Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9074 results(320 / 363)
A quantitative assessment of agricultural production from allotment gardens
2011Shinichi TAHARA, Sayaka SHIOYAMA, Hideharu KURITA, Toru Terada · Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture · Japan
This study in Japan aimed to identify the actual amount of agricultural production by measuring harvested products from two urban agricultural gardens. It found that production from an 'experience farm' was sufficient for annual household consumption, while allotment gardens could not reach these amounts. At the district scale (500m radius) in this study, urban agricultural gardens could cover more than 10% of all vegetable consumption by urban residents.
Limited or null effectCommunityEconomicsURBANISMO Y PRACTICAS AGRICOLAS
2011Luis Octavio Da Silva · · Global
This text presents and discusses the phenomenon of vegetable cultivation in urban environments, examining it from symbolic, utopian, and industrial era perspectives. It covers the diffusion of gardening practices, various types of urban gardens, urban self-sufficiency, and the ideology behind promotional campaigns. The article also discusses the recurring landscape practice of lawn cultivation in urban settings, including its Anglo-Saxon origins, transposition to North American urban environments, symbolism, and associated conflicts.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyThe Honeybee Man by L. Nargi
2011Sarah Mead-Willis · The Deakin Review of Children s Literature · United States (Brooklyn)
"The Honeybee Man" by L. Nargi is a 2011 picture book about Fred, a Brooklyn resident who keeps three honeybee colonies on his townhouse roof. The book illustrates Fred's urban beekeeping, showing how his bees collect nectar across the borough and how he harvests and distributes honey to neighbors. It aims to educate young families about local ecology and human community, explaining bee behavior and the processes of beekeeping and honeymaking.
DIYCommunityPollinatorsFood educationAgriculture urbaine comme réponse au chômage à Kinshasa, République Démocratique du Congo
2011Dieudonné E. Musibono, E.M. Biey, M. Kisangala, Camille Ipey Nsimanda, B.A. Munzundu, V. Kekolemba, J.J Palus · VertigO · Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Urban agriculture in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, serves as a palliative solution for social survival constraints such as a lack of remunerative salaries and sustainable jobs. However, poorly supervised urban farmers cultivate along busy roads, exposing vegetables to various contaminations, including lead. This practice highlights issues with site selection and supervision.
Contamination & food safetyWelfareEconomicsPolicyMicmac Farms: From Community Garden to Four-Season Farm and Retail Outlet
2011J. Caulfield · Maine policy review · United States
This case study describes how Maine's Micmac tribe is developing "Micmac Farms" from a community garden into a four-season agricultural business.
CommunityEconomics(" \. \ ··_ ..
2011Craig Pearson · Urban agriculture · Sri Lanka
Each community in Sri Lanka developed its own Green Plan and decided what vegetables or plants it would grow. Home garden plots and community gardens were created with seed and plant donations from a university, with planting occurring in April and May 2004. Community residents assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the plants, while Sevanatha and university staff visited the sites regularly to monitor and provide consultation.
CommunityDIYFood educationUSING SCHOOL GARDENS AS A VEHICLE FOR HEALTH PROMOTION FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YOUTH: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
2011Hillary Anne Doerfler · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) · Global
A literature review examined the use of school garden programs for health promotion among elementary school youth. The review found that school gardens successfully improved academic achievement, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and enhanced social skills. However, significant barriers to implementation were identified, particularly in low socioeconomic status schools, including a lack of funding, insufficient gardening knowledge among teachers, and limited community and parent involvement.
Governance failureFood educationHealthCommunityWelfareContact with Nature
2011Howard Frumkin, Jared Fox · Island Press/Center for Resource Economics eBooks · Global
Contact with nature may benefit health, a relationship supported by both theoretical and empirical considerations. Nature contact can take many forms in the built environment, including plantings in buildings, views from windows, biophilic building design, community gardens, and parks. Evidence supports various benefits of such nature contact, ranging from stress reduction to improved recovery from illness and surgery.
HealthCommunityMigratory words, migratory worlds: From Liverpool (United Kingdom) to Liverpool (New South Wales), and back again
2011Elizabeth Day · Crossings Journal of Migration and Culture · United Kingdom
This visual essay reflects on the ideas and processes of migration, mutation, and transplantation. Inspired by Robert Smithson's work, the author's art practice is intimately connected to the earth, exploring deterritorialization and reterritorialization in the creation of earthworks. The author examines Tasmanians' special connection to the earth through two photographic series: depictions of their own earthworks and a series created with women in a women's prison centered on the theme of a 'community garden'.
