Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1626 results(52 / 66)
Herd Management: Labor Strategies in Local Food Production
2013Brandi Janssen · Anthropology of Work Review · United States
This paper explores labor strategies for producers in the growing local food sector, where increased demand creates challenges for scaling operations. A major obstacle to growth is access to reliable, affordable labor. The paper discusses typical options for obtaining and retaining labor, including paid employees, volunteers, and interns, noting that each strategy has social and economic advantages and disadvantages for producers and the community.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityRoots, Tendrils, Sprouts and Shoots: A Case Study of Parkallen’s Community Garden, a permaculture project
2013Marlene Wurfel · Earth Common Journal · Canada (Edmonton)
This article presents a case study of the Parkallen Community Garden in Edmonton, Canada, which began its first growing season in Spring 2012. The garden transformed an unused strip of lawn into a communal "edible food forest" and won the City of Edmonton's top community gardening award in its first year. The study details how the permaculture design was implemented and interpreted within the gardening community.
CommunityDIYFood educationOrganic cycleWest End Community Gardens
2013Stephanie Larson · Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · United States
This project located West End community gardens in relation to select social determinants, including income level, occupier's ownership status, ethnic diversity, and population density.
CommunityWelfarePrairie to Prairie: Ungrowth in American Cities
2013Catalina Freixas, Pablo Moyano Fernandez · Suburban Sustainability · United States (St. Louis)
This paper examines the role of eco-urbanism in St. Louis, a shrinking city experiencing population loss and economic decline since the 1950s. It reviews the implementation and benefits of three eco-urbanism strategies: community gardens, greenways, and urban forests. The study identifies social, ecological, and economic benefits, and suggests further adoption of eco-urbanism ideology and improved implementation strategies by the municipal government.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityGardening for Grades Workshops in Duval County
2013Terry B DelValle, Lisa B Gaskalla, Joan B Kyle · · United States (Duval County)
Duval County Extension, in collaboration with partners, offered "Gardening for Grades" workshops to 71 teachers and school volunteers in Duval County, USA, to support school garden initiatives. Participants engaged in activities linking science, math, and literature to gardening, and received materials to start school gardens. Follow-up surveys indicated 12,214 sq ft of garden area was added, benefiting 2,292 students, with 92.9% of students exposed to new foods and 64.3% showing improved eating habits and increased physical activity.
Food educationCommunityHealthA Qualitative Study of an Urban Community Garden: Creating Healthier Neighborhood Environments
2013Lauren Workman · Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina) · United States
This qualitative ethnographic study, conducted over eighteen months, explored the social processes of community engagement in an urban community garden. Data from field notes and in-depth interviews identified neighborhood leadership, a community-academic partnership, and the physical garden space as facilitators of engagement. The garden fostered social interactions, provided a safe gathering space, and served as a tool for neighborhood leaders to advocate for social and economic development.
CommunityHealthFrom Potato Chips to Kale Chips: Examining Motivations of Clark Community Gardeners in Worcester, MA
2013Marianne Sarkis, Tiffany Lee, Steph Fenner, Erin Barta, Kristina Kalolo · Clark Digital Commons (Clark University) · United States
Research was conducted using free-list, pile-sort, interviews, and surveys to examine the association between community gardening and food justice among Clark community gardeners in Worcester, MA. The findings supported the conclusion that Clark community gardeners do not conform to the food justice interpretation of a community garden. Although both actors share similar methods and ideologies, neither is attempting to fit the other's definitions.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceThe Influence of Lead Hyperaccumulators on the Uptake of Lead by Vegetables
2013Laura Knapp, Jodi L. Sangster, Shannon L. Bartelt‐Hunt · International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship · United States (Omaha NE)
This study investigated the influence of lead hyperaccumulating plants on lead uptake by vegetables in an urban community garden in Omaha, NE, a region with significant lead contamination. Tomatoes, carrots, and amaranth were grown alongside sunflowers and mustard greens (hyperaccumulators) in lead-contaminated soil. Data showed higher lead concentrations in the hyperaccumulators and suggested that their presence might have impacted the amount of lead available to surrounding vegetation. Previous work at the garden detected lead in produce, indicating a potential exposure pathway for humans.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityFeasibility of Using a Community-Supported Agriculture Program to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Inventories and Consumption in an Underresourced Urban Community
2013Sara A. Quandt, Janae Dupuis, Caitlin A. Fish, Ralph B. D’Agostino · Preventing Chronic Disease · United States
This randomized, controlled feasibility study evaluated the feasibility of a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) intervention in an underresourced urban community in the United States. Fifty low-income women with children participated, with the intervention group (25 participants) receiving fresh produce and educational sessions for 16 weeks. A significant increase in household fruit and vegetable inventory was observed in the intervention group, but increases in consumption were not significant. Challenges included transportation and work schedules, yet most participants expressed interest in continued participation.
CSA & TeikeiHealthCommunityWelfareUrban Gardens: Part of a Whole System Approach
2013Laura Lavid · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This article discusses the impact of urban gardening on a city's food system, noting that while it is not the sole solution, it offers significant benefits beyond economics. It cites historical data from World War II, where 20 million victory gardeners produced 44% of fresh vegetables in the United States. Recent studies estimate community gardens can yield $500 to $2,000 worth of produce per family annually, and a Denver study found community gardeners ate significantly more fruits and vegetables than non-gardeners.
CommunityEconomicsHealthFood sovereignty & justiceA Survey of the Heavy Metals Present in the Soil of a Potential Urban Garden: A Service Learning Approach
2013Kyle Kessler, Seth Umbenhauer, Alison R. Noble · Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science · United States (Harrisburg)
Eight soil samples were collected from an urban land plot in Harrisburg, PA, to determine concentrations of copper, nickel, zinc, and lead and assess suitability for an urban garden. While copper, nickel, and zinc concentrations were below EPA recommended limits, lead concentrations ranged from 26 ± 1 mg/kg to 402+ mg/kg, with some samples exceeding EPA standards for heavy metals in home and vegetable gardens. This indicates potential lead contamination in the soil.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityCSA & TeikeiNostalgia, anticonsumo simbólico e bem-estar: a agricultura urbana
2013Bruno Henrique Comassetto, Gabriela P. Solalinde Z., João Vicente Rosa de Souza, Marcelo Trevisan, Paulo Ricardo Zilio Abdala, Carlos Alberto Vargas Rossi · Revista de Administração de Empresas · Brazil
A qualitative study with in-depth interviews of urban agriculture specialists and practitioners in nine neighborhoods of a large Brazilian capital explored the meaning of urban agriculture as a consumption phenomenon. The findings indicate a dual motivation for practicing urban agriculture: an extrinsic motivation (example) and an intrinsic motivation (well-being). The practice is linked to concerns for the environment, health, and personal well-being, as well as nostalgic respect and pride for cultural heritage.
HealthCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceIntegrating local agriculture into nutrition programs can benefit children's health
2013Rachel E. Scherr, Rachel Cox, Gail Feenstra, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · California Agriculture · United States (California)
Research indicates that garden-based nutrition education increases fruit and vegetable preferences and consumption in children, and Farm to School programs promote increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and participation in the National School Lunch Program. A survey of UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) advisors and directors in California reported that all respondents implemented garden-based nutrition education and Farm to School programs, but evaluation occurred much less frequently.
Food educationHealthCommunityCommunity Garden Interventions
2013Melvin Delgado · Columbia University Press eBooks · United States
This chapter focuses on community gardening as an intervention aimed at addressing obesity, tracing its history in the United States back to the late nineteenth century as a response to social and economic crises. While community gardens can achieve various social, economic, political, educational, and health-related goals, the chapter also discusses potential pitfalls of community gardening. It emphasizes a social justice perspective for community gardens, particularly regarding community inclusion and participatory democracy.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthFood educationPolicy15201 - Horta Comunitária Vida Nova - Relatos Agroecológicos em Espaços Urbanos
2013Marcos José de Abreu, Renato Barretto Barbosa Trivella, Letícia Oliveira de Melo, gisa Garcia, Alexandre Cordeiro, Óscar José Rover · · Brazil (Santa Catarina)
The Vida Nova community garden, established in 2009 in Jardim Janaina, Biguaçu, Santa Catarina, Brazil, serves women from rural and urban areas facing food and social insecurity. This project aimed to disseminate participatory agroecological methodologies in urban agriculture. It resulted in a 36-page educational booklet and a course, leading to group strengthening, increased community gardens, and diversified cultivation in the neighborhood.
CommunityWelfareFood educationEconomicsThe Fruit of Folks Project: An Urban Farming Response to Local Hunger Background: Obesity, Food Insecurity, and the Rise of Urban Farming
2012Aleenah Mehta · Undergraduate Journal of Service Learning & Community-Based Research · United States
Framed around the argument that obesity and food insecurity in the United States are increasingly understood as conjoined rather than mutually exclusive problems, this paper introduces the Fruit of Folks Project as an urban farming response to local hunger. The abstract notes that the industrial food model's emphasis on producing ever greater quantities of food can itself threaten food security, defined as a person's or community's access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.
