Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
639 results(5 / 26)
“Farming Inside Cities” – A Look Back After Two Decades
2024Martin Bailkey, Rosalind Greenstein · Urban agriculture · United States
This paper reviews “Farming Inside Cities: Entrepreneurial Urban Agriculture in the United States” (2000) by Jerry Kaufman and Martin Bailkey. This report was one of three concurrent research studies on for-market urban agriculture as a viable reuse of vacant land in major US cities. While its practical nature and description of urban agriculture's opportunities and challenges remain relevant today, it does not explicitly state the value of farming as a vehicle for social equity and food justice in urban communities of color.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageUrban Agriculture as a Public Good: Valuing Farming and Gardening in Philadelphia and Chicago
2024Domenic Vitiello · Urban agriculture · United States
US cities have developed urban agriculture support systems reflecting competing values, with some prioritizing public good and others economic gains. A chapter reflecting on urban agriculture planning in Chicago and Philadelphia notes that institutional structures significantly impact equity and justice. The study indicates that the existing urban agriculture support systems in these cities may not adequately promote equity and justice.
Equity & displacementPolicyCommunityEconomicsHealthA review of food asset maps in Canada
2024Belinda Li, Tammara Soma, Raghava Payment, Srishti Kumar, Nicole Anderson, Flora Xu, Phonpoom Piensatienkul · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada
This study reviewed and categorized 73 food asset maps in Canada based on their included food assets and design characteristics. Most maps included built environment assets like grocery stores and food banks, as well as agriculture-based natural food assets such as farms, community gardens, and orchards. However, representations of Indigenous-focused food assets and non-agriculture-based natural food assets like forests, water bodies, and foraging areas were generally lacking. This lack of Indigenous perspectives reinforces the values of a settler-colonial food system within food asset maps.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsGreen resilience: Securing life through vegetal being
2024Delf Rothe · Political Geography · United States (New York City)
This paper critically examines the concept of "green resilience" through a case study of various green resilience projects in New York City, including survivor trees, memorial groves, and community gardens. The study argues that these spaces function as key forms of state rule and biopolitical power, identifying three tensions or contradictions of green resilience as a form of biopolitical government: visibility and invisibility, knowledge and ignorance, and control and emergence.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceSegurança alimentar e nutricional e agricultura urbana
2024Deyvison 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.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyYield Operations: (Re)Fitting Urban Agriculture in Existing Green Spaces for Economic and Other Benefits
2024Joshua Zeunert · UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) · United States
To investigate the economic potential of urban agriculture in existing public green spaces, gross economic returns per hectare from horticultural crops were calculated from eight sources and fourteen growing approaches. Findings showed returns ranging from $22,249 to $360,000 USD per hectare annually, with several small urban agriculture businesses achieving gross returns of $150,000-$300,000 per hectare. The study concludes that urban agriculture in existing public green spaces offers opportunities to increase economic viability, alongside additional benefits like job creation, local food availability, education, training, health, and environmental improvements.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyGrowing together or growing apart? A study of food donation community garden programming during the COVID-19 pandemic
2024Moses 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.
Limited or null effectCommunityWelfareFood lossPolicyA profile of urban agricultural growers, organizations, their needs, and challenges in the Northeastern United States
2024Matthew L. Richardson, John Taylor, Megan J. Thompson, Anusuya Rangarajan, Mamatha Hanumappa, Neith G. Little · PLoS ONE · United States (Northeastern United States)
This online survey of 394 urban growers, primarily in the Northeastern United States, profiled growers and assessed urban agriculture's state, identifying needs and challenges. Most growers were white (non-Hispanic), under 45, well-educated but without agriculture degrees. Urban agriculture was dominated by small non-profits and home/community gardens. A critical finding is that urban growers face diverse barriers, with the most common being land availability and long-term access in urban areas, and many reported low revenue or operating at a net loss.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceMapping and Assessing Urban Agriculture in São Paulo: Tackling Socio-Economic and Environmental Issues through Nature-Based Solutions
2024Luiza Vigne Bennedetti, Silvia Ronchi, Maurício Lamano Ferreira, Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira · Sustainability · Brazil (São Paulo)
This study assessed São Paulo's urban agriculture (UA) potential using an Ecosystem Services (ES)-based approach, combining ES spatial mapping and a producer survey at 49 UA sites. Results showed natural habitats and anthropic areas within urbanized land, especially in the south, with high habitat quality scores. Nine ES were identified: food supply, commercialization, income generation, waste mediation, lifecycle maintenance, soil formation, leisure/social, well-being, and education.
