Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2067 results(46 / 83)
Teaching Spatial Thinking and Geospatial Technologies Through Citizen Mapping and Problem-Based Inquiry in Grades 7-12
2018M. Beth Schlemper, Brinda Athreya, Kevin Czajkowski, Victoria C. Stewart, Sujata Shetty · Journal of Geography · United States
A project introduced students in grades 7 through 12 to spatial thinking and geospatial technologies within the context of community challenges. A mix of inquiry levels, from teacher- to student-guided, was used through a citizen mapping group activity. Qualitative methods evaluated students' knowledge, showing that their awareness of their community, spatial thinking, and geospatial technologies increased as a result of participation.
Food educationCommunityGrowing Economic Possibility in Appalachia: Stories of Relocalization and Representation on Stinking Creek
2018Kathryn Engle · UKnowledge (University of Kentucky) · United States (Kentucky)
This project explores the agricultural heritage and social landscape of the Stinking Creek community in Knox County, Kentucky, focusing on the Lend-A-Hand Center Grow Appalachia Gardening Program. Through participatory research, it examines the diverse economy and potential for post-coal futures in central Appalachia. The program developed agricultural initiatives, re-localized food systems via home and community gardens, and established a farmers' market over three years.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceA Rede de Dinamização das Feiras da Agricultura Familiar – REDIfeira: o caso da criação da FEPORg – Feira de Produtos Orgânicos de Maringá e Região
2018Ednaldo Michellon, Jaqueline da Silva Rosa, André Coelho Braga, Victor de Canini Cezar, Tiago Ribeiro da Costa, Wellington Fernandes Pereira · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (Maringá)
The REDIfeira project, part of the University Extension Program in Parana, Brazil, aims to boost the production and commercialization of family agriculture products through monitoring and technical assistance. This work presents the case of the FEPORg – Maringa Organic Products Fair and Region, which was established through community initiative with support from Maringa City Hall, the REDIfeira project, CerAUP, and PPCPO.
CommunityOrganic cyclePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsAn Analysis on the Importance of Medicinal Garden as Teaching Resource in A School in Northeast of Brazil
2018Natalia Caroline de Souza Aguiar, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Múcio Luiz Banja Fernandes · Asian Journal of Applied Sciences · Brazil
This study analyzed the views of thirteen teachers in a public school in northeastern Brazil regarding the importance and use of a medicinal garden planted in 2014. Interviews revealed a lack of interest among teachers in using the school garden, despite most recognizing its importance as a didactic resource. The findings suggest that intervention projects in schools require teachers to be prepared for their use, highlighting the need for a teacher training plan.
Limited or null effectFood educationCommunityChinatown and Beyond: Ava Chin, Urban Foraging, and a New American Cityscape
2018Shiuhhuah Serena Chou · ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment · United States
Urban foraging reemerged at the turn of the twenty-first century as a mode of urban food production, leading to a diverse body of literature including field guides and personal accounts. This literature suggests that the resurgence of urban foraging, as seen in works like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006) and Tama Matsuoka Wong's Foraged Flavor (2012), may be more than a fad. The practice of finding, harvesting, and consuming edible wild plants challenges the idea of American cities as food deserts, presenting urban spaces as sites of cultural and environmental sustainability.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityDIYO USO DE GEOTECNOLOGIAS ABERTAS NA DISCIPLINA GEOGRAFIA AGRÁRIA – ESPACIALIZAÇÃO E DIAGNÓSTICO DA OCORRÊNCIA DA AGRICULTURA URBANA NO BAIRRO SANTA LÚCIA - MACEIÓ/AL
2018Cirlene Jeane Santos e Santos · · Brazil (Maceió)
This article describes didactic foundations and field activities in the Agrarian Geography discipline at the Federal University of Alagoas, Brazil, aimed at enhancing student learning. Students engaged with urban agriculture and animal husbandry in Maceió/AL, finding that direct interaction with reality facilitated meaningful learning beyond classroom content. The results indicated that students integrated various course contents to understand the relationships in these spaces.
Food educationCommunityWill Consumers Find Vertically Farmed Produce 'Out of Reach'?
2017Coyle B. D., Ellison B. · Choices 32(1):1-8 · United States
Analyzes US consumer demand and willingness to pay for vertically farmed produce, finding consumers are price-sensitive and largely unwilling to pay a premium simply for indoor-grown greens, posing a market challenge for scaling beyond niches.