HealthCommunityJust green enough: contesting environmental gentrification in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
2012Winifred Curran, Trina Hamilton · Local Environment · USA (Brooklyn, NYC)
Coins 'just green enough' by showing how conventional green-amenity planning triggers environmental gentrification and displacement of working-class residents; argues greening policy must be deliberately constrained to avoid the speculative development it otherwise unleashes.
PolicyCommunityWelfareThe Changing Meaning of Community Space: Two Models of NGO Management of Community Gardens in New York City
2012Efrat Eizenberg · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · USA (New York City)
After the Giuliani-era threat to NYC gardens, land-trust/NGO 'rescue' models became the governance solution; the paper shows how this institutionalization altered community space—trading grassroots autonomy for managerial control and revealing the trade-offs of the policy fix.
PolicyCommunitySustainability through intervention: a case study of guerrilla gardening in Kingston, Ontario
2012Annie Crane, Leela Viswanathan, Graham Whitelaw · Local Environment · Canada (Kingston, Ontario)
This paper examines guerrilla gardening as an example of sustainability in action, using participatory action research methods. Two case studies were developed in Kingston, Ontario: Dig Kingston, a guerrilla gardening project, and the Oak Street Community Garden. The research found that interventions like guerrilla gardening open up unexpected possibilities for conceptualizing sustainability and contribute to producing engaging and sustainable communities.
CommunityDIYFood sovereignty & justiceTheorising community gardens as pedagogical sites in the food movement
2012Pierre Walter · Environmental Education Research · United States
This paper argues that community gardens in the North American food movement serve as rich non-school sites for informal adult learning, despite being under-researched in environmental education. It proposes applying theories of public pedagogy and social movement learning from Adult Education to frame the study of learning within these gardens. The paper reviews empirical research on the benefits of community garden participation to illustrate the potential for further research on the link between learning and these benefits.
CommunityFood educationThe City as an "Agricultural Powerhouse"? Perspectives on Expanding Urban Agriculture from Detroit, Michigan
2012Kathryn Colasanti, Michael W. Hamm, Charlotte M. Litjens · Urban Geography · United States (Detroit)
This research explores perceptions of expanding urban agriculture in Detroit, Michigan, through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. While revealing widespread support for urban agriculture as a strategy for food security and urban sustainability, the study highlights contested aspects regarding the extent to which it should occur, its purpose, and the people it would involve.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEvaluating Community Gardens as Habitat for an Urban Butterfly
2012Kevin C. Matteson, Gail Langellotto · Cities and the Environment · United States (New York City)
This study used mark-recapture and translocation experiments to assess the residency and movement of the urban butterfly, Pieris rapae, within and among community gardens in New York City. While most marked butterflies used gardens transiently, recruitment and residence time were higher in larger gardens and those with more flowers. The study demonstrated the butterfly's ability to move through developed landscapes and locate floral resources.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsZoned Out: The Potential of Urban Agriculture Planning to Turn Against its Roots
2012Community Gardening Works! ACGA 2011 Conference, Carolin Mees, Edie Stone · Cities and the Environment · United States
This abstract discusses the rapid expansion of the community gardening movement in US urban areas. It highlights the potential for urban agriculture planning to turn against its original community-driven roots, as suggested by the title. The movement began over 30 years ago, with residents creating gardens on abandoned land, supported by programs like New York City's GreenThumb.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsWe Are Not Ghosts
2012Jennifer Dean · Educational Media Reviews Online · United States (Detroit)
The documentary "We Are Not Ghosts" tells the story of Detroit through interviews, focusing on the city's future and revitalization initiatives like urban farming. However, according to the review, the film glosses over the city's troubles and attempts to cover too many issues in 52 minutes, resulting in a lack of appropriate analysis for any single issue. It is described as serving more as a promotional video for Detroit than an academic one.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceChapter 23 Farming in Motown: competing narratives for urban development and urban agriculture in Detroit
2012Erica Giorda · · United States (Detroit)
This chapter examines the emergence of urban gardens and farms in Detroit, United States, as a grassroots response to urban decay and food deserts. It notes that while institutional support was initially limited, the number of gardens is growing, with over 300 community gardens and five self-identified farms operating. The study argues that Detroit's urban farmers envision the city's future as one of gardens, driven by concepts of food justice.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomics