Research & reports

Adam D. Kay, Eric J. Chapman, Jelagat D. Cheruiyot, Sue Lowery, Susan R. Singer, Gaston E. Small, Anne M. Stone, Ray Warthen, Wendy Westbroek · Ecology and Evolution · United States

Reviewing major U.S. undergraduate biology programs, reports on campus garden use, and case studies from five higher-education institutions, this paper assessed how much urban agriculture is incorporated into undergraduate biology education. It found that while field experiences are fairly common in biology programs, community engagement opportunities are rare and urban agriculture is almost absent from course descriptions, and that although many U.S. institutions have campus gardens, evidence indicates they are rarely used in biology courses.

Dorceta E. Taylor, Ki’Amber Thompson, Dominique Abednour-Brown, Ember McCoy, Socorro Martha Meg-ay V. Daupan, Clarice Hollenquest · American Behavioral Scientist · United States

This 2022 study analyzed 53 community gardens in Michigan, United States, surveyed from summer 2020 through winter 2021, examining how garden managers' race/ethnicity and sex, along with neighborhood characteristics, relate to garden activities. White managers ran 66% (35) of the gardens and people of color ran 34% (18); roughly half the gardens were managed by men and the remainder by women. None of the gardens had paid staff and all relied on volunteers. About 53% were located in low-income census tracts with a median household income of $40,000 or less. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 31% of gardens reduced staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than before the pandemic, and 51.9% saw increased numbers of people seeking food.

Cara A. Rockwell, Alex Crow, Érika R. Guimarães, Eduardo Recinos, Deborah La Belle · Urban Planning · United States

Tree species richness, stem density and canopy cover in food forest gardens at 10 public schools in Miami-Dade County, Florida, were investigated and compared with results from neighboring properties around each school. Food forest canopy cover was comparable to neighborhood urban tree cover, while arborescent species richness — including a greater share of edible taxa — and stem density were both higher in food forests than in adjacent neighborhood plots.

Madeline McIntosh, Victoria Chillscyzn · Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement · United States

As part of Purdue University's Environmental and Ecological Engineering course EEE 49500 (Urban Water Projects), student-led service-learning aimed to improve water quality and quantity in the Wabash River watershed; two students, Victoria Chillscyzn and Madeline McIntosh, worked with the local nonprofit Home with Hope to ensure previously implemented installations would succeed long-term. Through interviews, a survey, and site visits, the team identified action items to improve the form and function of the installations, and a grant from the Purdue Student Service-Learning Grant Program was submitted and accepted to fund an additional rain barrel and an edible garden at the nonprofit, along with educational materials and a maintenance schedule.

Gustavo Henrique [UNESP] Pereira da Silva, Margarete Cristiane de [UNESP] Costa Trindade Amorim · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

A study in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, analyzed the effect of urban agricultural areas on atmospheric heat island intensity. Data were collected in February 2019 at 12 fixed points spanning three urban agricultural areas, eight intra-urban areas, and one area without construction materials. During daytime (9 a.m., 3 p.m.), points located to the south of the island of Santa Catarina—including urban agriculture sites—recorded the highest air temperatures, while at night temperatures decreased overall, with the studied agricultural areas becoming 'islands of freshness' relative to surrounding areas on many days.

Cristiane Veeck, Renata Menasche, Carolina Borges · AntHropológicas Visual · Brazil

A photo essay documents the relationship between hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and humans at the Horta Comunitaria da Lomba do Pinheiro, a collective agroecological urban agriculture project in the eastern zone of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, begun by community initiative in 2011. Following a growing cycle that begins with sowing around August and ends with harvest between February and May, the plants trace back roughly eight years to seeds obtained from an agroecological farmer nearby; the harvest season ends with jam-making workshops, and the informal sale of dried hibiscus provides funds for maintaining the garden.

F. Becot, K.L. Hanson, R.A. Seguin, A.S. Ammerman, J. Kolodinsky, J.T. McGuirt, S.B. Jilcott Pitts, M. Demarco · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States

A modified exploratory choice experiment, embedded within in-depth interviews, examined willingness to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program under varying price, frequency, food quantity, and accessibility conditions among 42 low-income adults with at least one child in the household in North Carolina, New York, Vermont, and Washington. Comparing summed willingness across conditions, the analysis suggests the ideal CSA would be a full-sized share of eight to nine mixed items, distributed every other week, priced under US$15, no more than 10 minutes farther than the supermarket from home, and preferably cheaper than but no more than 20% pricier than supermarket prices.

J. Dominique Gumirakiza, Autumn Milliner · Journal of Agricultural Science · United States

Using data from 172 consumers responding to a 2020 mail survey in the Southcentral Kentucky region, USA, a study applied Multinomial and Ordered Logit models to analyze farmers market attendance and likelihood of participating in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Relative probabilities for 'never attend,' 'attend occasionally,' and 'attend frequently' were 55%, 29%, and 16% respectively, with male consumers, rural residents, primary shoppers, and those with a 2-year associate degree less likely to attend farmers markets, while more educated consumers and those satisfied with prior market experiences attended more frequently. Consumers interested in using an app to purchase fresh produce were more likely to attend farmers markets and join CSA programs, while rural residents were less likely to join a CSA program.

K.L. Hanson, W. Wang, J. McGuirt, A. Ammerman, M.M. Severs, E.H. Morgan, S.B.J. Pitts, R.A. Seguin, F. Becot, M. Sitaker, J. Kolodinsky · UNC Libraries · United States

Semi-structured interviews with 20 CSA (community-supported agriculture) members and 24 CSA farmers across four US states, plus a modified choice experiment completed by members, examined the product, place, price and promotion (4P) factors behind member satisfaction and farm competitiveness in 2022. Both members and farmers were driven by personal, social, environmental and economic motivations. Members favored high-quality staple vegetables such as lettuce and green beans, ideally organically grown, and valued trust and personal connection with the farmer as an added benefit of CSA participation. Pick-up time and location mattered greatly, prompting farmers to offer convenient sites or enriched pick-up experiences. Small price changes appeared unlikely to affect participation among current members. Social networks and word-of-mouth were effective for marketing but may limit farms' ability to reach more diverse populations.

Julian Hasford, Sheldon Caruana · Canadian Journal of Children s Rights / Revue canadienne des droits des enfants · Canada

A reflective piece on the experience of mobilizing Black youth in food sovereignty activism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors who were part of the project's leadership team present personal narratives describing the process of establishing a Black youth-led farm project in southern Ontario, Canada, and reflect on lessons learned, including challenges of engaging in youth-led projects within the constraints of virtual spaces.

Ezra Spira-Cohen · The Latin Americanist · Brazil

Using Brazil's Council on Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) as a case, this study examines how participatory institutions affect policy implementation. In Rio de Janeiro, a coalition of civil society actors mobilized around urban agriculture through the Municipal Consea, reframing and reinterpreting national directives originally oriented toward rural family farming, which resulted in the expansion and implementation of these programs and altered the relationship between urban farmers and institutional actors. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2015-2016 consisting of interviews and participatory observation, the research analyzes the role of this local participatory institution in fostering civil society collaboration, state-society relations, and institutional change.

Judy Orton · Digital Archive @ GSU · United States

Two studies examined ecology-centered experiences — experiences with living things — among children and adolescents in the United States. Study 1 was a yearlong ethnographic study at an urban community garden in a large city in the southeastern United States, finding through participant observation and informal interviews with staff and participants that children had opportunities to learn about ecology through such experiences. Study 2 found that ecological thought — a pattern of thinking that privileges relationships between living things — did not predict environmental attitudes and behaviors, and that while ecology-centered experiences alone did predict environmental attitudes and behaviors, this predictive relationship disappeared once environmental responsibility support was taken into account.

Brandy Phipps, Brian Kowalkowski, Jeremy Wescott, McFadden Brandon, Craig Schluttenhofer, K. V. Nedunuri · Current Developments in Nutrition · United States

A study protocol for measuring the impact of a "farm-to-fork" program on food security and nutrition among the Menominee Nation, located on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, United States. A 2015 Community Food Assessment found 73% of respondents cited hunger as a concern, and the county ranks last in the state for both food security and health outcomes, while 65% of respondents expressed interest in growing their own food if assistance were available. The protocol plans four years of interventions including a new aquaponics facility and education programming at farmers' markets, using pre- and post-surveys plus county health data to measure production, self-efficacy and nutrient intake; it hypothesizes increases in production, self-efficacy and consumption of nutrient-dense foods, but results are not yet reported.