EconomicsEconomic analysis of aquaponics and hydroponics production in the U.S. Midwest
2017Flores R. M. V., Quagrainie K. K., Kim H.-J., McClain V. · Journal of Applied Aquaculture 30(1):1-14 · United States
Conducts an economic analysis of aquaponic and hydroponic production in the US Midwest, comparing the cost structures and profitability of the two systems to assess the commercial feasibility of controlled-environment horticultural production.
EconomicsSustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE): results from two feasibility pilot studies
2017Lee R.E., Parker N.H., Soltero E.G., Ledoux T., Hernandez I., Sahnoune I. · BMC Public Health, 17:242 · United States
Piloted SAGE—a 12-session garden education program with songs, games, taste tests and garden care—for 89 children aged 3–5 in six early care and education centers across two US cities, evaluating reach, efficacy and implementation using the RE-AIM framework for PA and fruit and vegetable intake.
Food educationHealthCommunityFood Justice in the Trump Age: Priorities for Urban Food Advocates
2017Nevin Cohen, Janet Poppendieck, Nicholas Freudenberg · Journal of Food Law & Policy · United States
This essay outlines priorities for food advocates following the election of President Donald Trump: preserving SNAP, preventing industry deregulation, and sustaining regional food systems. It analyzes the potential conservative-backed counter-proposals to each of these priorities.
PolicyWelfareLead (Pb) Bioaccessibility and Mobility Assessment of Urban Soils and Composts: Fingerprinting Sources and Refining Risks to Support Urban Agriculture
2017Rosalie M. Sharp, Daniel J. Brabander · GeoHealth · United States (Boston)
This study assessed lead (Pb) bioaccessibility, transport, and exposure pathways in urban gardens in Roxbury and Dorchester, MA, in partnership with The Food Project, which brings local farmers into the research. Compost had lower total Pb, lower gastric Pb solubility, and less fine-particle resuspension than soils, with a mean bioaccessible Pb of 265 mg/kg—nearly an order of magnitude lower than soils. Across all matrices, grain sizes under 37 μm held a disproportionate share of bioaccessible Pb, whose isotopic composition pointed to leaded gasoline and leaded paint.
CompostHealthCommunityBiogeochemical characterization of municipal compost to support urban agriculture and limit childhood lead exposure from resuspended urban soils
2017Maia G. Fitzstevens, Rosalie M. Sharp, Daniel J. Brabander · Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene · United States (Boston)
To support urban agriculture and limit childhood lead exposure from resuspended urban soils, this study measured bulk and bioaccessible lead in five types of compost used in Boston urban gardens. Different feedstocks showed unique geochemical fingerprints; bulk lead in compost was a fraction of that in urban soils, yet the bioaccessible fraction exceeded the IEUBK model's default parameters. Based on the observed bioaccessibility, 170 mg/kg total lead in compost yields the same bioaccessible lead as the model predicts for the 400 mg/kg EPA soil benchmark, so risk assessments should treat compost as an urban matrix.
CompostOrganic cycleHealthAssessing Urban Community Gardens’ Impact on Net Primary Production using NDVI
2017Tammy E. Parece, James B. Campbell · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States
This study used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from U.S. Landsat 5, 7, and 8 satellites to assess the environmental impact of urban community gardens across three eastern U.S. cities—Roanoke, VA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Buffalo, NY—over the 2007–2015 growing seasons. It reports that establishing community gardens altered seasonal NDVI trajectories, sometimes declining initially but then increasing over time, revealing the vigorous vegetative character of urban agriculture.
CommunityBiodiversityFood Production on a Living Wall: Pilot Study
2017Nagle L., Echols S., Tamminga K. · Journal of Green Building · United States (Pennsylvania)
Monitors the productivity of a 7.5 m² outdoor living wall planted with produce crops during the 2015 summer in State College, Pennsylvania, also collecting irradiance, water-use and soil-moisture data.
DIYCommunityLA Sprouts randomized controlled nutrition, cooking and gardening programme reduces obesity and metabolic risk in Hispanic/Latino youth
2017Gatto · Pediatric Obesity · USA (Los Angeles)
A randomized controlled trial of a 12-week after-school nutrition, cooking, and gardening program held at a community garden, assessing reductions in obesity and metabolic risk among Hispanic/Latino youth.
Food educationHealthContributions of Local Farming to Urban Sustainability in the Northeast United States
2017Goldstein B. · Environmental Science & Technology · Northeast United States
An analysis for the northeastern US concluded that local and urban farming provides only small environmental benefits to urban sustainability (carbon, land, water), partly because it cannot displace livestock, which dominate agricultural emissions and land use.
PolicyEconomicsInfluence of Air Pollution and Soil Contamination on the Contents of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Vegetables Grown in Urban Gardens of Sao Paulo, Brazil
2017· Frontiers in Environmental Science · Brazil (Sao Paulo)
PAHs, including carcinogenic congeners, were detected in vegetables grown in urban gardens of Sao Paulo, showing that urban air pollution and soil contamination drive PAH accumulation in city-grown produce.
HealthIs Urban Agriculture Financially Sustainable? An Exploratory Study of Small-Scale Market Farming in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2017Hunold C., Sorunmu Y., Lindy R., Spatari S., Gurian P. L. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · Philadelphia, USA
An exploratory study of small-scale urban market farms in Philadelphia finds they cannot cover costs from sales alone and depend on grants, donations, and unpaid volunteer labor, concluding that financial self-sufficiency for urban agriculture is currently very difficult.
EconomicsRethinking Land Struggle in the Postindustrial City
2017Safransky S. · Antipode · Detroit, USA
Examines Detroit's land reordering (including greening and urban farming) under fiscal austerity, arguing that repurposing 'vacant' land reignites racialized dispossession and undermines the sovereignty and land claims of existing low-income Black communities.
PolicyCommunityFood justice racial projects: fighting racial neoliberalism from the Bay to the Big Apple
2017Sbicca J., Myers J. S. · Environmental Sociology · USA
Using two food justice organizations in the Bay Area and New York, the article situates urban food activism within 'racial neoliberalism,' showing that food/urban-agriculture movements are inseparable from racial and economic inequities and structures such as mass incarceration.
CommunityPolicyLegalising urban agriculture in Detroit: a contested way of planning for decline
2017Paddeu Flaminia · Town Planning Review · USA (Detroit)
Examines Detroit's 2012 zoning ordinance legalising urban agriculture, arguing it functioned as a contested 'planning for decline'. Shows the reform was shaped by political trade-offs and left land-tenure and equity questions unresolved, limiting real benefit to residents.
PolicyCommunity"To allow farming is to give up on the city": Political anxieties related to the disposition of vacant land for urban agriculture in Detroit
2017· Journal of Urban Affairs · USA (Detroit)
Analyzes the political controversy over disposing municipal vacant land for urban agriculture in Detroit (incl. the Hantz large-scale scheme), showing how the land-disposition policy stoked fears of speculative land grabs and 'giving up' on the city rather than delivering community benefit.
PolicyCommunityGreening U.S. legacy cities: urban agriculture as a strategy for reclaiming vacant land
2017Fanny Carlet, Joseph Schilling, Megan Heckert · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · United States
This article investigates the current state of research and practice regarding urban agriculture as a strategy for regenerating shrinking U.S. cities. It examines how repurposing vacant land for food production can address urban blight and food insecurity. The study highlights key findings and provides observations for public officials and practitioners on leveraging this research to enhance urban agriculture for vacant land treatment.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe multifunctionality of urban farming: perceived benefits for neighbourhood improvement
2017Melissa N. Poulsen, Roni Neff, Peter J. Winch · Local Environment · United States (Baltimore)
This qualitative case study in Baltimore, Maryland, explored community perceptions of how urban farms benefit neighborhoods. Interviews with residents, neighborhood leaders, and urban farmers in three residential neighborhoods revealed that benefits stemmed from the creation of public projects, physical improvement of degraded spaces, local food production, and new businesses. These changes led to perceived benefits such as increased social connectedness, a transformed physical landscape, improved neighborhood reputation, and enhanced access to fresh produce, demonstrating the importance of a multifunctional paradigm beyond traditional economic indicators.
CommunityHealthFood educationEconomicsLow-income adults’ perceptions of farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture programmes
2017Elizabeth W. Cotter, Carla Teixeira, Annessa Bontrager, Kasharena Horton, Deyanira Soriano · Public Health Nutrition · United States (Washington, DC)
This study conducted focus groups with 28 adults in three affordable housing communities in Washington, D.C., USA, to understand low-income adults' attitudes towards participating in farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and nutrition education programming. The results revealed that adults living in urban, affordable housing communities desire access to healthy foods but are limited by cost. Programs could have a higher likelihood of success if they accept benefits like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), are heavily marketed, and incorporate culturally relevant nutrition education components.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiWelfareEconomicsCommunityFood education