Research & reports

Jin-Hee Ju, Hee-Yeon Song, Deuk-Kyun Oh, Sun-Yeong Park, Yong-Han Yoon · Journal of Environmental Science International · South Korea

This study, conducted from April to September 2019 on the rooftop of Konkuk University's Glocal Campus in South Korea, evaluated growth, physiological responses, and productivity for different intercropping ratios of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) with basil (Ocimum basilicum) on rooftops. Five treatments -- single tomato (TC), 2:1 tomato-to-basil (T2B1), 1:1 (T1B1), 1:2 (T1B2), and single basil (BC) -- were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications (15 plots total), measuring plant height, leaf length and width, leaf number, root length, root collar caliper, chlorophyll content, fresh and dry weight, fruit number, fruit caliper, fruit weight, and sugar content. The comparative analysis found growth, physiological, and productivity responses to be efficient when the tomato-to-basil ratio was 2:1 or 1:1.

Rebecca K. Kelly, Rosie Nash · Journal of School Health · Global

This systematic scoping review searched PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases to characterize food literacy (FL) interventions in elementary schools for students aged 4-12. After exclusions, 116 studies were eligible, comprising 105 original interventions ranging in duration from 45 minutes to 4 years. Social cognitive theory was the most referenced theory, and common interventions included classroom lessons, games, school gardens, food preparation, and cooking classes. Most studies (96%, N=111) measured FL outcomes quantitatively; all studies addressed functional FL (N=116), while 77% (N=89) addressed interactive FL and only 28% (N=32) addressed critical FL. As the first international review of FL programs in elementary schools, it found great heterogeneity in intervention design and FL measurement, and concluded that few interventions addressed critical FL, which should be a focus for future interventions.

Johanna Lochner, Marco Rieckmann, Marcel Robischon · Sustainability · Global

A study of Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs)—which link local gardening with global thinking by having elementary and secondary school students in different parts of the world exchange information about their school gardens and related topics via digital media—focused on educators' perspectives and the learning outcomes they observed, given ongoing controversy over whether VSGEs are suitable for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and whether they produce the learning outcomes educators expect. The researchers conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with VSGE educators, analyzed abductively and qualitatively. Results showed substantial overlap between observed and expected learning outcomes and ESD aims, but the data also revealed that learners engaging with international peers were affected by stereotypes and norms in varying ways: on one hand, VSGEs can lead to "Othering," which is not congruent with either ESD or the expected learning outcomes; on the other, they can inspire Transformative Learning that contributes to ESD aims. The study concludes that VSGEs hold potential for ESD depending on a complex interplay of factors, but are not guaranteed to constitute good ESD practice.

Becky Griffin, S. K. Braman · Journal of Entomological Science · United States

In 2017 and 2018, gardeners at 36 locations across 21 Georgia counties, United States, volunteered for the Georgia Pollinator Census pilot project, counting insects in September and October on an aster species and one other participant-chosen plant species (28 plant taxa were selected in total) while also receiving training in insect identification. Bumble bees, honey bees and wasps were sighted more often in rural areas, while carpenter bees, flies and other insects were sighted more often in urban areas; participants also showed increased entomological interest and insect knowledge, and the pilot's results were used to refine criteria for a larger, state-wide census.

Deisy Carolina Benavides Agudelo, Gustavo Adolfo Mojica Peñaloza · P P D Q Boletín · Colombia

This paper reports a pedagogical practice conducted with 11th-grade students at the Escuela Normal Superior Distrital María Montessori (ENSDMM) in Colombia, from the second half of 2019 to the first half of 2020, as part of Practice I and II of the chemistry degree program at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. Conducted in a virtual learning context, the practice examined how students understood the process of seeding, harvesting and the chemical composition of the food they consume, framed through organic chemistry functional groups, urban agriculture and food sovereignty. The paper sets out the objectives, theoretical framework, problem statement and methodology, then presents an analysis of the resulting products and conclusions on the scope and limitations of the pedagogical practice's objective, without reporting specific figures or effect sizes.

Hüseyin Berk TÜRKER · Opus uluslararası toplum araştırmaları dergisi · Turkey

This study surveyed the opinions and attitudes toward urban agriculture of 40 third-year undergraduate students from various departments at Uşak University, Turkey—which had recently launched the country's first undergraduate-level urban agriculture course—using an online questionnaire with 19 multiple-choice, yes/no, and fill-in-the-blank questions, analyzed with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The results showed students' opinions of the course were positive, its content and materials were considered sufficient, the course was judged suitable for e-learning, and awareness of urban agriculture increased by the end of the course.

