, and the integration of nutrition education and school gardens into the core curriculum.

Shawn Teresa Flanigan, Roli Varma · Community Work & Family · United States (New Mexico)

This study investigated the effectiveness of methods used by nutrition educators to promote the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) community garden project in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. A survey of 257 clients from five clinics found that less than 30% of clients had been exposed to the project, and caseload was unrelated to the promotion methods used. However, clients exposed to any method of promotion were more likely to garden than those not exposed, and importantly, clients reported eating more vegetables after being exposed to the project.

Edilene Lagedo Teixeira, Janailton Coutinho, Adriano Costa da Silva, Andréa Soares, Camila Silva de Oliveira, Carla Gomes dos Santos, Beatriz Ribeiro Guimarães · REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE AGROECOLOGIA · Brazil

This study, conducted in 2003 by UNISOL REGIONAL and UFRRJ, aimed to develop an organic, condiment, and medicinal garden through social education activities. A socioeconomic survey of the community revealed urgent problems with water scarcity, mosquitoes, and rodents. While two garden beds and 12 planters were built to encourage self-sustaining urban agriculture, the abstract does not explicitly state the success or failure of achieving self-sustainability or addressing the identified community problems beyond the construction itself.

Kristin McGee · Deep Blue (University of Michigan) · United States

"Community Seeds" is a handbook providing basic information on gardening and starting community garden projects for community members, church members, young people, and schools. It covers definitions, getting started with community gardening, basic gardening skills like design, composting, and vegetable gardening, and how gardening can build community through farm-to-school programs, community supported agriculture, and marketing produce. The handbook also lists Internet and reading resources.

Adelaide Ellen Pigg, Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · HortTechnology · United States (McAllen, Texas)

A study of 196 elementary students in McAllen, Texas, compared the academic progress of students participating in a school garden program with those receiving traditional classroom instruction. No statistically significant differences were found in science achievement scores, indicating similar benefits for both groups. However, students receiving traditional math instruction showed more improved math achievement scores compared to those in the garden program.

Mathieu Ngouajio, Kathleen Delate, Edward E. Carey, Anita N. Azarenko, James J. Ferguson, William Sciarappa · HortTechnology · United States

A US report on the growth of organic agriculture and resulting pressure from students and the public for new curricula tailored to the sector. It notes that more students from cities with limited production-agriculture backgrounds are enrolling in agricultural programs and demanding curricula grounded in agroecology principles and experiential training, and summarizes a workshop that brought together experts from universities across the country working on different organic and sustainable agriculture curricula to share experiences and lessons learned. Most curricula combine traditional classroom teaching, a major experiential component, a student farm for hands-on training and internships, and in some cases a marketing component typically built around Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); other programs are more extension-oriented, offering applied training to growers outside the university curriculum.

Banting Doug, Doshi Hitesh, Li James, Missios Paul · Munich Personal RePEc Archive (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) · Canada (Toronto)

This report presents findings on the municipal-level benefits of implementing green roof technology in Toronto, Canada. Quantifiable monetary benefits included stormwater flow reduction (including impact on combined sewer overflow), air quality improvement, reduced direct energy use, and reduction in the urban heat island effect. Other benefits like aesthetic improvement, increased property values, use as amenity spaces, food production, and increased biodiversity were identified but could not be quantified in this report, requiring further work.

Courtney Tchida · University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) · United States (Minnesota)

This report develops an educational curriculum for teachers to use at Gale Woods Farm and in classrooms. Gale Woods Farm, a 410-acre educational farm in Minnetrista, Minnesota, aims to connect people to their food source through sustainable farming methods. The curriculum focuses on creating awareness of farming, food production, and agricultural practices emphasizing environmental stewardship.

Christela Castro · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States (California)

The School Garden Project in Monterey County, California, was designed to address childhood obesity, which affected 21.3% of children in the county, with 50.6% of those being Hispanic. The project specifically targeted Hispanic children to tackle this issue.

Amanda Brown, Antonin van der Lely, Camilo Cortes, Eileen Leung, Fung Lam, Liz Overton, Muneera Hussain · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · Canada

The UBC Food Systems Project evaluated the effects of campus development on creating a sustainable food system at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Researchers identified barriers and opportunities in UBC's Official Community Plan (OCP) and Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP), then proposed "The Edible Campus" urban agricultural strategy. This strategy included six actions like demonstration gardens and food production on buildings, with recommendations for future viability studies.

Kerry Martens · ˜The œAgricultural education magazine · United States (Connecticut)

This paper recounts the author's personal experience in a regional suburban agricultural education program in Connecticut, detailing how it changed their career goals and led them to become an agriculture teacher. The author reports acquiring transferable skills, such as record-keeping and working within a budget through a portfolio-based SAE project. The experience concludes that large, suburban agricultural education programs offer great opportunities.

