Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1627 results(35 / 66)
Session J: Debating the inclusion of animals in the Urban Farming Movement in Detroit
2018Michelle Marie Proctor · · United States (Detroit)
Urban agriculture programs in Detroit have seen many urban farms begin to include animals, sparking policy and ethical debates. Supporters claim animals accelerate land remediation, fertilize and aerate soil, and improve petroleum-polluted soils. However, opponents point to problems such as botched slaughters and lack of animal welfare oversight, arguing that backyard animal husbandry should be regulated in the best interests of the community and animal welfare.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsGardener Well-Being along Social and Biophysical Landscape Gradients
2018Monika Egerer, Stacy M. Philpott, Peter Bichier, Shalene Jha, Heidi Liere, Brenda B. Lin · Sustainability · United States (California)
This study investigated the role of community gardens in providing human well-being benefits across three counties in the California Central Coast. Multiple aspects of self-reported gardener well-being were measured in relation to the social opportunities of surrounding neighborhoods and the biophysical features of the landscapes where gardens were embedded. The results documented improvements in gardener well-being through gardening across social and biophysical gradients. Gardeners were motivated by diverse reasons, including connecting to nature, improving food access, or enhancing time spent with family.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justicePiloting an observation tool for the Garden to Table Program to assess education of underserved youth in Omaha, Nebraska
2018A. Gargano · Graduate Medical Education Research Journal · United States (Omaha)
A pilot study was conducted in Omaha, Nebraska, to assess the effectiveness of The Big Garden's "Garden to Table" program, which teaches students in five Omaha Public Schools how to grow, harvest, cook, and preserve crops. A direct observation tool was developed and piloted at one site to record children's attitudes, knowledge, and behavior towards fruits and vegetables during lessons.
Food educationCommunityHealthWastescape : stitching the process of natural decomposition back into the public realm
2018Pei Yu · Digital Commons - RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) · United States (New York City)
This research explores waste management in New York City, the world's most wasteful city, seeking ways to bring waste back into the city and connect people with it. Phase I investigates the composition, quantity, and mobility of NYC's waste management, while Phase II focuses on organic waste and the potential of vacant lots in Lower East Manhattan. Phase III proposes a composting park on the East River, engaging residents in various stages of waste management, and aims to connect urban residents to collective waste and the biome's power to transform organic waste into soil, food, and a new life cycle.
CompostOrganic cycleCommunityFood lossGreening a Food Desert
2018Ivana George · Journal of international women's studies · United States (Miami)
The documentary film "Greening a Food Desert" showcases Cerasee Farm, an inner-city farm in Liberty City, Miami, Florida, a neighborhood designated as a "Food Desert" by the USDA. The film illustrates how community member Roger Horne established this urban farm to provide residents with affordable produce, gardening training, and nutrition and environmental education. It also features stories from other community members about the farm's impact on their lives and the community.
HealthFood educationCommunityWelfareA importância da implantação de hortas escolares para desenvolvimento de estudos e interação da Agroecologia
2018Rafael Rosa Rocha, Elizangela Carniel, Crislaine Borges Raimundo, Kátila Freitas Bento, Willian Marques Duarte, Ana Cássia Silva Possamai · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
This report details an agroecological vegetable garden project implemented for educational and food purposes in Nova Mutum - MT, Brazil. The project involved Agronomy students from UNEMAT and students from Jose Aparecido Ribeiro State School, providing a space for experience exchange, environmental discussions, and interaction through workshops on management techniques. The garden served as a sustainable alternative for healthy food production and demonstrated the importance of agroecological practices.
Food educationCommunityOrganic cycle“We’re Being Left to Blight”: Green Urban Development and Racialized Space in Kansas City
2018Chhaya Kolavalli · UKnowledge (University of Kentucky) · United States (Kansas City)
This dissertation, based on 26 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Kansas City, examines green urban development and urban agriculture projects from the perspective of residents in an African American majority neighborhood. It argues that dominant narratives of urban sustainability and agriculture, shaped by upper-middle-class white voices, support green development projects that marginalize and displace people of color and the poor. The study documents the lived consequences of these narratives and highlights resistance efforts by minority-led agricultural projects and neighborhood councils.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceSoil management is key to maintaining soil moisture in urban gardens facing changing climatic conditions
2018Brenda B. Lin, Monika Egerer, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Stacy M. Philpott · Scientific Reports · United States (California)
A six-week study in summer 2017 in urban gardens in California, conducted with volunteer gardeners, examined how ambient temperature, water use, vegetation, ground cover, and soil management affect soil moisture gain and loss rates. The research found that plot-level soil management is essential for maintaining stable water levels within garden soils. Plots with better soil quality, indicated by higher water holding capacity, experienced slower rates of soil moisture gain after watering but also slower rates of soil moisture loss, resulting in more stable moisture profiles over time.
Climate changeOrganic cycleCommunityHEALTH ACTIVIST EDUCATION FOR BRAZIL
2018Rita de Cássia Gabrielli Souza Lima, Camila Gonçalves Labrêa, Marco Aurélio Da Ros, Adriana Grabner Corrêa, Paula Côrrea Souza, Liana Riveiro, Joelma Feliciano, Marina Goelzer Kieling · International Journal for Innovation Education and Research · Brazil (Itajaí)
This article reports on an extension project experience conducted in 2016 with elderly people from the Community Center for the Elderly in Itaipava, Itajaí city, Brazil, in partnership with a local Health Primary Care Unit and Local Health Council. Testimonies were dialectically analyzed using the category “We want to dance again, and we appreciate plants,” revealing symbolic pain over municipal resource cuts for monthly trips and balls, alongside a willingness to create a community garden. The involved sectors recognized the extension program as an effective class and a locus for developing praxis.
CommunityElderlyFood educationProjeto EcoViamão: Canoas e as hortas comunitárias na metrópole
2018Marcos Daniel Schmidt de Aguiar, Cláudio Fioreze, Danielle Grassi · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (Porto Alegre)
This research, part of the EcoViamão project in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre, Brazil, identified community gardens in the municipality of Canoas. Through data collection from public and private entities, bibliographic review, field visits, and extension action reports, an alternative form of urban agriculture was revealed, practiced collectively in socially vulnerable areas with a strong agroecological and food security bias. The study also analyzes possibilities for strengthening actions with the community and the mission of IFRS and the EcoViamão project for more sustainable regional development.
CommunityPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationZoonotic disease transmission associated with feral cats in a metropolitan area: A geospatial analysis
2018Sara J. Taetzsch, Andrea S. Bertke, Karen Gruszynski · Zoonoses and Public Health · United States (Richmond)
This study investigated the potential overlap between feral cat territories and human-frequented areas in the Richmond metropolitan area, Central Virginia, using GIS. From July to November 2016, 275 feral cats were trapped for TNR clinics. Findings showed that 8.0% of feral cats had the potential to range onto public elementary or preschool property, and 81.5% of those trapped in Richmond City could roam into public parks and community gardens, indicating a risk of zoonotic disease transmission.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityPRAÇA COLABOR[ATIVA]: NOVOS USOS DE ESPAÇOS PÚBLICOS URBANOSCOM PARTICIPAÇÃO POPULAR NO CONJUNTO HABITACIONAL ANA JACINTAEM PRESIDENTE PRUDENTE-SP
2018Juliana Cavalheiro Costa, Mayara Pisssuti Albano Vieira · COLLOQUIUM SOCIALIS · Brazil
This work aimed to gather knowledge on applying the placemaking concept to implement a community garden and orchard in an urban empty space within the Ana Jacinta Housing Complex in Presidente Prudente-SP, Brazil. The methodology involved bibliographic research on housing complexes, documentary research, and field surveys.
CommunityDIYPolicyCultivo comunitário para abastecimento local: o caso da Associação dos Produtores de Hortaliças da COHAB I de Lavras - MG
2018Janine Fernanda da Silveira, Maria Dalva Pereira, Suelen Ferreira Matoso Couto, Viviane Santos Pereira · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
This experience report investigated the daily dynamics and existing agroecological practices of a community garden in COHAB I, Lavras-MG, Brazil, which originated from a city hall initiative. The garden became an association with approximately 50 members two years prior, and while it has made some progress in production methods and social organization, further capacity building is deemed necessary.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleHow to grow a city: cultivating an urban agriculture action plan through concept mapping
2018Wanda Martin, Lindsey Wagner · Agriculture & Food Security · Canada
In a Canadian prairie city, 66 participants used concept mapping and group discussions to develop an urban agriculture action plan. The plan consists of six concepts, with increasing food production in public spaces and improving education strategies ranked as both important and feasible. Participants stated that an integrated vision from city administration, along with a paid position to oversee bylaws and consider local food procurement systems, is necessary to advance urban agriculture.
CommunityPolicyFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceAntifungal Susceptibility of Candida Species Isolated from Horticulturists with Onychomycosis in Piauí, Brazil.
2018Mitra Mobin, Maria Walderez Szeszs, Juliana Possatto Fernandes Takahashi, Marilena dos Anjos Martins, Daise Damaris Carnietto de Hippólito, Jhonatas Cley Santos Porto, João Batista Mendes Teles, Sidney Gonçalo de Lima, Márcia de Souza Carvalho Melhem · PubMed · Brazil
A 2014 study in a community garden in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, investigated the antifungal susceptibility of Candida species isolated from horticulturists with onychomycosis. Samples were identified using phenotypic methods, MALDI-TOF MS, and PCR, and their susceptibility to four antifungal drugs was determined. All isolated Candida species were found to be sensitive to the tested antifungal drugs, with no resistance observed.
HealthCommunityEMPREENDEDORISMO FEMININO SOLIDÁRIO: estudo de caso em uma horta comunitária
2018Anderson Luiz Duarte, Bezamat de Souza Neto · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (São João del-Rei)
This research examines a type of solidarity female entrepreneurship carried out by a group of women participating in a community garden in São João del-Rei, Brazil. The objective is to demonstrate how knowledge exchange and management practices are established within this endeavor. The community garden is presented as an educommunicative ecosystem that creatively transforms urban space through micropolitics, aiming to address social inequalities and mitigate economic vulnerability. It also highlights female empowerment, promoting self-esteem and a sense of community belonging among participants.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceJustice across Real and Imagined Food Worlds: Rural Corn Growers, Urban Agriculture Activists, and the Political Ontologies They Live By
2018Michael Carolan · Rural Sociology · United States
Understandings of "social justice" and "autonomy" were investigated among conventional corn producers in North Dakota and participants in an urban agriculture cooperative in an anonymized U.S. city. Qualitative interviews and "word cloud" analysis revealed greatly differing understandings of these concepts, but both groups were grounded in a shared neoliberal world that negatively impacts both populations. Interviewees in the rural space failed to understand their marginalization as an artifact of the neoliberal worldview.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicyStakeholder-Identified Barriers, Challenges, and Obstacles in Community Gardens
2018Sue Webb, John Diaz · EDIS · United States (Florida)
A Delphi study was conducted to identify the barriers, challenges, and obstacles to starting and sustaining community gardens in Florida. This 3-page document summarizes the results of that study.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyA Cultured Learning Environment: Implementing a Problem- and Service-Based Microbiology Capstone Course to Assess Process- and Skill-Based Learning Objectives
2018Rachel Watson, John Willford, Mariel A. Pfeifer · Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning · United States
A problem-based capstone course at the University of Wyoming Microbiology Program was designed to assess student learning objectives. Students collaborated with a local farm, community garden, and clinic to address partner problems. Instructor assessments and external subject matter experts confirmed students' mastery of learning objectives, and community partners expressed satisfaction with the solutions.
CommunityFood educationThe Effectiveness of Monarch Café and Hub City Farmers’ Market in Feeding the Northside: Perspectives from Two Communities
2018A. Laitif Qureshi · Digital Commons - Wofford College (Wofford College) · United States
This research investigated how residents in Victoria Gardens and Cleveland Heights, located in the Northside area of the United States, perceive the Hub City Farmers’ Market and Monarch Café. The Northside, previously considered a food desert, is no longer classified as such due to the establishment of Harvest Park, which includes these facilities. The study aimed to gain insight into how Harvest Park benefits the Northside community and to explore suggestions for future improvements to attract more residents.
CommunityWelfareHealthEconomicsInoculação de Microrganismos Eficientes (EM) e Fungos Micorrízicos Arbusculares (FMA) em alface: um trabalho de campo conduzido na horta comunitária (HC) Vapabuçu, município de Sete Lagoas- MG
2018Ana Paula Borges Martins, Júlia Pimenta Pereira, Polyanna Abreu Corrêa, Mariene Cristina Conceição De Melo, Francisco Adriano de Souza · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Brazil (Sete Lagoas)
This record provides information about a field study paper on the inoculation of Efficient Microorganisms (EM) and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (FMA) in lettuce, made available in DSpace on November 8, 2017. The paper is provided in PDF format.
CommunityOrganic cycleCivic Stewardship as a Catalyst for Social-Ecological Change in Detroit, Michigancccccc
2018R. Witt, Erika S. Svendsen, Marianne E. Krasny · Cornell University Press eBooks · United States (Detroit)
This chapter explores how civic stewardship has driven social-ecological transformation in Detroit through the work of the nonprofit Greening of Detroit. The organization expanded its mission from restoring the city's tree canopy to include urban agriculture, environmental education, and workforce development, acting as a bridging organization connecting various stakeholders. Sustained community-based stewardship builds resilience, strengthens social networks, and shapes both local change and broader social movements through inclusive green infrastructure and civic participation.
CommunityPolicyFood educationBiodiversityColhendo e plantando vida nas cidades: extensão ao contrário e ecologia de saberes no Aglomerado da Serra, Belo Horizonte - MG
2018Bruno Martins Dala Paula, Luana do Carmo Araujo de Oliveira, Emmanuel Duarte Almada, Filipe Freitas Chaves, Maura Neves Coutinho · Expressa Extensão · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)
This essay reflects on the relationship between urban agriculture practices and life care, based on a university extension project mobilized between resident groups of the Aglomerado da Serra communities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and members of Grupo Aroeira, over six years (2008-2013). The project was structured through main activities including surveying urban agriculture initiatives in the community, holding a cycle of 'Cultivating Health' meetings, forming a Medicinal Plants Group, creating a literacy class, and organizing open-air markets with urban agrobiodiversity products. This project aimed to cultivate and promote the care for the lives of the residents, valuing their popular knowledge, while bringing these experiences into the university through the practice of 'reverse extension'.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationBiodiversityHortas sócioeducativas e o trabalho de ressocialização na cadeia pública de Bananeiras, Paraíba
2018Lucas Bras Barbosa, Sérgio Syddney Borges de Araújo, Evelyn Maria Alexandre da Silva Lima, Erikson Kadoshe de Morais Raimundo, Alexandre Eduardo de Araújo, Carlos Roberto Marinho Silva Filho · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (Paraíba)
This study analyzed the resocialization aspects for eight prisoners in the Public Penitentiary of Bananeiras-PB, Brazil, through labor activities in educational community gardens. Using a qualitative approach, it found that remuneration was not a primary factor for prisoners; instead, sentence remission, improved food, and occupation of time and mind were the most important aspects.
Food educationWelfareCommunityHealthLynchburg College Community Garden
2018Kaitlin Hathaway · Digital Showcase Research, Scholarship, & Creative Works (University of Lynchburg) · United States (Lynchburg)
The Lynchburg College Community Garden at Beaver Point, United States, was established in 2016 by students and faculty to teach sustainable agriculture and enrich soil. In spring and summer 2017, projects included donating produce, promoting pollinators, raising chickens, and composting. The abstract also describes a designed rainwater collection and irrigation system.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityCompostOrganic cycle