Research & reports

Sullivan, Miriam Caroline · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States

This project explores how urban planners can create regional food equity, defined by six dimensions: nutritional adequacy, affordability, cultural relevance, social and spatial equity, and popular agency in the food system. It includes a research paper on historic context, current trends, and case studies, followed by guidance for policy and plan creation. The project also analyzes three food systems plans—San Diego (2024), Chicago (2010), and Austin-Travis County (2024)—evaluating them against the outlined criteria, and delves into urban agriculture and community gardens as methods for improving regional food equity.

Maggie Hansen · Landscape Research · United States

This paper examines urban cultivation as a tool for sustained political engagement in New Orleans, focusing on four community-based initiatives active over the last ten years. Drawing on literature, mission statements, interviews, and site visits, it demonstrates the importance of engaging with local history, culture, and ecology in reshaping economic, social, and ecological systems through urban agriculture and stewardship.

Brandi Stein, Megan Knapp, Elisa Muñoz, Donald Rose · Nutrients · United States (New Orleans)

This case study examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the New Orleans food system and the community's and local government's responses to strengthen its resiliency. Using a participant-observer approach, including a 2020 online survey of 56 local food organizations, the study identified key themes and efforts. These efforts included the "Greaux the Good" campaign for increased food assistance, policy changes for food vendor permitting, and the establishment of City Food Specialist and Urban Agriculture Liaison positions within local government. Additionally, innovative grassroots citizens' programs positively impacted food access.

Hilary Jasmin · Evidence Based Library and Information Practice · United States and Canada

This study surveyed 58 academic and public libraries in the United States and Canada regarding their seed lending programs' goals and marketing, using an online survey. While some libraries stated intentions related to food justice and activism, their marketing and programming primarily focused on neutral gardening and how-to classes. The findings reveal a gap between the initial, less neutral intentions and the more neutral, less activist programming language used for seed libraries.

Édipo Alves Lacerda · Espiral revista de geografías y ciencias sociales · Brazil

This book, organized by Gustavo Henrique Cepolini Ferreira et al., compiles texts from Unimontes researchers focused on critical geography and popular struggles for land and traditional territories in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. It discusses conflicts from agribusiness expansion, disputes over resources, climate change effects on peasant farming, and challenges faced by quilombolas, indigenous, and traditional communities. The book addresses structural racism and other aspects of rural development, highlighting negative impacts on these communities.

Margaux Robinson, Karen Cunningham, Jeffery Young, Nicole Breazeale, Kenneth R. Jones · Journal of Extension · United States

This paper discusses the evolving role of Extension in urban food production, noting progress made by educators in engaging with both social and horticultural aspects of urban agriculture. It suggests that appropriately designed urban food systems can offer healthy food access, community and environmental resilience, and economic prosperity. The authors provide recommendations for Extension staff, urging them to prioritize mediating the rural/urban dichotomy, tackling structural power dynamics, and intensifying community resilience strategies.

Douglas Donaghy · University of Chicago · United States (San Antonio)

This thesis explores the potential of transforming vacant lots and green spaces into multifunctional sites to address interconnected challenges of food insecurity, water scarcity, and urban heat in San Antonio, Texas. The study analyzes historical trends in aquifer water levels and infiltration metrics, spatial data on food deserts, and heat vulnerability indices across San Antonio to identify priority intervention areas. By integrating urban agriculture, bioretention basins, and vegetative cooling, these spaces can provide sustainable solutions to enhance food security, bolster the local water supply, and mitigate urban heat island effects.

Paulo Ricardo Santos Miranda · Revista Mutirõ Folhetim de Geografias Agrárias do Sul · Brazil

A collection of 13 chapters explores the interactions between city and countryside in Brazil, critically examining how capital traverses urban and rural territories, promoting expropriation and spatial reconfigurations. Studies on Uberlândia, Montes Claros, São Paulo, and the North and Northeast regions highlight land conflicts, peripheral industrialization, urban agriculture, and peasant resistance. The work emphasizes the ambiguous role of the State.

Rachel A. Kendall, John A Francis, Mathew R. Vankoughnett · Native Plants Journal · Canada

This study assessed sweetgrass germination and propagation for Mi’kmaq community gardens, testing seed storage, additives, dormancy methods, and seedling outplanting. Removing seed coverings and soaking seeds increased germination success up to 46%, while cold storage, biological additives, and growth enhancers showed no improvement. Organic fertilizer (7-5-0) enhanced rhizome development, synthetic fertilizer (20-20-20) led to taller leaves, and both increased leaf count.

Qing Zhong, Daoqin Tong, Courtney Crosson, Yinan Zhang, Rashi Bhushan · Water Resources Research · United States

This study developed a spatial optimization model to identify investment strategies for deploying rainwater harvesting (RWH) and reclaimed water systems to expand urban food production in water-stressed cities. Applied to Tucson, Arizona, the model showed that 72%–96% of investment was allocated to rainwater tanks, though RWH contributed only 18%–27% of total food production. The results indicated that expanding the reclaimed water network was more effective and cost-efficient for urban food production compared to implementing rainwater tanks.

Juan Camilo Fontalvo-Buelvas, María Teresa Pulido Silva, Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar, Raúl Romero Ramírez · Memorias · Mexico (Xalapa)

This diachronic study analyzed the drivers and inhibitors of urban agriculture in Xalapa, Mexico, through a historical tracing from 1821 to 2023. Drivers included rural immigration, academia, and government programs, while inhibitors were identified as diversification of trades, ejido laws, remittances, health policies, and food markets.

Belma Soto-Fernández, Lurys Bourdett-Stanziola · Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research · Latin America

A documentary review on the importance of urban gardening in Latin America revealed that urban gardening, when approached through the lens of agrobiodiversity, has become a key strategy for safe food production and environmental sustainability. However, it was found that several Latin American countries lack clear and established laws to regulate this activity. Preliminary evidence of rotavirus was detected in fresh vegetables from an urban garden in Panama, indicating that urban gardens can become infection foci capable of causing diseases of public health and veterinary importance.

Garcia, Pedro Henrique Lundquist de Souza, Carvalho, Joelson Gonçalves de · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Brazil (São Paulo)

This research, presented at the 10th Conference on Studies of Rural Settlements in July 2025, analyzes the socioeconomic impacts and challenges of urban and peri-urban gardens in Brazil, focusing on a 35-year municipal program in Penápolis, São Paulo. Based on field research and secondary data, preliminary results suggest that production for self-consumption and collective labor strengthen community bonds and reduce food insecurity. The study aims to propose improvements for local public policies.

Vázquez-García, Amparo, Elizondo, Cecilia · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Mexico

Home gardens in San Felipe Ecatepec, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico, are systems with diverse plant species and areas ranging from 600m² to 2500m². This study aimed to identify forms of resistance against neoliberal policies and urban sprawl, finding that home gardens provide healthy, fresh food, create useful spaces, and preserve agrobiodiversity. These gardens are considered spaces of resistance based on traditional knowledge, helping to bolster food sovereignty. The research was conducted during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caroline Pacífico de Assis, André Manoel Correia dos Santos, Andrea Bittencourt de Santana Teixeira · OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA · Brazil (São Paulo)

A quali-quantitative online survey of 136 residents of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, assessed demographic profile, information sources, consumption forms, and perceptions of the nutritional value, functionality, and toxicological risk of edible flowers from unconventional food plants (PANC), including nasturtium, marigold, sunflower, and butterfly pea (clitoria). Results showed only partial knowledge and restricted consumption, with barriers related to lack of information, limited access, and cultural unfamiliarity; hibiscus and sunflower were the most recognized species, while nasturtium and clitoria had low visibility despite their bioactive compounds and nutritional value. Most participants expressed willingness to consume and promote the use of these flowers.

Cristiane Cruz Barros, Luciano Pires de Andrade, Horasa Maria Lima da Silva Andrade · Vivências · Brazil

Families participating in the Integrated Community Gardens Project near the Pernambuco Supply and Logistics Center (CEASA/PE) in Brazil were studied in a case study assessing the impact of urban agriculture on food and nutrition security (SAN) and eating behavior. Secondary data and primary data from semi-structured interviews were collected across 8 sections ('alcas') of the project, and community gardens were found effective at promoting and securing the principles of food and nutrition security and strengthening healthy eating habits among participants.

Fernanda Tomiello, Sidney Gonçalves Vieira · Ciência Geográfica · Brazil

A Brazilian paper draws on Henri Lefebvre's ideas about the use and appropriation of space to examine the tension between domination, embodied in private property, and appropriation oriented toward collective, just use. Arguing for overcoming constraints that limit the appropriation of space and prioritizing human needs over market logic, the study analyzes the deterioration of green areas in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, finding that the city's Green Area Index (IAV) falls below the recommended level, and proposes practices such as urban agriculture as alternatives that challenge capitalist logic and promote the appropriation of space as a right for all.

Ximena Guadalupe Culebro Cervera · Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar · Mexico

Quintana Roo, Mexico, depends on imported food for more than 60% of state consumption, creating structural vulnerability for the local economy, ingredient freshness, and food autonomy. Using a qualitative, critical-interpretive documentary approach, this review analyzed 27 academic, institutional, and community sources to examine how local initiatives — urban gardens, resilient Maya agriculture, and food cooperatives — contribute to self-consumption, the recovery of traditional knowledge, fair trade, and access to fresh ingredients. These practices help preserve endemic species such as criollo maize, chaya, and achiote, and the review states that such strategies need to be integrated into territorial public policy.

Marc T. Sager, Anthony Petrosino · Discover Cities · United States

A perspective piece arguing for research-practice partnerships (RPPs) between researchers and urban farms, particularly in underserved urban areas in the United States, to address food insecurity, environmental sustainability and community empowerment. It contends RPPs provide a structured framework for long-term collaboration, giving urban farms access to resources, policy advocacy and evidence-based practices while giving researchers community-based knowledge, and positions such partnerships as essential for overcoming structural barriers such as gentrification, racial inequities and environmental degradation.

Beth Haney · The Nurse Practitioner · United States

A policy-advocacy article by a US nurse practitioner (NP) arguing that NPs, positioned at the intersection of healthcare and community well-being, can lead food-system reform to expand access to healthy food and reduce pesticide and herbicide use. Citing CDC data that over 40% of American adults have obesity and that diet-related disease is among the leading causes of preventable death, the article lists policy goals including expanding SNAP and WIC to add incentives for fresh-produce purchases, supporting farming communities producing quality, pathogen-free, organic food, and backing urban agriculture, farmers' markets and farm-to-school programs.

Eduardo Cesar Silva, Daniel Leite Mesquita, Paulo Henrique Montagnana Vicente Leme · Revista Brasileira Multidisciplinar · Brazil

Using a competitive-intelligence approach drawing on both academic and journalistic sources, this study conducted an exploratory analysis of global urban agriculture trends to identify the main technologies and models in use. It found that urban agriculture is expanding worldwide and is practiced through diverse models, notably community gardens, rooftop gardens, controlled-environment food cultivation, and cellular agriculture.

Fabio Henrique Albuquerque de Jesus · Revista Americana de Empreendedorismo e Inovação · Brazil

A theoretical essay on hunger in Brazil (2025) applies the Public Policy Cycle Model to the persistent, structural problem of hunger in Brazilian politics, noting that hunger is not unique to Brazil — about two billion people worldwide experience moderate or severe food insecurity — while all Brazilian regions show nutritional deficits tied to inadequate or insufficient food intake. In this context, it frames urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP) as a social and public-policy tool for promoting food and nutrition security, examining the agenda-setting and formulation stages of AUP policy through discussions from Brazil's National Conferences on Food and Nutrition Security. Noting the 2024 establishment of Brazil's National Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Policy and its ties to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the essay concludes that much remains to be done to strengthen AUP as public policy and consolidate its social, economic, and environmental impact, particularly to make it effective for promoting food and nutrition security.

Daniel Sgrancio Uliana, Rhaiza Marcia Passos Leal, Sara Jarske Gering, Érica Aguiar Moraes, Jackline Freitas Brilhante de São José · Revista Guará · Brazil

This experience report covers activities of the Brazilian university extension project "PANCCult: Cultivating Knowledge and Flavors of Unconventional Edible Plants," carried out from November 2021 to January 2024, which conducted social media outreach, organized and participated in events sharing nutritional and culinary information, carried out activities in an urban community garden, and produced scientific materials on unconventional edible plants (PANC) and urban community gardens. The report concludes the project contributed to disseminating knowledge about PANC and provided professional-training opportunities for extension students while encouraging sustainable use of plant biodiversity.

Carolina Ceci Moino Alves Theodoro, Marcelo de Andrade Roméro · Caderno Pedagógico · Brazil

Drawing on an analysis of recent crises in Brazil—transportation strikes, floods, prolonged droughts, the pandemic, currency fluctuations, and international conflicts—that exposed fragilities in the food supply chain leading to food insecurity, food deserts, and shortage risk, this study proposes urban food self-sufficiency strategies using nationally and internationally recognized urban agriculture techniques. It examined hydroponic cultivation and vertical farms through technical site visits, literature review, and interviews with managers and nutritionists, defining the built and cultivable area needed to guarantee a minimum survival diet for an estimated population, and, given the relevance of energy consumption to final food cost, incorporated solar power installations sized to different demand levels to reduce grid dependence; the plan was conceived initially as an alternative system with potential to evolve into a redundant, mitigating system.

Anderson Luis Ferreira · Revista fisio&terapia. · Brazil

A qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study based on bibliographic and documentary review examines urban agriculture as a socio-environmental alternative to the contradictions of the Green Revolution. Drawing on classic and contemporary national and international literature and reports from multilateral bodies such as the FAO and UN-Habitat, it characterizes the Green Revolution as having raised agricultural productivity while deepening social inequality, homogenizing crops, and causing serious environmental impacts. It positions urban agriculture as valuing production diversity, strengthening community autonomy, and fostering new forms of sociability, concluding that examples across different contexts converge in strengthening food sovereignty, social inclusion, and urban sustainability.