Research & reports

Reni Nurjasmi, Maria Aditia Wahyuningrum · Jurnal Ilmiah Respati · Indonesia

A 2022 experiment at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Respati Indonesia, conducted from September 2021 to February 2022, examines which organic growing medium produces the best chlorophyll and carotene content in broccoli microgreens. Using a completely randomized design with four treatments — soil, onion skin, rabbit manure, and quail manure — each with five replications, organic growing media significantly affected germination rate, height, wet weight, and chlorophyll content; quail manure waste produced the highest chlorophyll content (1.47 mg/g), not significantly different from rabbit manure (1.33 mg/g), but significantly different from onion skin waste (0.63 mg/g) and the untreated control (0.21 mg/g).

Shahin Keynoush, Ehsan Daneshyar · Sustainability · Global

This research defines a pedagogical framework for an architecture Graduate Design Studio, pursuing three objectives: connecting buildings and landscapes to facilitate walkability, incorporating green elements into buildings and landscapes to increase available green space in cities, and envisioning built environments where fresh local food can be cultivated, processed, and distributed by incorporating urban agriculture into buildings and landscapes. These objectives align with the core concept of social sustainability, including improving residents' well-being and quality of life. The framework was implemented in the Graduate Studio, with four design project samples presented as outcomes.

Imas Wildan Rafiqah, Fetty Dwi Rahmayanti · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia

A survey of 109 urban Indonesian respondents familiar with microgreens found that 98.2% were interested in cultivating them and 1.8% were not, citing ease of cultivation and health-conscious quality vegetables as reasons for interest. Microgreens were reported to command prices much higher than conventional vegetables, positioning them as a business opportunity targeting middle-to-upper-market restaurants and supermarkets.

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.

Mochamad Arief Soleh, Cucu Suherman, Warid Ali Qasim · LOGISTA - Jurnal Ilmiah Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study evaluates Bandung City's flagship "Buruan Sae" program through a direct field survey of residents in Pasirwangi, Ujung Berung, Indonesia, and delivers accompanying urban-farming training in microgreen vegetable cultivation. The survey found that 90% of respondents were aware of the program and 75% actively participated in planting, while 41% did not feel supported by government facilities and 74% wanted training as a form of support; before training, 84% of respondents did not know microgreen cultivation techniques or benefits, and after training 43% understood their health purpose.

Petronela Dakdakur, Mahasin Mu'ammar, Melanie Nanda Thania, Woro Harkandi Kencana, Meisyanti Meisyanti, Yunita Sari · IKRA-ITH ABDIMAS · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This service activity delivered training and mentoring in digital marketing communication to KWT D'Shafa, a women farmers' group managing a small plot of land for urban farming in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, to address a lack of knowledge about promoting the group and its urban farming output. Through the training, the group learned to manage a Google Site platform for marketing and order-taking, and received content-creation training for promoting activities and products via Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok accounts.

Desti Fitriani Rahmawati, Alifa Huaida, Aneu Octaviani, Ulfa Siti Maspupa · Jambura Journal Community Empowerment · Indonesia

A descriptive quantitative study examined efforts to promote social-media marketing of urban farming produce as part of poverty reduction and urban agriculture system strengthening in Tasikmalaya City, Indonesia. Using questionnaires, documentation, and field observation with the Mawar Bodas women farmers group, the study found that group members gained understanding of social media use and took the initiative to sell their harvests via social media alongside in-person sales, which made members' time use more efficient.

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.

Lalehan DOĞAN, Akın Efendioğlu · Çukurova Araştırmaları Dergisi · Global

A study observed the outdoor play areas of 40 primary schools across four central districts of Adana Province, Turkey, selected by quota sampling during the 2021–2022 school year, using a primary school garden play area observation form. Play area per student was found to be insufficient. Hopscotch was the most commonly present game. Swings, slides and seesaws belonged to the preschool classes attached to the primary schools and were used by preschool children. Painted line games had faded in most schools. Football goalposts, basketball hoops and volleyball posts needed repainting in some schools, and basketball hoops were found to be too high for students' developmental stage. Most sports areas were shared with ceremonies and other play uses. Primary school garden play areas were generally clean but dominated by hard surfaces such as concrete, stone and asphalt, with insufficient provision of natural areas.

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.

Hongya Tang · Journal of Architectural Research and Development · Global

A conceptual paper examining the aesthetic education function of urban agricultural landscape. It argues that urban agricultural landscape carries a distinct local aesthetic value expressed mainly through the beauty of traditional agricultural skills, agricultural landscapes, and agricultural activities, and classifies its vernacular aesthetic education development into three modes based on differing ways people interact with the environment: a viewing mode, short-time contact, and long-time immersion.

Indiyah Murwani, Siti Muslikah, Siti Asmaniyah Mardiyani · Cendekia Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service program in RW VI, Jatimulyo sub-district, Malang, Indonesia, aimed to make productive, economic use of yards that had been largely unused for planting, by improving housewives' knowledge and skills in organic vegetable cultivation to strengthen local food security. Structured in introduction, implementation and evaluation phases, the urban farming training received a positive and enthusiastic response from local residents, who reported benefits to health, psychological well-being and household economy, described vegetable growing as easy, enjoyable, healthy and cost-reducing, and noted the area had become greener than before.

Luz Andrea Táutiva-Merchán, Tomás Enrique León-Sicard, María Fernanda Garrido Rubiano · Agricultura Sociedad y Desarrollo · Colombia

A study of three existing urban agriculture demonstration spaces run by the Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (AGROSAVIA) in the departments of Córdoba, Cundinamarca and Nariño, Colombia, characterized their economic, social, institutional and technological features and analyzed participants' perceptions of training workshops held between 2015 and 2016. Based on 17 semi-structured interviews, 64 online surveys and the systematization of two collaborative-construction workshops with external actors, the study developed a proposal centered on experience exchange directed mainly at women (66%) and students aged 18-28 (30%), and suggested community activities in "satellite" spaces focused on recovering knowledge and collaborative research, supported by four lines of action: knowledge exchange, co-innovation, dissemination, and training.

María Martíncrespo-Blanco, David Varillas‐Delgado, Saray Blanco-Abril, María‐Gema Cid‐Expósito, Juana Robledo‐Martín · Nutrients · Global

In a randomised, parallel-group controlled trial of children aged 3–5, this study evaluated the medium-term effect of an intervention programme on adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The experimental group took part in a school garden, while the control group received the usual lessons on the human body and health; adherence was assessed with the KIDMED questionnaire, controlling for weight, height, BMI, and socio-demographic variables. BMI was reduced in the experimental group after one year and at the end of follow-up. For the overall KIDMED score, a statistical trend between the two groups was observed but did not reach significance (p = 0.076). In multivariate analysis, eating pulses more than once a week predicted improved diet quality, with an odds ratio of 1.382 in the experimental group (95% CI 1.126–1.695; p = 0.009). The study concludes that the intervention improved participants' diet quality via increased consumption of plant-based protein.

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.

Lucia Masón, Lucia Manzione, Angelica Ronconi, Francesca Pazzaglia · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Europe

A within-subjects study of 65 second- and third-grade students in Europe compared a single regular lesson taught in a green school garden with a similar lesson taught in the classroom. Cognitive measures were selective and sustained attention and math calculation performance; affective measures were positive/negative mood and perceived environmental restorativeness. After the green-space lesson, children showed greater selective attention and better math calculation performance on two tasks than after the classroom lesson. Children with higher self-reported emotional difficulties showed a larger increase in selective attention, a statistically significant increase in positive affect, and a near-significant decrease in negative affect. Students also rated the green space as more restorative than the classroom.

Nur Bahiah Mohamed Haris, Nur Amanina Yunus, Jasmin Arif Shah · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · Malaysia

A structured questionnaire (via Google Form) using simple random sampling surveyed 353 participants across Peninsular Malaysia, applying the Community Readiness Model (CRM) framework and analyzing the data in IBM SPSS (version 26) to assess levels of the independent variables knowledge, attitude, and leadership alongside community readiness for urban farming practices. Levels of all three independent variables and of community readiness were high, and knowledge, attitude, and leadership each contributed significantly to community readiness.

Kübra ÇAKMAK, Aykut Emre Bozdoğan · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Turkey

A mixed-methods study of 24 fifth-grade students at a public school in Sivas, Turkey, during the spring 2020-2021 term, examining a "lamp brightness" activity conducted in the school garden as part of the "Electrical and Circuit Elements" unit. Using a dependent t-test for quantitative data and content analysis for qualitative data, the study found the activity significantly increased academic achievement in the "Physical Phenomena" learning area and significantly reduced students' science anxiety; interviews indicated students enjoyed the lessons and understood the material better.

Sarvenaz Pakravan, Shahin Keynoush, Ehsan Daneshyar · Sustainability · Global

An essay noting the global population is increasing while agricultural land per capita is declining, and that feeding a projected 9.1 billion people by 2050 would require global agricultural output to grow by roughly 60% to 110%, positioning urban agriculture as an alternative that could reduce this future burden. In response, interior architecture design studio-V (INT 401) proposes a futuristic vision built on urban agriculture and defines a pedagogical framework around three notions: (1) residential urban agriculture, (2) a context- and culture-based design approach, and (3) social sustainability, itself structured as development, bridge and maintenance sustainability. This is a proposed teaching framework rather than an empirical study.

Gabriel Elías Chanchí Golondrino, Manuel Alejandro Ospina Alarcón, Manuel Saba · Revista Científica · Global

Motivated by the growing trend of urban agriculture, this study built an IoT system for monitoring and analyzing climatological variables relevant to urban agriculture crops. Development followed four phases: selection of tools and technologies, IoT system architecture design, prototype construction, and a case study on a lettuce crop. The resulting system used open-source hardware and software tools within the conventional four-layer IoT architecture (capture, storage, analysis, visualization). Its stated advantage over existing solutions is the use of portable single-board-computer (SBC) platforms and the inclusion of machine-learning models in the analysis layer. The case study, carried out on a home lettuce crop, concluded that the chosen tools adequately captured, monitored, and analyzed climatological variables of interest, and that the analysis models can be customized to a crop's agroclimatic characteristics, making them useful for decisions related to crop physiology.

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.

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.

Jennifer Catalina Murcia Rodríguez, Adriana Quimbayo Feria · HUMAN REVIEW International Humanities Review / Revista Internacional de Humanidades · Colombia

This article discusses urban agriculture as a practice that enables the production of food — particularly fruit, vegetables and aromatic plants — while helping reduce ecological footprint and improve self-sufficiency. It frames urban agricultural production as a global trend that, in Colombia, helps mitigate environmental pollution and reduce spending on basic foods, against a backdrop of inflation that has raised food prices and reduced the quantities households can afford to buy.