S. Alan Walters, Christina Gajewski, Amir Sadeghpour, John W. Groninger · Climate · United States

An experiment at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, USA, evaluated culinary herb production on an extensive green roof (about 8 cm deep) under twice-weekly, weekly, and fortnightly watering (1 L per plant), testing perennial garlic chives, lavender, lemon balm, and winter thyme, plus annual basil. All perennial herbs produced more dry biomass and greater overwintering potential under the two more frequent watering schedules, and basil grew well with weekly watering, but weekly watering was required across all perennial herbs to achieve commercially viable growth, vigor, and overwinter survival.

Valéria Borges Yonegura, Henrique Manoel da Silva · Cadernos de Ciência & Tecnologia · Brazil (Curitiba)

A study of urban agriculture's effects in two neighborhoods of southern Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil - an area historically stigmatized for violence and poverty - that observed increases in quality of life, aesthetic improvement of the landscape, a greater sense of security and inclusion, and residents' topophilic attachment to place. Urban agriculture is used in the city's marketing, but the paper states that its continuity is partly threatened by the possible end of a partnership with the local electric utility and by real estate market pressure. Most results come from a master's thesis, with continued monitoring via media coverage and contact with community leaders.

Amrik Singh Khalsa, Jonathan Burton, Michael T. Bailey, Jiangjiang Zhu, Kelly J. Kelleher, Ross Maltz, Brett R. Loman, Colleen Spees · BMC Nutrition · United States

Non-invasive human biospecimens including stool, urine, and hair are important for understanding the relationship between diet and changes in human physiologic processes affecting chronic disease outcomes, but collection can be difficult for studies conducted away from a centralized location. This paper describes the protocol and feasibility of collecting stool, urine, and hair biospecimens from parents and children at a remote location, as part of the Summer Harvest Adventure (SHA) study, a randomized controlled, community garden-based intervention targeting children aged 8-11 and their parents from low-resource neighborhoods in the United States. Biospecimens were collected at baseline and post-intervention from willing children and parents in both intervention and control groups, for microbiome, metabolomics, and hair analyses, at a location distant from the academic laboratories conducting the analysis. Of 146 SHA participants (73 parent-child dyads) eligible to provide a biospecimen, 126 consented to hair, 115 to stool, and 127 to urine collection. Among those who consented, 44 children (69.8%) and 38 parents (60.3%) provided at least one hair sample; 27 children (48.2%) and 37 parents (62.7%) provided at least one stool sample; and 36 children (57.1%) and 42 parents (65.6%) provided at least one urine sample. Sample collection, transport, and handling at the academic center were successful, and all biospecimens collected were deemed adequate for analysis. DNA and metabolomics yield on a subset of stool samples showed an abundance of species and metabolites as predicted. Urine and hair analyses were described as still underway, with the study characterized as among the first to describe the feasibility of collecting these biospecimens from both parents and children in this remote setting.

Yuki Kato, Caroline Boules · Journal of Urban Affairs · United States

The disruption of social and food systems during the COVID-19 pandemic presented a distinct set of opportunities and challenges for urban agriculture. Based on 79 in-depth interviews with managers of community gardens, school gardens, and urban farms in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, this study used post-disaster "social recovery" theory to explore how each type of urban agriculture responded differently to the pandemic's social, economic, and personal disruptions. Findings showed significant differences in immediate impacts across the types of urban agriculture, with community gardens being the least affected and urban farms implementing the most variant adaptation strategies. Notable differences also appeared within each type, especially among urban farms. The study attributes these variant adaptation trajectories to pre-disaster conditions, including autonomy over cultivation space, access to resources, and connections with other facets of city life, concluding by underscoring the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of urban agriculture when assessing its transformational capacity and potential.

Brandy‐Joe Milliron, Dane C. Ward, Janeway Granche, Janell L. Mensinger, Dahlia Stott, Claire Chenault, Franco Montalto, Eugenia Ellis · American Journal of Health Promotion · United States

A cross-sectional online survey of 317 adults aged 18 and older residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, measured nature relatedness (NR) using a 21-item scale with self, experience and perspective subscales, dietary diversity using the FAO's standardized tool (scored 0-9), and fruit and vegetable intake using the NCI's 2-item CUP screener. Multivariable regression models adjusted for age, race, gender and income found that higher NR Total, NR Self, NR Perspective and NR Experience scores were associated with greater dietary diversity, and that higher NR Total, NR Self and NR Experience scores were associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake; these associations remained significant after adjusting for the covariates. NR was associated with better dietary intake even after accounting for sociodemographic factors.