Ron Sawyer, Anne Delmaire, Andrés A. Buenfil · · Mexico

A study shares initial experiences from TepozEco, a pilot program for holistic ecological sanitation planning in Tepoztlan, Mexico, which includes promoting ecological toilets, water demand and greywater management, rainwater harvesting, organic waste recycling, urban agriculture, and environmental education. The project's initial phase is described as encouraging, attributed mainly to an iterative, flexible, and responsive design process—adaptive planning—and a close network of partners and collaborators; while the local context is in some respects unique, particularly regarding institutional resources, local environmental awareness, and local government commitment, the municipality's socioeconomic conditions reflect those of much of Latin America, suggesting TepozEco could serve as an ecological sanitation model for a significant part of Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Kimberly J. Shinew, Troy D. Glover, Diana C. Parry · Journal of Leisure Research · United States (St. Louis)

A study focusing on African American and White gardeners in St. Louis, United States, examined whether urban community gardens are perceived as spaces where people of different races can successfully integrate. The study also sought to examine race and its relationship to perceptions, motivations, and benefits of community gardening.

Constance L. Falk, Pauline Pao, Christopher S. Cramer · HortScience · United States (New Mexico)

In January 2002, the OASIS organic vegetable garden was initiated on the New Mexico State University campus as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venture. The project aims to provide students with experiential education in organic production and business management, investigate the feasibility of small-scale organic drip irrigation in the Chihuahuan desert, and demonstrate the CSA model. In its first two years, the 2/3-acre project grew about 230 varieties and generated $32,000 in revenue, with 32 members in the first year and 69 in 2003.

Juliana Munaretti de Oliveira, Janaína F. F. Cintrão · Revista Brasileira Multidisciplinar · Brazil (Araraquara)

This research in Araraquara, Brazil, investigated behavioral problems among high school students at a state school in Vila Xavier. A questionnaire was used to understand behaviors conflicting with social norms. The study observed changes in student behavior related to food, specifically increased appreciation for the cafeteria and respect for lunch staff. These observations led to the creation of a community garden, which contributed to students' socialization, offered possibilities for new skills, and generated value for citizenship, in addition to supplementing family nutrition.

Geralyn Nolan, Jayne M. Zajicek · HortScience · United States

This research investigated whether gardening supplemented with nutritional curriculum could improve fruit and vegetable attitudes in minority children in Texas elementary schools. Children completed pre- and post-tests evaluating attitudes, snack preferences, and nutritional knowledge. Statistically significant positive differences were found in all three variables after the gardening and nutritional instruction.

Robert F. Polomski, Carri Carver Wallace, Mary Haque, Lisa K. Wagner, James E. Arnold, Amy D. Craddock, Christian Maloney Cicimurri, Lisa D. Chancellor · HortScience · United States (South Carolina)

An interdisciplinary team designed a 2.5-acre Children's Garden for experiential learning at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. The plans include 13 outdoor theme gardens, such as a "Dinosaur Dig" and a "Food for Thought Garden." A design class of 15 students contributed 2,000 hours to the project, producing 30 drawing boards of research, analysis, and design proposals presented in Fall 2003.

Daniela Adil Oliveira de Almeida · Organic Eprints (International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)

This article focuses on the "Project for Training Local Development Agents in Food and Nutritional Security and Urban Agriculture," which began in 2003 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Prebus, Olivia · Occidental College Scholar (Occidental College) · United States (Los Angeles)

This work addresses the gross inequity of food access in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles, such as MacArthur Park, where grocery stores are scarce. The author's internship at the Center for Food and Justice involved projects like a Community Food Assessment and organizing a community garden, all focused on empowering communities to tackle complex food access issues. The abstract highlights the severe problem of limited healthy food options leading to simultaneous obesity and malnutrition.

Heather Graham, Gail Feenstra, A. Evans, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · California Agriculture · United States (California)

A study (2004, California Agriculture) evaluates the Farm to School Connection, a comprehensive program in the Davis, California school environment that sought to promote lifelong healthy eating habits in children and connect the school garden, cafeteria, and classroom to local agriculture, including farmers'-market-style salad bars, classroom education, farm tours, and waste management. Evaluated through interviews and surveys of program leaders, teachers, and school staff, the program was found to increase participation in the school lunch program following the addition of salad bars, and numerous partnerships developed among those involved; the components of the Farm to School Connection are presented as evidence supporting comprehensive school nutrition programs and their positive impact on the school environment.

Joan M. Twiss, Joy Dickinson, Shirley Duma, Tanya Kleinman, Heather Paulsen, Liz Rilveria · American Journal of Public Health · United States (California)

Community gardens enhance nutrition, physical activity, and social capital, promoting public health and quality of life. The California Healthy Cities and Communities (CHCC) program funded successful community gardens in several cities, which incorporated local leadership, volunteers, and skill-building. These initiatives led to policies for land and water use, improved produce access, and strengthened community building skills.

Karen L. Nordstrom · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States

This research investigated the impact of collaborative, reflective teaching practice on teacher professional development in science education. The MBSP/LASERS Summer School Academy implemented lesson study, integrating hands-on, inquiry-based learning and English language acquisition within the context of a school garden. Qualitative data analyses identified emergent themes from teacher and student interviews, focus groups, and written reflection, measuring the effectiveness of lesson study on teacher professional development and student perceptions of garden-based learning.