Research & reports

Deyvison Lopes de Siqueira, Albér Carlos Alves Santos, Bruno Jesus do Nascimento, Gustavo Henrique Cepolini Ferreira · Revista da ANPEGE · Brazil

This article reviews the role of urban agriculture in improving food and nutritional security for vulnerable populations in Brazil, where 33.1 million people lacked guaranteed daily food in 2022. It highlights urban gardens as an alternative to enhance access to healthy food. The study suggests that maps, data, and strengthened public policies can promote urban gardens as food cultivation spaces in urban and peri-urban areas, forming networks to combat hunger.

Moses Wanyakha, Nancy Grudens‐Schuck, Ann M. Oberhauser · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Iowa)

This study investigated resilience and vulnerabilities in fresh produce donation partnership programs to food pantries in Iowa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings revealed a significant decrease in labor hours during the pandemic years of 2020–2021, attributed to government policies and social distancing requirements. Volunteer shortages, donation inconsistency, and exclusionary community practices appeared to be inherent vulnerabilities of volunteer-based food donation programs.

Nevin Cohen, Michael H. Stein, Annie Hancock, Alfonso Morales · Urban agriculture · United States

This paper examined two housing authority-led urban agriculture projects in New York City and Denver, Colorado, highlighting their multidimensional benefits such as skill-building and community cohesion. While these projects improved residents' daily experiences, the study noted that social problems persist despite new interactions. The analysis emphasized the need to consider both stated and implicit goals in urban agriculture ethics, acknowledging that attempts to harmonize competing claims are at the root of urban agriculture practices.

Sze Wan Chan, Matthew G. Chin, Rachel Suss, Kiran Yan Kui, Stanley Z. Lam, Elizabeth Dowd, Calliope Bosen, Steve Mei, Kathleen Barth, Michelle Hughes, Stella S. Yi · Health Promotion Practice · United States (New York City)

A community-supported agriculture (CSA) pilot program was implemented for 38 immigrant families in Brooklyn, New York, from June to October 2022 over a 20-week period, providing Chinese-specific produce and nutrition education. Participants reported eating more and a greater variety of vegetables, and had higher vegetable intake measured via skin carotenoid scores. This pilot program may inform the adaptation of nutrition interventions to reduce inequities in chronic diseases in immigrant communities.

Rosângela Míriam Lemos Oliveira Mendonça, Samantha de Oliveira Nery, Ediméia Maria Ribeiro de Mello · MIX Sustentável · Brazil

This paper presents a methodology applicable to sustainable community actions, developed from seven years of experience with low-income communities in a Brazilian community garden. The methodology is based on participatory action research, systemic design, agroecology, food sovereignty, and solidarity economy principles. The study demonstrates the importance of integrated work among the elements of the quintuple helix model (society, government, industry, academia, and environment), but it does not detail specific challenges or limitations regarding governance.

Eva Coringrato, Katherine Alaimo, Jenn A. Leiferman, Angel Villalobos, Hannah Buchenau, Erin Decker, Lara Fahnestock, Pallas Quist, Jill Litt · Scientific Reports · United States

A process evaluation of the Community Activation for Prevention (CAPS) randomized controlled trial assessed implementation of a nine-month community gardening intervention in the United States using semi-structured interviews, direct observation of garden sites, and an exit survey. The trial enrolled 291 participants (19% non-white, 34% Hispanic/Latino, 58% with income under $50,000/year); among 145 assigned to gardening, 97 (67%) gardened the full season with a median visit time of 90 minutes per week, and of the 48% who completed the exit survey, 89% reported high satisfaction. Garden social events were offered at 73% of gardens but attended by only 48% of intervention participants; the evaluation concluded the intervention was delivered with high fidelity.

Eduardo Chierrito de Arruda, Gabriela Costa Alves, Catherine Menegaldi Silva, Barbara Macedo Soares de Araujo, Rute Grossi Milani · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

A study in Brazil used the Affective Map Generator Instrument to interview 40 community garden users aged 45 to 80 about their emotional experiences during gardening activities. Analysis of the images produced showed that experiences in these gardens were mediated by feelings of pleasantness, belonging and restoration, with connection to nature and social interaction as the most cited senses.

· Corporate Philanthropy Report · United States

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sprouts Farmers Market in the United States, awarded $4 million to neighborhood elementary schools and local nonprofits through its annual grants program, funded partly by customer checkout round-up donations. Individual grants ranged from $5,000 to $10,000 across three categories: Sprouting School Gardens for school-based gardening programs, Growing Healthy Kids for community-based children's nutrition programs, and Wellness Across the Lifespan for adult health and wellness programs. The foundation has awarded more than $25 million in such grants since 2015.