PolicyEconomicsBiodiversityFood educationNavigating Urban-Agricultural Watershed Management Conflicts: A View from Watershed Coordinators
2024Landon Yoder, Sarah P. Church, Kamebry Wagner · Society & Natural Resources · United States
This paper analyzed the role of watershed organizations in Iowa, USA, in addressing urban-agricultural conflicts stemming from fertilizer runoff and water quality impairment. Three focus group discussions with 14 watershed coordinators revealed that participant composition significantly impacts problem-solving. While joint urban-agricultural engagement strategies were limited, they showed promise in changing individual perspectives, suggesting that strategic targeting of participants is crucial for conflict resolution.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageThe Practical Ethics of Urban Agriculture in Public Housing
2024Nevin 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.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyHealthWelfareMETODOLOGIA PARA AÇÕES COMUNITÁRIAS SUSTENTÁVEIS – PRÁTICAS DE INTEGRAÇÃO DO MODELO DAS CINCO HÉLICES EM UMA HORTA COMUNITÁRIA BRASILEIRA
2024Rosângela 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.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyGrowing Community: Factors of Inclusion for Refugee and Immigrant Urban Gardeners
2023Goralnik 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.
CommunityWelfarePolicyPlanning the foodshed: Rural and peri‐urban factors in local food strategies of major cities in Canada and the United States
2023Kerstin Schreiber, Klara J. Winkler, Killian Abellon, Graham K. MacDonald · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States
This study analyzes 25 local food strategy and action-plan documents from 22 major US and Canadian cities (over 300,000 residents) to assess how cities plan for peri-urban and rural food production. It finds that topics such as farmland access and quality, farm viability, agricultural training, processing infrastructure, and the needs of marginalized groups (including BIPOC) are often overlooked, and that fewer than half of cities defined how progress would be measured.
PolicyEconomicsCommunity‐Engaged Assessment of Soil Lead Contamination in Atlanta Urban Growing Spaces
2023Samuel J. W. Peters, Sydney M. Warner, Eri Saikawa, P. Barry Ryan, Parinya Panuwet, Dana B. Barr, Priya E. D'Souza, Gil Frank, Rosario Hernandez, Taranji Alvarado, Arthur Hines, Chris Theal · GeoHealth · United States (Atlanta)
Using community-engaged research, researchers and community gardeners co-designed a study measuring soil lead concentrations via XRF and ICP-MS at 19 urban agricultural and residential sites in west Atlanta and three rural Georgia sites. Most sites were below the EPA residential screening levels but above the University of Georgia's low-risk agricultural levels, and some sites containing metal-refining waste or slag reached three times the EPA level. The findings led local and federal agencies to initiate cleanup of the slag residue.
CommunityHealthPolicyDigging in: Toward a more just urban garden land policy
2023Hannah Ramer, Kristen Nelson · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States (Minneapolis)
Using a contextualized case comparison of the City of Minneapolis and the independently elected Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, this study examines how urban garden land policies granting access to publicly owned land can either reduce or exacerbate racial inequities. It argues that seemingly minor policy details systematically shape who benefits, and that the Park Board went substantially further on racial equity—aided by more intensive public participation in developing the policy details.
PolicyCommunityLand tenure security and luxury support plant species and trait diversity in urban community gardens
2023Stacy M. Philpott, Peter Bichier, Genesis Perez, Shalene Jha, Heidi Liere, Brenda B. Lin · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (California)
This study examined how garden physical features, garden "luxury," and land-tenure security influence plant species richness, functional diversity, and composition in community gardens on the California central coast. It found that land-tenure-secure gardens had higher plant and crop richness, while luxury-associated variables raised ornamental richness and flower abundance but lowered crop richness.
