Research & reports

Sara E. Benjamin‐Neelon, Tiange Liu, Eve S. Puffer, Liz Turner, Daniel A. Zaltz, Andrew Thorne‐Lyman, Sherryl Broverman · Current Developments in Nutrition · Kenya

This natural experiment in rural Kenya evaluated whether school gardens improved dietary diversity in children. Gardens were installed in two primary schools, with two comparison schools, and dietary intake was measured for 855 children in 2013 and 688 in 2014. All children's dietary diversity scores worsened post-intervention, likely due to a severe drought in 2014. Although some differences were observed in specific food groups, these could not be attributed to the school gardens.

B.H.M. Elands, Bianca Ambrose‐Oji, Annegret Haase, Karin Peters · · Europe

A book chapter examining how citizen engagement with urban green space in European cities addresses the needs of increasingly diverse urban populations, focusing on three forms of engagement: recreation, community gardening, and community-led nature management. Gardening and community-led nature management were found to strengthen existing friendships and build new ones - including across culturally diverse groups - more often than park recreation does. The chapter also notes that addressing cultural diversity can create spaces of exclusion, where one group's use of space excludes others.

Dhruba Raj Bhattarai, Pepijn Schreinemachers · · Nepal

A paper synthesising impact evaluations using cluster randomized controlled trials of school garden programmes in Nepal, described as the largest evaluation of school garden programmes to date. School garden interventions significantly improved children's knowledge of food and agriculture and their awareness of and stated preference for fruits and vegetables, but in none of the countries studied did these improvements translate into increased frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption or into eating a greater variety of fruits and vegetables. This null result on consumption matches findings from two major reviews of school garden programmes in developed countries; the paper suggests that a more holistic intervention design addressing household-level food supply and parents' food choices may be needed for such programmes to improve children's healthy eating.

Emilita Monville‐Oro, Imelda Angeles‐Agdeppa, Irish P. Baguilat, Julian Gonsalves, Mario V. Capanzana · · Philippines

A chapter examining how the evidence-based Integrated School Nutrition Model (ISNM) - combining bio-intensive gardens, supplementary feeding with iron-fortified rice and indigenous vegetables from school gardens, and nutrition education - was scaled up from one province (Cavite) to an entire region of five provinces in the Philippines. Fifty-eight "lighthouse schools" serving as hubs for research, learning, and scaling now influence 2,732 public elementary schools with a total student population of 1,839,445. Through capacity building and multi-stakeholder partnerships, the Department of Education pursued a programme to establish 221 lighthouse schools nationwide, with additional investment and adoption from the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the National Nutrition Council.

Abby M. Lohr, Nick Henry, Denise J. Roe, Claudio Andrés Garrido Rodríguez, Rosalva Romero, Maia Ingram · Journal of School Health · United States

This study evaluated the effect of garden-based learning on outlook and behaviors toward vegetables among primarily Latinx third- and fourth-grade students at four elementary schools with different garden programs in southern Arizona. Students completed a bingo-format survey and participated in class discussions measuring their attitudes and behaviors. Students at schools with more garden exposure were more likely to give responses reflecting positive attitudes and behaviors toward vegetables, and most often named vegetables grown in the school garden as their favorites in class discussions. For third- and fourth-graders, longer exposure to a school garden was associated with more positive perceptions of and desire to consume vegetables.

Caio Tibério Dornelles da Rocha, Luciana Calabró, Diogo O. Souza · · Brazil

A proposal outlines the implementation of technical-pedagogical school gardens in the states of Maranhao and Piaui, Brazil, reviewing Brazil's legal framework on the Right to Adequate Food and Food and Nutrition Security and discussing the main characteristics of a reference school garden. The proposed implementation is a strategy for institutionalizing gardening models in public education institutions serving children and adolescents aged 6 to 14, positioned as the initial step toward establishing a School Vegetable Program for Improving Eating Habits as part of pedagogy aimed at building healthy, sustainable eating habits.

Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian, Ben Chapman, Michelle D. Danyluk · EDIS · United States

This is the Spanish-language version of FSHN20-19/FS342, "COVID-19 FAQ for Community Gardens: Steps for Garden Managers and Gardeners," originally written by Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian and Ben Chapman (NC State University Extension) and published by the UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition Department in April 2020.

Suzanne Mallick, Philip Marsh, Dave Kendal · Figshare · Australia

This report presents the first phase of a research project examining how a community garden project at the Melville St student accommodation could benefit the health and wellbeing of students and the broader community, as part of the University of Tasmania's shift in focus from Sandy Bay to the Hobart CBD. Before the garden was installed, the team collected qualitative, quantitative and observational data through interviews, focus groups, observational studies of public space use and an online survey, intended to inform future management of the site; a second phase collecting post-installation data was planned for late 2020, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

Bianca Jacqueline Silva, André de Carvalho Bandeira Mendes · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

A report on a project to implement a community garden on the Itabira campus of the Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI) in Brazil. The proposal originated in dialogue with campus workers, and aims through extension actions to engage both the university community and the local population across social, cultural, and environmental dimensions in the garden's management, implementation, and maintenance. Planning stages include awareness-raising and mobilization, a survey of human and material resources, and exchange of experience among participants, with particular attention to including elderly residents in cultivation activities to transmit cultural knowledge and strengthen group bonds. A management team was formed to prepare the physical space and coordinate maintenance, with the garden planned as a space for observation, cultivation, and leisure.

Aurillia Manjella, Alessandra Grasso, Victor W. Wasike · · Africa

A report on the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition project in Busia county, western Kenya, describes school gardens that supply or complement school feeding programmes as a practice for mobilizing biodiversity and improving dietary diversity among schoolchildren. Kenya is said to have more than 200 African leafy vegetables (ALVs), and the project gives children opportunities to acquire agricultural skills focused on cultivating nutrient-rich ALVs; the report notes that school gardening has long been part of education in Kenya, especially in rural areas dating to colonial times.

Noferdiman Noferdiman, Lisna Lisna, Yusma Damayanti · · Indonesia

A community-service program at SMAN 4 Jambi City, Indonesia, delivered counseling, training and participatory environmental activities over five stages to support the school's push for independent Adiwiyata (environmentally sound school) status. Knowledge assessments afterward scored 74 (moderate) for school sanitation management, 70 (moderate) for waste management, and 68 (sufficient) for environmental management, with participants reporting knowledge of managing school gardens, greenhouses, toilet cleanliness and gutters. The program was implemented and received positively by school members.

Blesilda M. Calub, Leila S. Africa, Bessie M. Burgos · · Global

A chapter on the School-Plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP) in the Philippines, which promotes greater parent engagement in home and school gardening to sustain nutritional gains under the Department of Education's nationwide School Garden Program and School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP). At the end of a 3-month feeding period, 62% of severely wasted and 70% of wasted child beneficiaries reached normal nutritional status; however, 9 of 14 surveyed schools had repeat beneficiaries from the previous year's SBFP (36–38%), and 14% had been repeat beneficiaries for three consecutive years, due to lack of food at home during the rest of the year, severe illness, and parents' attitudes and values. Factors contributing to successful parent engagement included regular parent-teacher consultations, a participatory development approach, training, parent-child cooking contests using garden produce, and collaboration with local government units.

João Flávio Bomfim Gomes, Renata da Silva Brant Gomes, Alex Oliveira de Souza · Horticultura Brasileira · Global

A review-style introduction on the multifunctionality of urban horticulture. It cites United Nations (2015) projections that 66.36% of the world population will be urban by 2050, up from 53.60% in 2014, and an FAO 2015 report estimating about 795 million people worldwide facing food insecurity. It states that FAO (2015) puts global urban agriculture practice at 800 million people, and frames the practice as multifunctional - supplying food, supporting biodiversity, improving land and water use, and raising income and quality of life for urban farmers - without presenting original empirical data.

Małgorzata Ćwieląg‐Drabek, Agata Piekut, Klaudia Gut, Mateusz Grabowski · Scientific Reports · Europe

A study of family allotment gardens (FAGs) in Silesia Province, one of the most polluted regions in Poland, analyzed 219 soil samples and 64 edible plant samples to link the geochemical disturbance caused by past mining and smelting activity to consumer exposure to toxic and carcinogenic metallic trace elements. Contents of these elements in topsoil were spatially diverse and depended primarily on the location of industrial pollution sources. Average cadmium (0.52 mg/kg fresh weight) and lead (0.57 mg/kg fresh weight) content in vegetables exceeded maximum permissible concentrations under European quality standards. A human health risk assessment based on three dietary exposure scenarios found that, in every scenario, potatoes — a staple of the Polish diet — carried the highest average daily dose for all three elements. The study concludes that consuming vegetables grown in Silesia Province's family allotment gardens may pose a significant health risk to consumers.

Joanne Dolley · Geographical Research · Global

This study argues that community gardens can function as "third places" that facilitate informal interactions among neighborhood residents. When community gardens serve as third places alongside their placemaking features, they help connect new residents to a place, easing challenges associated with population mobility, such as social isolation.

Jennifer A. Nicklay, Kirsten Valentine Cadieux, Mary Rogers, Nicolas A. Jelinski, Kat LaBine, Gaston E. Small · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States

This paper examines collaboration among growers, policymakers, scholars, and community members around urban farms, community gardens, and home gardens in the Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), Minnesota metropolitan area, proposing a "learning framework" that emerged from a five-year community-university partnership. In fall 2019 the partnership conducted its first formal evaluation of its participatory processes, examining (1) what facilitated or barred authentic collaboration and (2) the role of relationships within those processes, through qualitative surveys and interviews with researchers, partners, and students. The analysis found that urban agroecology research created a space for shared learning, facilitated through co-creation of research, embodied processes, and relationships with people, cohorts, and place.

Kyle Richardville · Purdue e-Pubs (Purdue University System) · United States

With Purdue University's campus and much of its surrounding area classified by the USDA as a food desert, this study surveyed graduate students using a voluntary 33-question online Qualtrics survey distributed campus-wide, to identify barriers to purchasing and consuming fresh produce and to participating in local urban agriculture, and to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected food access and motivation for healthy eating and community garden engagement. Results show many Purdue graduate students face both individual and structural barriers to accessing fresh fruits and vegetables, with international students particularly vulnerable to structural barriers; lack of access to a personal vehicle was the primary predictor of vulnerability, especially during the pandemic. Students expressed interest in participating in local urban agriculture initiatives but most were unaware such initiatives existed. A second objective of the study tested whether leaf mold compost could improve degraded urban soils.

Elizabeth G. Calamidas, Tara L. Crowell, Laura Engelmann, Heather Watkins-Jones · Health Education Journal · United States

A content analysis of post-grant follow-up reports examined 73 schools in southern New Jersey, USA (Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean Counties) that received edible-school-garden startup funding from AtlantiCare Health System over three academic years, 2014 to 2017. Analyzing responses to 12 open-ended questions, the study documented community partnerships, garden maintenance and harvest outcomes alongside effects on curriculum and policy, changes in participants' knowledge, attitudes and behavior, and areas needing improvement, finding that schools were appreciative of the opportunity and planned to continue their gardens.

Georgette N. Ngweme, Dhafer Mohammed M. Al Salah, Amandine Laffite, Periyasamy Sivalingam, Dominique Grandjean, Konde Nkiama Numbi Joël, Crispin K. Mulaji, Florian Breider, John Poté · The Science of The Total Environment · Africa

This study investigated levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in irrigation water, soil, and Amaranthus viridis from gardening sites in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to assess environmental and human health risks. A survey of pesticide and fertilizer use was conducted with 740 market gardeners, and POPs (organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, PBDEs, and PAHs) were analyzed in irrigation water and 144 vegetable samples. The highest PAH levels were found in A. viridis at all sites studied; the sum of seven PCB congeners ranged from 15.89 to 401.36 ng/g; chlorpyrifos-ethyl and p,p'-DDE were the predominant OCPs detected; and among PBDEs, only BDE47 was quantified at notable concentration in the plants, with none detected in irrigation water. Higher estimated daily intake values indicated that consuming the leafy vegetables could be associated with increased health risks, though calculated incremental lifetime cancer risk values indicated no potential carcinogenic risk for the local population. The study recommends implementing urban agriculture control programs for POPs and fertilizer use in Kinshasa to protect public health.

Valentina Cattivelli · Sustainability · Italy

Urban gardens have attracted considerable academic attention in recent years, with studies emphasizing their positive contribution to social integration, community health, urban regeneration, and food security, as well as exploring individual gardeners' motivations. While these topics are well documented for metropolitan urban areas, few studies have examined mountain areas, an interest gap likely due to lower urbanization in such areas, a preference for other forms of horticulture (essentially home gardens), or the use of different approaches to mitigate negative social effects. The recent proliferation of urban gardens in South Tyrol, Italy, makes this mountain province an interesting setting for studying the practices and narratives associated with socially innovative urban gardening. The paper characterizes all urban gardening initiatives in South Tyrol through cartographic representation and explains gardeners' and public institutions' motivations as well as non-gardeners' perceptions, based on semi-structured interviews conducted in the South Tyrolean municipalities where urban gardening projects have been undertaken. The results suggest that the social and environmental aspects of urban gardens are of great importance, and that there is interest in reconnecting with food practices even when food access is not a priority.

Bareng Antolin · Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) · United States

A survey distributed via Farm to School state lead contacts to school garden networks nationwide in the United States collected data on high school-level garden programs, an area with limited prior research compared to elementary and middle school garden studies; 42 respondents completed the survey and were included in the final analysis. Many respondents reported perceiving positive benefits from having a high school garden program, and the study documents current practices, barriers, and implementation and sustainability strategies reported by these programs.

Grace Claire O'Neil · ScholarWorks -A service of University of Vermont Libraries (University of Vermont) · United States

This guide established a baseline of soil health for community gardens in the Burlington, Vermont, area of the United States. Ten sites in the Winooski Valley area were soil-sampled in fall 2018, and eight sites in the Chittenden County vicinity were sampled in spring 2019 for comparison, using the Modified Morgan's Universal Extraction Solution to quantify phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), pH, and percentage of organic matter, along with testing hypotheses about nutrient concentration changes from 2011 to 2018 under till and no-till management. Nearly all soils sampled in the Winooski Valley area were found excessive in phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, most likely due to soil amendment application. Comparing the 2018 tests with tests done by Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront in 2011, only potassium had increased significantly, and tillage (till vs. no-till) did not affect nutrient concentrations. The guide notes concern that these excess soil nutrients could be exported from the gardens via erosion and leaching, given the gardens' proximity to the Winooski River and Lake Champlain.

Joseph Richmond Fianko, Mavis Korankye · West African Journal of Applied Ecology · Ghana

A study assessed the environmental and health impact of urban and peri-urban irrigated agriculture in Ghana by analyzing the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of irrigation water in the Greater Accra Region, calculating a comprehensive pollution index (CPI) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). Water samples used for informal irrigation contained significant microbial loads: total coliform ranged from 25×10² to 1209×10² cfu/100ml and E. coli from 2×10² to 651×10² cfu/100ml, with a mean total coliform level (517.917×10² cfu/100ml) far exceeding the recommended maximum guideline values of 5,000 and 1,000 cfu/100ml for irrigation water. CPI values ranged from 0.16 to 0.43 (average 0.27), indicating moderate pollution; about 42% of samples were classified as sodic waters, and SAR values of 3.42 to 24.75 meant nearly all samples exceeded the threshold (SAR > 4) associated with reduced water infiltration and soil permeability problems. The water is described as under persistent pollution pressure from expanding human activity, posing high risks to the health of the environment, farmers, traders, and consumers.

Cepic S., Tomicevic-Dubljevic J., Zivojinovic I. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening · セルビア・ベオグラード

A study of the demand for collective urban gardens in Belgrade, a city with little allotment tradition, and of what prospective gardeners want. It reports that existing garden members are mostly aged 30–50, employed and highly educated, and that health and socialisation are the main motivations, while economic factors are not raised as relevant.

World Future Council · World Future Council / futurepolicy.org · Brazil

A World Future Council policy profile explaining how the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte guaranteed the right to food through Municipal Law 6,352 of 1993, establishing a food and supply secretariat (now SUSAN) coordinating 20 interlinked programmes with a 20-member advisory council, funded by 2% of the city's annual budget. It reports that the infant mortality rate fell from 34.4 to 3 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1993 and 2006, that the 2019 Emergency Food and Nutrition Assistance Programme (PAAN, Law 11.193/2019) serves 1,000 families a month, and notes the (as-yet-unmet) national requirement that 30% of school-meal funding go to family-farm purchases.