CommunityWelfareAn evaluation of the California Instructional School Garden Program
2011Eric L. Hazzard, Elizabeth Moreno, Deborah Lane Beall, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · Public Health Nutrition · United States (California)
A mid-term evaluation was conducted on 3103 California public schools (80.6% of applicants) to assess the effectiveness of the California Instructional School Garden Program (CISGP). Many schools reported not achieving their predicted goals related to the CISGP grant, with only 39.4% of schools accomplishing all their garden-related goals. Additionally, 37.8% of schools reported that their school gardens were negatively affected by the California budget deficit, suggesting that the discrepancy between predicted and actual grant utilization may be due to a combination of budget shortfall and insufficient grant award amounts.
Limited or null effectFood educationPolicyEconomics‘More punitive penalties should be given to urban farmers’:
2011Romborah Simiyu, Dick Foeken · · Kenya
This chapter reviews national and Eldoret Municipal Council laws and policies related to Urban Agriculture (UA) in Eldoret town, Kenya. It assesses how these policies have shaped the livelihoods of urban farmers and the development of UA as a strategy for urban dwellers. The chapter also reflects on recent developments towards a more facilitative policy framework for UA at the national level.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsRaising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis
2011Victoria Derr · Children Youth and Environments · Global
This book review examines Sandra Steingraber's "Raising Elijah," which addresses parental concerns about environmental crises and children's protection. The book details environmental hazards and advocates for engagement in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. It criticizes the inadequacy of policies that force parents to act as "their own regulatory agencies" and suggests that collaborative, multi-agency approaches are necessary for effective environmental protection, beyond individual actions like buying local and organic.
CSA & TeikeiHealthClimate changeAgricultura Urbana: ruralidades no espaço intra-urbano de Montes Claros, MG
2011Marina de Fátima Brandão Carneiro, Antônio Maurílio Alencar Feitosa, Dulce Pereira dos Santos, Gabriel Alves Veloso, Igor Martins de Oliveira · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil (Montes Claros)
This study investigated the role and importance of urban agriculture in Montes Claros, MG, Brazil, as a dynamic activity creating a specific rural-urban interaction space. Using bibliographic and documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews with farmers, iconographic production, and geotechnologies for mapping, the research found that urban agriculture is a reality in intra-urban spaces. It occupies vacant lots and backyards with diverse activities, generating work, employment, income, food security, and products for local commerce.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageReaserch on the Countermeasures about Agricultural Product Logistics Development in city——Based on the Bai Sha Zhou agricultural and sideline products market
2011Shuhong Zhang · Logistics Engineering and Management · China (Wuhan)
This study investigated the current state of agricultural product logistics in cities, using the Wuhan Baishazhou agricultural and sideline products market as an example. It identified problems such as fewer services provided, backward technical means, lower employee education levels, and arbitrary market transactions. Based on these issues, suggestions were made for accelerating urban agricultural logistics development, including reinforcing market management, strengthening logistics technology development, recruiting professionals, and improving service capability.
EconomicsUrban–rural linkage大都市周縁農村の都市化過程とまちづくりの現代的課題 --京都市伏見区久我・羽束師地域の概況--
2011知弘 岡田, 大介 小山 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This paper is part of a special issue on the "Possibility and problem of 'coexistence of agriculture and housing' in suburban agricultural region of big city," presenting an overview of the urbanization process and contemporary challenges of town planning in the Kuga-Hatsukashi area of Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyReclaiming and Recirculating Urban Natures: Integrated Organic Waste Management in Diadema, Brazil
2011Julian S. Yates, Jutta Gutberlet · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · Brazil (Diadema)
This paper analyzes food waste flows in Diadema, Brazil, through an urban political ecology lens, focusing on integrated organic waste management for composting and urban food production. While presented as a means for positive socioecological change, the process is characterized by conflict and potential exploitation. Broader structural conditions also constrain the system's ability to offer an alternative to existing waste-management models.
Equity & displacementCompostOrganic cycleCommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsNitrate pollution of Neogene alluvium aquifer in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania
2011I Kibona, SL Mkoma, IC Mjemah · International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences · Tanzania (Morogoro)
Groundwater samples were collected from 20 wells in six wards of Morogoro municipality, Tanzania, during March-April 2010, and nitrate concentrations were measured. Nitrate levels ranged from 1.4 mg/L to 32.5 mg/L, with an average of 7.76 mg/L. These concentrations were below the upper limits set by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards and the World Health Organization.
Contamination & food safetyHealthUrban–rural linkageCreate a new business model for city farming henry & potter : Environment-friendly agriculture management abroad by Japanese city farmers
2011NPO法人イノプレックス, 野村アグリプランニング アドバイザリー株式会社, 正一 佐々木, 巖根 米田 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This report proposes a system to support city farmers' businesses by bridging the information gap between consumers and farmers, aiming for international export. The system provides consumers with information on city farmers' locations, vegetable quality, and production processes, while enabling feedback for farmers. The proposed system is projected to yield a net present value (NPV) of 5,300,000 yen in four years, starting in Tokyo and expanding to other regions and developing countries.
EconomicsCommunityDigital agricultureThe Demand For Community Supported Agriculture
2011John M. Polimeni, Raluca Iorgulescu Polimeni, Richard L. Shirey, Christina L. Trees, W. Scott Trees · Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) · United States
This paper develops a theory of demand for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership, using survey and anecdotal data from members of the Roxbury Biodynamic Farm, the second largest CSA in the United States. The discussion considers evidence of a direct relationship between production method and demand. It also hypothesizes that dynamic demand, influenced by participation over time, is a necessary but insufficient condition for CSA sustainability.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityPlant a Seed! Using the Garden for Language Acquisition
2011Maria Lundgren · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · Global
This workshop explores how school gardens can be integrated into the curriculum and used for learning. Participants will engage in experiential activities demonstrating the garden's utility in elementary classrooms as a setting for content-based language acquisition.
Food educationCommunityOrganic Oreos Versus the Family Farm: The Mainstreaming of Big Box All-Natural Products and the Confused Consumer
2011Kathleen Lynn Wensuc · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · United States (Colorado)
This study investigates consumer understanding of food labeling and the marketability of authentically healthy, organic foods from independent farms. Conducted in Boulder, Colorado, it explores potential confusion between "organic" and "natural" products and reasons for participation in community supported agriculture programs. Findings suggest that a misperception between the terms "organic" and "natural" may not exist, but distinguishing them remains important.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice연구논문 : 도시농업활동 프로그램 개발을 위한 요구 분석
2011장보경, 최윤지, 황정임 · 농촌지도와 개발 · South Korea
This study aimed to identify the needs assessment for urban agricultural programs. Urban citizens expressed a need for educational programs addressing "shortage of farming technology education" and desired "farming technology" education more than other areas. They requested urban agricultural programs with both theory and practice, preferring an 80:20 ratio of practice to theory for "farming technology" based programs. Citizens most preferred a 3 to 6-month education period, with over 95% indicating a desire to join such a program if developed.
Food educationCommunityValoración de la cidra papa (sechium edule) como alternativa de alimentación y recuperación de vínculos con el campo
2011Consuelo Montes Rojas, Astrid Alejandra Gomez · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Colombia (Popayán)
This participatory research in three communes and four urban-marginal settlements of Popayán, Colombia, surveyed 116 displaced families to evaluate chayote (Sechium edule) as a food alternative. The study found that chayote adapts well to settlement conditions and serves as an alternative food source, promoting the consumption of underutilized species and encouraging urban agriculture practices.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationCurrent State, Problem and Some Cases of Kleingartens Established by Private Organizations
2011Masao Makiyama, Mami Inoue · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Global
This study examined kleingartens (stay-type allotment gardens) established by private organizations, finding an increasing number of such gardens. Case studies revealed that privately established kleingartens tend to have higher use fees compared to government-established ones. Furthermore, problems identified include the reduction of administrative and maintenance expenses, location conditions, and the succession of managers.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsWastewater
2011Ralf Otterpohl, Christopher Buzie · Waste · Global
This chapter provides an overview of biowaste management solutions, focusing on reuse. It describes high-tech systems, urine diverting flush systems, and modern dry sanitation systems like terra preta sanitation (TPS), which can produce black soil and reusable water. TPS is presented as a promising approach for managing urban household waste, addressing soil degradation and food insecurity, and potentially improving urban agriculture when combined with greywater reuse; however, questions regarding macronutrients and micronutrients remain.
Organic cycleCompostUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justice