Laryssa Roberta Alves Farias, Sanádia Gama dos Santos · Revista Interseção · Brazil

A qualitative case study examines a school garden project at a rural school in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil, carried out as part of the Mais Educação program (2018-2019), aimed at promoting good nutrition and environmental education practices by using unused spaces on school grounds for an organic garden. The results describe the development of pedagogical and environmental activities centered on growing vegetables for school meals, with a focus on good nutrition, health, and improving students' quality of life.

· 農林水産省ほか（2021年3月決定、掲載: 厚生労働省） · Japan

The national plan under the Basic Act on Shokuiku for FY2021-2025, with three priorities (lifelong health, sustainable food, the 'new normal' and digitalisation) and 24 indicators, including expanding hands-on agriculture, forestry and fishery experience.

Mariela Jara · IPS Agencia de Noticias (Inter Press Service) · Peru

IPS News reported on 12 October 2021 on the 1,400 square-meter "Biohuerto Ayllu 21" garden in Sector II Group 21, Villa El Salvador, 25km south of Lima. Started in 2018, the garden has 40 plots of 6 meters each and separate production, training, seedling, harvest, post-harvest and sales zones. It is run by 12 families, all elderly women migrants, who work an average of two days a week growing chard, radishes, broccoli, celery, tomatoes, beets, basil, spinach and lettuce, mainly for household consumption.

日本経済新聞 · 日本経済新聞（Nikkei） · Japan

A Nikkei report on Nomura Real Estate partnering with JA Setagaya-Meguro to launch, in November 2020, a monthly subscription 'urban experience farm' for home gardening on over 2,000 sqm of productive green land in Setagaya. With about 200 plots of 3.6 sqm where residents and citizens take part from planting to harvest, it highlights how supported rental farming links the preservation of shrinking urban farmland with citizen participation in agriculture.

Alessio Russo, Giuseppe T. Cirella · Agriculture, 10(8), 358 · Global

An empirical study analyzing ten edible green infrastructure (EGI) urban-regeneration case studies in Italy's Campania region through the lens of community development, involvement and education. It documents how citizen-engaged urban gardens contribute to public health (stress reduction, physical activity) and the regeneration of derelict land, with sustainability strengthened by far-sighted urban planning across all five provinces.

Feola G., Suzunaga J., Soler J., Wilson A. · Journal of Rural Studies · Colombia (Sogamoso)

Drawing on a survey of 160 peri-urban farming households in Sogamoso, this study applies the concept of 'quiet sustainability' to challenge dominant urban development discourses that frame peri-urban agriculture as backward, demonstrating its role in strengthening social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

Dissanayake L., Dilini S. · Open Journal of Social Sciences · Sri Lanka (Kandy)

A questionnaire-based study in the Kandy municipal area found that urban home gardens significantly contributed to household food security and quality of life during COVID-19 lockdowns, with social well-being and mental health benefits highlighted across all satisfaction levels.

Mary Rogers, Illana Livstrom, Brandon Roiger, Amy Smith · HortTechnology · United States (Minneapolis)

Growing North Minneapolis (GNM) is an urban agriculture and youth development summer program in North Minneapolis, MN, run as a partnership between the University of Minnesota and community partners that recruits, trains, and employs youth aged 14–15 facing barriers to employment. Post-program qualitative surveys showed that youth learned across multiple domains of knowledge and valued the social interaction offered by the intergenerational mentorship structure.

· Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · USA

A study of how farm-to-school educators combine education and play in a student-centered learning environment, considering children's culture, local school context, and nested inequalities.

Doris González-Fernández, Ana Sofía Mazzini Salom, Fermina Herrera Bendezu, Sonia Huamán, Bertha Rojas Hernández, Illène Pevec, Eliana Mariana Galarza Izquierdo, Nicoletta Armstrong, Virginia Thomas, Sonia Vela Gonzáles, Carlos Gonzáles Saravia, Marilyn E. Scott, Kristine G. Koski · Frontiers in Public Health · Peru (Lima)

In peripheral settlements of the Pachacámac district of metropolitan Lima, Peru, community health promoters delivered a sequence of (1) home and community gardens, (2) 'conscious nutrition' and (3) parenting workshops (ICDP), comparing 113 children aged 0–3 in intervention communities with 127 in control communities at baseline, 8 and 12 months. The interventions significantly reduced the risk of food insecurity (adjusted risk ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.08–0.51) and of language delay (0.39, 0.19–0.82), but did not significantly improve motor or social/cognitive delay. Multiple micronutrient supplement use lowered motor delay risk (0.12), while households with more pets had higher risk of motor delay (3.24), social/cognitive delay (2.72) and food insecurity (1.73). Because gardens were bundled with nutrition and parenting components, the contribution of the gardens alone cannot be isolated.