Celeste M. Schultz, Alexander Rosen · The Journal of School Nursing · United States

A garden-based education program implemented in elementary, middle and high schools on Chicago's South and West Sides was examined for its effects on students. Implementing gardens was found to have a positive impact on the availability, access and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as on students' social-emotional well-being. More rigorous studies controlling for socioeconomic status were identified as needed to establish the long-term effects on obesity prevention, mental health outcomes and economic benefits.

Olga I. Soldatenkova · USA & Canada Economics – Politics – Culture · Canada

This article discusses the role of modern agriculture in Canada's food system, household food security and the expansion of agricultural exports. It describes the specialization and distribution of agricultural production across Canada's provinces and the territories of the country's Arctic zone, with particular attention to the development of urban agriculture, noting that in some cases it is treated as an element of action plans to combat climate change.

Michelle Tokunbo ‘Tok’ Oluwaseyi Oyewole · Capitalism Nature Socialism · United States (New York City)

Based on the perspectives of gardeners in public schools in Brooklyn, New York, a four-part framework of liberatory practices and potentials via school gardening is outlined, examining what liberatory practices occur in Brooklyn school gardens and their potential for building on them in relation to rectifying injustices faced by racially minoritized communities. Gardens were found to support personal achievement, health benefits, adult mentorship, peer bonding, identity affirmation, community transformation, and positive relationships with the natural world. Some programming addressed social and environmental injustices explicitly, but students and staff identified potential to expand this work, particularly through clearer curricular prioritization and social and material support.

Cleidiane Moraes Novais, Tadeu Miranda de Queiróz · Engenharia Sanitaria e Ambiental · Brazil

In Tangará da Serra, Mato Grosso, Brazil, a city facing a recent water crisis, researchers analyzed samples collected from October 2019 to April 2020 with an initial-rainfall sampler, measuring pH, bicarbonates, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, chlorides, sodium, and potassium in the first five millimeters of rainfall to assess its suitability for irrigating urban agriculture. Chemical compound concentrations were highest in the very first millimeter of rain and improved as precipitation continued; under FAO guideline classification there was no restriction on using the municipality's rainwater for urban agriculture irrigation, though both natural and anthropogenic sources may have influenced the measured concentrations, and discarding the initial millimeters before use is presented as a viable option for irrigating backyard crops.

Julia N. M. Campbell · Digital Archive @ GSU · United States

This paper discusses how brownfield sites affect physical health (injury hazards, disease transmission, chemical exposure) and social health determinants such as neighborhood social capital, and argues that reusing brownfields as community gardens reduces environmental and associated health hazards while increasing nutrition access — especially for low-income populations — community aesthetics, social cohesion, and recreational or therapeutic opportunities. It states that special precautions are required to protect public health when converting a brownfield to a garden, including chemical sampling, soil cleanup, and protective garden design, and concludes that the community benefit is worth the initial investment required, without presenting site-specific measured outcomes.

Catherine E. Sanders, Don W. Edgar, Casandra Cox, Leslie D. Edgar · Journal of Human Sciences and Extension · United States

This study explored the social networks and interactions among urban producers in Arkansas, USA, through social network analysis. Using a mixed-methods approach, it collected data on participants' social network interactions and their methods of seeking information about urban farming. The results showed how and where participants preferred to obtain information, peer-to-peer interactions within the network, and key players or opinion leaders in the network. The methods used may serve as an example of network mapping for populations lacking a formal network, to help Extension outreach reach communities that may otherwise be underserved.

Osmar Manoel Nunes, Shirley Grazieli da Silva Nascimento, Mariana Rockenbach de Ávila, Luciellen de Lourdes Silveira Vieira, Criziane Flores Pamplona · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This case study analyzes the socioeconomic conditions of two peri-urban family farms producing organic lettuce in Dom Pedrito, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil — regarded as among the region's leading farmers — with gardens in the Rincão da Figura and São Gregório areas. Using case-study methods, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with the farmers and on-site visits, analyzing the data through Textual Discourse Analysis. Production relied exclusively on family labor with minimal use of chemical inputs, characterized as a transitional stage toward organic production; output was sold at the weekly Friday municipal market and supplied to three additional small stores in the city. The study concludes that, despite strong competition from large distribution networks, lettuce production and sale remained profitable, constituting an alternative source of income and job creation in family farming.