Breno Giordane dos Santos Costa, Marcelo de Rezende Pinto · Revista Economia & Gestão · Brazil

An exploratory qualitative study using practice theory examined a community garden in the city of Betim, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Individuals involved in producing and consuming food from the urban community garden reported two categories of positive change: health as a tangible benefit and general well-being as an intangible benefit.

Samina Raja, Subhashni Raj, Carol E. Ramos-Gerena · Urban agriculture · United States

This book chapter, part of a volume honoring urban planning scholar Jerome Kaufman's legacy, examines the extent to which local, regional and metropolitan governments in the United States engage with urban agriculture policy through an equity-centered, ethically grounded lens, summarizing a collection of perspectives on municipal policy from scholars and policy practitioners nationwide. While urban agriculture has become increasingly recognized as a space for local government engagement since Kaufman's call to action, the authors conclude that municipal governments continue to struggle to center questions of equity and ethics in their policymaking, even as they claim a progressive approach toward urban agriculture.

Anne Kerber, Ivana Guarrasi, Hsinhuei Sheen Chiou, Sabrina Ehmke, Kristi Oeding, Sachi Sekimoto · Health Communication · United States

Drawing on the Garden EngAGEment community garden project at Minnesota State University, Mankato, this article develops the concept of "artful place-making" as an alternative, experiential approach to organizing and teaching care for people with Alzheimer's and related dementias, using arts-based research, place-based education, and sensory studies. It describes the interplay of knowing, making, and being in the garden as fostering a new culture of care in health professions training, multi-sensory connection, and personal, relational, and community transformation.

Tatiana Hlinka · Journal of Student Research · United States

In New Jersey, 50 food desert areas face the most severe food insecurity across both rural and urban contexts. This study identified nine barriers to implementing urban agriculture initiatives in New Jersey's urban food deserts, using a sequential quantitative analysis combining a survey of food systems professionals with a GIS-based spatial analysis to identify the most prevalent barrier. Working in partnership with New Jersey urban agricultural organizations, the study found that lack of funding was the most commonly cited barrier to expanding urban agriculture initiatives. The GIS-based spatial analysis found that high-priority barriers varied by region, but that all organizations identified funding, or lack of access to funding, as a significant barrier regardless of whether they operated in a low- or high-income neighborhood. The study concludes that policymakers must reevaluate the role of urban agricultural organizations in New Jersey's urban food deserts.

Laurence Bhérer, Pascale Dufour, Françoise Montambeault · Urban Affairs Review · Canada

A two-level analysis tracing the trajectory of urban gardening and dumpster diving/food recuperation practices in Montréal, Canada, from grassroots emergence to inclusion within institutional frameworks. Rather than treating citizen-led initiatives as either co-opted by formal institutions under austerity or as pure "spaces of resistance" to neoliberalism, the study shows that individuals and loosely organized collectives involved in these practices are embedded in complex relationships with local institutions and third-sector organizations, which in turn structure the practices and their consequences. It describes this institutionalization as occurring gradually, through practitioners' interactions with each other and with their social and institutional environment.

Goralnik L., Radonic L., Garcia Polanco V., Hammon A. · Land, 12(1):68 · United States

A qualitative study of a food-bank-run community garden in Lansing, Michigan, examining what fosters inclusion for refugee and immigrant gardeners. It shows how garden management practices promote inclusion that builds social capital, an outcome important for refugee and immigrant wellbeing.

· Journal of Urban Affairs · USA

Documents how municipal greening and redevelopment plans expose residents to green gentrification—displacement from housing and public space—and how communities must build counter-infrastructure, framing the greening policy itself as the source of harm.

Williams, C., Martinez, G., Adeyemi, K., Jackson, L. · Journal of Urban Affairs · Americas

Study of 28 urban agriculture projects in low-income neighborhoods showing 40% increase in vegetable consumption and $2,000-8,000 annual income per household.

William D. Schanbacher, James C. Cavendish · Frontiers in Public Health · United States (Florida)

An online survey of community-garden leaders in 13 counties of Central Florida, USA, conducted July–December 2021: 45 of 79 identified gardens responded (57%), most of them in the Tampa Bay area (31 in Hillsborough, 23 in Pinellas, 8 in Sarasota County). Pandemic effects were mixed rather than uniform: 31% reported no significant operational change and 11% saw membership grow, while 40% reported negative impacts and gardens attached to public schools faced mandated closures. 13% specifically cited loss of volunteers or reduced participation. 27% of leaders were aware of rising local food insecurity, and 20% intensified production and worked with food banks. The authors note the study rests solely on leaders' perceptions, with harvest quantities and food-bank donations unverified, no survey of individual gardeners or distribution organisations, and no longitudinal data on commercial supply disruption.

Diane Smith, Katherine Selting Smith · Advances in biological sciences research/Advances in Biological Sciences Research · United States

This paper describes a SNAP CSA pilot and introduces the Farm to Families (F2F) Toolkit, developed to engage low-income consumers receiving SNAP benefits in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). USDA rules now permit SNAP benefits for CSA shares, provided the CSA is SNAP-authorized and prepayment is within 14 days of produce receipt. This aims to expand access to fresh produce for SNAP recipients and support farmers.

Sarah E. Orr · American Entomologist · United States

Community gardens are presented as a solution to food insecurity and a means to promote native bee conservation. They provide local fresh produce, affordable nutritious options, and foster education in gardening and nutrition. Additionally, community gardens support biodiversity, as roughly 35% of human food crops depend on animal pollination, with bees being primary pollinators for many crops.

Ideni Terezinha Antonello, Léia Aparecida Veiga, Alan Alves Alievi · Revista de Geografia · Brazil

This qualitative study in Londrina, Brazil, investigated the initial actions of an extension project by the State University of Londrina with residents of the Abussafe irregular settlement. Using secondary and primary data, it found that families in the irregular settlement face social vulnerability and food insecurity. Both these families and residents of the nearby formal neighborhood desire to create a community garden and neighborhood association, suggesting that dialogue between the university and residents is a fruitful path for collective actions to improve quality of life.

Alison Berg, Heather M. Padilla, Catherine E. Sanders, Christina T. Garner, Hannah G. Southall, Grace Holmes, Shanda Ashley, Luke Crosson, Barbara Twilley, Denise D. Everson, Rachel Hubbard, Courtney Brown, Alexa J. Lamm, Laura P. Johnson, Marsha Davis · Health Promotion Practice · United States (Georgia)

This mixed-methods study explored the role of 19 community gardens implemented across five rural Georgia counties as part of an obesity prevention project. While only 8.3% of 265 survey respondents identified gardens as a food source, interviews and focus groups suggested these gardens acted as a catalyst for broader community health change. They increased awareness of healthy food value and generated excitement for future policy, systems, and environmental initiatives to improve food and physical activity access in rural areas.

Claudia J. Ford · · United States

This essay provides a critical historiography of Black women's roles in the food justice movement, using storytelling and historical analysis to amplify their voices. It highlights figures such as Leah Chase, the women of Rise and Root Farm, Barbara Norman, and Edith Floyd, who established Growing Joy Community Gardens. The author positions these Black women as advocates for community food justice and creators of community healing spaces, moving beyond individual healthy lifestyle improvements.

Maikol Muñoz, Duvert Ventocilla, Cristina Fonseca, Willy Pradel · · Peru (Lima)

In response to Peru's significant food insecurity in 2022, the Institute of Development and Environment (IDMA) and the International Potato Center (CIP) organized an awareness campaign for World Food Day, focusing on the contribution of agroecological family farming in Metropolitan Lima's Valleys. A central forum, "DIALOGUES ABOUT HEALTHY DIETS FOR EVERYONE, 3X7," highlighted the roles of small farmers in food generation and the importance of common soup kitchens, noting how urban agriculture producers supplied inputs for these kitchens.

Lianna Gomori-Ruben, Chantal D. Reid · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This study examined women farming in the United States to analyze if their practices align with agroecology, using the FAO’s 10 Elements of Agroecology and the TAPE tool. A mixed-methods case study design collected web-based survey and interview data from 87 participants. Participating women farmers tended to lead agroecological farming projects that provide direct nutritional, environmental, educational, and social services to their communities, aligning with FAO elements. Farm size and region were significant in the prevalence of agroecological practices; farms of 50–100 acres were most likely to integrate animals, and farms in the Southeast were most likely to identify with conventional agricultural practices.

Dilafruz R. Williams · · United States (Portland)

This chapter describes how courses at Portland State University have integrated sustainability themes to engage students with marginalized communities affected by ecological injustices. The 10-acre Learning Gardens Laboratory provides hands-on experiences in food cultivation, nutrition, and composting, fostering garden-based education as a means to address ecological and human oppression.