Yutaka Sho, James Setzler · · Rwanda

This chapter describes the work of General Architecture Collaborative (GAC), a nonprofit firm operating in Rwanda since 2008, which aims to make architecture accessible to traditionally excluded communities. GAC collaborates with local partners to invest in communities, exemplified by a health center that uses open spaces for community gardens and a demonstration kitchen for healthy eating workshops. This work highlights GAC's role as an interface within the international development industry's building culture.

Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Wesley James, Karen Matthews · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · United States (Mississippi Delta)

This research evaluated the impact of school garden programs on fifth-grade students' garden knowledge, self-perception, and standardized test scores in the Mississippi Delta. The study found no effect on standardized test scores, but students showed increased garden knowledge and reported positive feelings about their future, teamwork, and leadership ability, supported by observations of joy and confidence.

Jeffrey Gilbert, Christina Chauvenet, Brett C. Sheppard, Molly De Marco · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

This study investigated leadership styles and volunteer engagement in community gardens through interviews with 13 garden managers and six focus groups with 48 volunteers. Findings revealed that managers struggled to recruit and retain volunteers capable of maintaining gardens. Garden managers exhibited either collaborative or directive leadership styles, both of which were acknowledged and appreciated by participants.

Jasmine B. Sami, Zachary Stein, Krystin Sinclair, Larry Medsker · Journal of STEM education · United States

George Washington University (GWU) and USDA partnered to implement a two-week tuition-free summer camp (July 23-August 3, 2018) for high school students from the Washington Metro Area. The camp introduced participants to data analytics methods and tools using STEAM-related Open Data, focusing on food nutrition, forestry, and urban agriculture. Learning goals, including demonstrating basic data science knowledge and presenting results, were assessed using a survey tool, with positive results reported.

Carolina Ferreira dos Santos, Bruno Hosrt, Daniele Ukan · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil

In the Nhapindazal neighborhood of Irati-PR, Brazil, a community garden project was implemented by the PET – Engenharias Group in partnership with "pastoral da criança." The project aimed to supplement food conditions and improve dietary habits for socially vulnerable families. Through a community meeting with representatives, plans for the garden's construction, maintenance, materials, and plant species were discussed. Academic students actively participated in the installation, and the community organized to maintain the garden, resulting in improved and diversified diets for those consuming its produce.

Ni’mah Mahnunah, Deani Prionazvi Rhizky, Irfan Rifani · PROSIDING SEMINAR HASIL PENGABDIAN MASYARAKAT · Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted food security and the economy. In Drono Village, Klaten Regency, Indonesia, the concept of urban farming was introduced through community service activities. This activity aimed to provide knowledge and practical experience in urban farming, encouraging residents, especially youth, to further develop urban farming as a business opportunity to improve the economy.

Ranka Junge, Nadine Antenen, Morris Villarroel, Tjaša Griessler Bulc, Andrej Ovca, Sarah Milliken · Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften digital collection (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) · Global

The Aquaponics Textbook for Higher Education accompanies the Aqu@teach Aquaponics Curriculum, intended for tertiary level teachers introducing basic aquaponics to students. The curriculum comprises 150 hours of student workload (5 ECTS) and is divided into 15 modules, covering topics such as aquaponic technology, aquaculture, hydroponics, and urban agriculture.

Gutiérrez Sánchez-Osorio, Maria Lúcia · · Global

This work explores the school garden as a program for environmental education in early childhood and primary stages. It outlines specific environmental activities integrated into various courses, using garden tasks as a central theme. Through these activities, students actively learn about current environmental problems and discover alternatives for sustainable development.

Ada P. Smith · Collaborative anthropologies · Canada

In Canada's Gitxaała Nation, the potential of the Gitxaała community garden and the summer reading program at Lach Klan School as a "food literacy" learning platform for achieving food security and food sovereignty was explored. This research suggests that hands-on learning activities integrating local Indigenous language and knowledge have the potential to contribute to food sovereignty goals by better equipping students to shape their food system.