CommunityBiodiversityPolicyCollaborative survival in the city: Envisioning alternative urban futures through Black agrarian praxis
2023Justine Lindemann · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (Cleveland)
This article explores the potential for "collaborative survival" in deindustrialized urban spaces, arguing that abundant so-called vacant parcels offer a pathway toward more self-determined food systems. Using the work of Black gardeners and farmers in Cleveland, Ohio as a case, it frames urban food production as a praxis of liberation that contests structural racism and reimagines alternative urban futures.
CommunityPolicyMeasuring the Effectiveness of Food Policy Councils in Major Cities in the United States
2023Range Camille, O'Hara Sabine, Jeffery Tia, Toussaint Etienne C. · Foods · USA
Assesses effectiveness of food policy councils in major US cities, highlighting how unstable funding and weak institutional support undercut their ability to influence policy. Concludes that many councils underperform relative to their mandate due to resource and capacity constraints.
PolicyGrassroots mobilization for a just, green urban future: Building community infrastructure against green gentrification and displacement
2023· 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.
PolicyCommunityWelfareVAZIOS URBANOS EM MONTES CLAROS: POTENCIAL URBANÍSTICO E POSSIBILIDADES DE APROPRIAÇÃO DAS PRÁTICAS AGRÍCOLAS
2023Tainá Ferreira da ROCHA, Hélder dos Anjos Augusto · Editora Científica Digital eBooks · Brazil (Montes Claros)
This study explored urban agriculture in Montes Claros, Brazil, identifying its contributions, challenges, and potentials through document analysis, geographic information, farmer testimonies, and field visits. Urban agriculture is widely practiced in the municipality, both collectively and individually, with collective practices showing grassroots organization through neighborhood associations, while spontaneous practices lack external influence. Most urban gardens are developed on public land and vacant private lots, serving multiple uses such as green spaces, food production, economic activity, and occupational therapy.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageSchool Gardens and the Urban Child
2023Angela Oulton, Susan Jagger · · North America
A discourse analysis of historical school garden texts in North America reveals that school gardens have not been welcoming or accessible to all children, despite persuasive research on the positive effects of nature-based learning. Historically, school gardens were used to serve adult agendas, including containing urban children, assimilating marginalized groups, and creating laborers, thereby reinforcing patriarchal, colonial, white supremacist, and eugenic aspirations. This study explores how these discourses culturally constructed childhoods and influenced children.
Equity & displacementFood educationCommunityHealthPolicyODS agroecological urban agriculture and food security in Palmas-TO
2023Keile Aparecida Beraldo, Rayele Moraes Silva, Rose Mary Gondim Mendonça, Maria Emília Mendonça Pedroza Jaber · Seven Editora eBooks · Brazil
This paper publicizes public policies and urban agriculture initiatives in the municipality of Palmas, Brazil. It identifies twelve public areas with families engaged in urban agriculture and proposes inclusive actions to strengthen the agroecological transition in family urban agriculture. The proposed actions aim to foster new sustainable practices based on environmental education and food and nutritional security.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyFood educationCommunityPanorama das Leis de Agricultura Urbana no Brasil: Relações com o Planejamento Urbano
2023M. Kühn, Geisa Zanini Rorato, Bruno César Euphrasio de Mello, Carolina Cristófoli Falcão · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil
This research surveyed federal and state urban agriculture (UA) laws in Brazil to analyze their implications for urban planning (UP). Findings indicate that despite an increase in approved laws, there is no articulated national policy, laws vaguely address UA's interfaces with UP, and they do not objectively tackle territorial challenges faced by UA.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceOverview of Laws for Urban Agriculture in Brazil: Association with Urban Planning
2023M. Kühn, Geisa Zanini Rorato, Bruno César Euphrasio de Mello, Carolina Cristófoli Falcão · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil
This study cataloged and analyzed federal and state urban agriculture (UA) laws in Brazil to understand their profile and association with urban planning. The findings indicate that Brazil lacks a coordinated national policy for urban agriculture. Furthermore, existing laws vaguely mention their interfaces with urban-policy legal frameworks and do not clearly address territorial challenges for UA implementation.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkage