Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1626 results(56 / 66)
Influência de composto orgânico nas características físico-químicas de cenoura "Brasília" no município de Petrolina
2011Ácacio Figueirêdo Neto, Silvana Belém de Oliveira, Marcos Santos Lima, Mariana Rocha Amorim, Raquel Mota Figueiredo · Revista Semiárido De Visu · Brazil (Petrolina)
This study evaluated the effect of organic compost on the cultivation of "Brasília" carrots and their post-harvest characteristics in a community garden in Petrolina, Brazil. Experiments used compost made from 40% cured goat manure and 60% plant residues. Carrots were harvested 92 days after sowing and analyzed for moisture, soluble solids, titratable acidity, carotenoids, and pulp firmness. Statistical analysis showed significant differences in key physicochemical characteristics between treatments, suggesting organic compost is a promising tool for maintaining carrot quality and nutritional content post-harvest.
CompostCommunityOrganic cycleGreening Buffalo's Vacant Lots
2011Chris Szczygiel · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States (Buffalo)
Greening vacant lots is one of the most cost-effective ways for the city of Buffalo to improve its neighborhoods. A program to clean up, green up, and maintain vacant lots can combat blight, raise property values and tax revenue, lower crime rates, and improve residents' quality of life. Greening lots can provide various community benefits, including jobs, educational opportunities, and a local source of fresh, nutritious food.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationHealth“Perennial Growth” in a Shrinking City: A Case Study of Urban Agriculture Policy and Planning in Cleveland, Ohio
2011Elizabeth S Schuering · Digital Commons-DePaul (DePaul University) · United States (Cleveland)
This paper examines urban agriculture as a strategy for managing vacant land in Cleveland, Ohio, a shrinking city facing population loss and economic decline. The study analyzed Cleveland's urban agriculture movement and municipal policies, including eighteen interviews with local policy experts. Findings indicate that the municipal government supports urban agriculture as a tool for the city's revitalization efforts.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkagePOLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS EM AGRICULTURA URBANA E PERIURBANA NO BRASIL
2011Pedro Paulo Videiro Rosa · Revista Geográfica de América Central · Brazil
This paper provides a preliminary analysis of a document by FAO and Brazil's MDS, which identified and characterized urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) initiatives in Brazilian Metropolitan Regions. The article relates this document to existing Brazilian legislation and public policies, discussing the refunctionalization of urban spaces to integrate economic, sociocultural, and environmental factors. It also reports on contemporary UPA experiences aligned with agroecology principles and discusses the definition of urban agriculture to identify bottlenecks in its promotion.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsCommunityQuintais urbanos: agricultura urbana na Favela do Parolin, no bairro Fanny e no bairro Lindóia, Curitiba, Paraná
2011Michelle Melissa Althaus Ottmann, Nilce Nazareno da Fonte, Nério Aparecido Cardoso, Mailane Raizer da Cruz · Revista Acadêmica Ciência Animal · Brazil (Curitiba)
This exploratory study characterized urban agriculture (UA) practiced in the backyards of Favela do Parolin and the Fanny and Lindóia neighborhoods in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Data was collected through interviews, observational visits, and questionnaires with public school students. The research found that UA in these communities' backyards is still underexplored, especially its potential for food production and social interaction, indicating a need for collective organization.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHere Live the Stories: Working the Land through Indigenous Knowledge
2011Joyce Rain Anderson · Journal of international women's studies · United States (Bridgewater)
A project in Bridgewater, United States, is creating an Indigenous garden at the BSU community gardens, involving the construction of a traditional wetu dwelling and the cultivation of a "three-sisters" and medicinal garden. Local Native participants are constructing and tending the garden, and will be instructed in ancestral ways. The initiative aims to support and advance Native culture, allowing students and community members to learn about traditional gardening and dwelling construction from a Native perspective.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceCultivating Knowledge In The School Garden: New Ways Of Teaching Literacy To ESL Students
2011Michele DuRivage · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States (New York)
This thesis project developed original garden-based lesson plans to teach literacy to fourth-grade ESL students. A field study conducted during the spring semester of 2009 at Increase Miller Elementary School in Westchester County, New York, showed that using nature as inspiration, students produced imaginative writing pieces, demonstrating growth in their literacy skills.
Food educationCommunityAgricultura urbana
2011Maura Neves Coutinho, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · Revista Geografias · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)
This article discusses urban agriculture (UA) concepts and practices, focusing on initiatives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, by both residents and local government. It considers UA's potential for ecological, productive, and inclusive cities, but notes the difficulty of secure access to urban land. The discussion on UA is still fragile and faces challenges in becoming an effective social policy.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceGT6 - 1013 AGRICULTURA URBANA: PRÁTICA ESPONTÂNEA, POLÍTICA PÚBLICA E TRANSFORMAÇÃO DE SABERES RURAIS NA CIDADE
2011Maura Neves Coutinho, Heloísa Soares de Moura Costa · Anais ENANPUR · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)
This paper discusses urban agriculture (AU) practices occurring in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, both through informal and spontaneous initiatives by residents in peripheral neighborhoods and as an object of public intervention by the local government for specific purposes. The study concludes that secure access to urban land for maintaining AU practices is difficult, and the discussion on AU remains fragile, facing challenges for its implementation as a social policy impacting urban policies.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceMetro Vancouver: Designing for Urban Food Production
2011Daniel Roehr, Isabel Kunigk · Berkeley Planning Journal · Canada (Metro Vancouver)
This article focuses on the role landscape architects and planners can take in creating urban food production landscapes, within the context of Metro Vancouver. Significant constraints to expansion exist due to geographical limitations, a steadily growing population, and large low-density residential areas. It is suggested that successful future food production strategies can be achieved by integrating urban agriculture into a wider city planning context and transcending the creation of community gardens.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageCultivating ImmigrantCommunities and Plants in Los Angeles Urban Gardens
2011Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · United States (Los Angeles)
This sociological study explores the diverse gardens of Los Angeles, including public parks, private residential gardens, a botanical garden, and urban community gardens. It aims to understand the meaning of engaging with these gardens, laboring in them, and being associated with them in both imagination and practice. The study posits that gardens serve as windows revealing the changing social and cultural landscape of Los Angeles.
CommunityUrban–rural linkageCommunity Perspectives on Barriers and Strategies for Promoting Locally Grown Produce From an Urban Agriculture Farm
2011Alice Hu, Ángela Acosta, Abigail McDaniel, Joel Gittelsohn · Health Promotion Practice · United States
This qualitative study identified strategies to promote locally grown produce from an urban agriculture project, Produce From the Park (PFP), among low-income neighborhood residents and community organization representatives (20 interviews, 2 focus groups, 3 participant observations) in a mid-Atlantic city in the United States. Informants identified structural and cultural barriers to purchasing healthy food, including price, location, food culture, and lack of interest, and proposed strategies such as distribution via mobile food carts and farm stands, marketing new foods through taste tests and cooking demonstrations, and youth mentorship. These strategies were inexpensive and incorporated cultural norms and local assets.
CommunityFood educationHealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceAn assessment of the barriers to accessing food among food-insecure people in Cobourg, Ontario
2011Siny Tsang, AM Holt, Eduardo Bessa Azevedo · Chronic diseases and injuries in Canada · Canada (Cobourg, Ontario)
This needs assessment in Cobourg, Ontario, interviewed food program clients to identify barriers to food access. Clients reported lack of transportation, insufficient food quantities, and inconvenient operating hours as barriers to using food programs. They also cited lack of available vegetables and fruit at home and income as barriers to consuming more produce.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityHealthEconomicsReviving the World Wonder: Why Rooftop Gardens Should Cover Urban Landscapes
2011Juliya Litichevskaya · Rutgers computer & technology law journal · United States (Chicago)
This note discusses the renewed interest in rooftop gardens due to environmental and economic concerns about energy use in buildings and cities. It highlights Chicago's initiatives, which include over 600 public and private green roofs covering two million square feet by 2011, representing 19% of US projects. The public sector, through tax incentives, grants, and regulations, has been the main stimulant for green roof development in cities like Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City. International cities such as Toronto, Berlin, and Tokyo have also implemented mandatory green roof laws.
PolicyClimate changeCommunitySegurança alimentar através da agricultura urbana: um estudo de caso em duas comunidades de baixa renda em Porto Ferreira/SP.
2011Juliana Duz Ricarte, José Maria Gusman Ferraz, Janice Rodrigues Placeres Borges · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil (Porto Ferreira/SP)
This study identified and characterized 91 urban agriculture (UA) units in two low-income communities in Porto Ferreira/SP, Brazil, applying a structured questionnaire to 20% of the sample. It found that UA primarily involves low-income residents, with 83.0% of producers having rural origins and practicing agriculture mainly for subsistence. UA ensured access to fruits and vegetables for 77.8% of participants and reduced food expenses for most.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityWelfareEconomics2010 Student Organic Farm
2011Jennifer Marie Vazquez · · United States
In 2010, the ISU Student Organic Farm (SOF) completed its fifth season at the ISU Horticulture Research Station and began selling Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for the first time. This initiative aimed to address the challenges of voluntarily managing an acre of organic vegetables. The effort led to increased participant involvement, greater food production and distribution, and improvements in infrastructure and soil fertility, including the purchase and installation of drip irrigation and the planting of a winter cover crop.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood educationOrganic cycleA Woman of the Soil in Kansas City
2011Dale Maharidge · · United States (Kansas City)
This chapter introduces the success story of Sherri Harvel, who was active in a community garden in Kansas City. Having joined the garden in the early 1990s, she quit her banking job in 2003 to become an urban farmer. She named her new business Root Deep Urban Farm.
CommunityEconomicsDIYThe good city: in defense of utopian thinking
2011John Friedmann · · United States
This paper discusses the evolving role of planners in the American metropolis, noting a shift from a vague "public interest" to engagement with diverse causes such as urban agriculture, food security, and community development. It highlights that many planners now work in non-profits on specific issues, and professional organizations have recognized the need for a more compelling expression of professional values to guide professionals.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCaption for Cover of Volume 2 Issue 1
2011A Christian · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · United States (Des Moines)
This abstract provides captions for photos related to urban planning and food systems. It describes a meeting in Des Moines, Washington, on healthy food access, a rapid market survey at a Mississippi Gulf Coast farmers' market, and individuals involved in food system policy drafting in Waterloo Region, Ontario, and urban planning academia.
PolicyHealthCommunityOutdoor Classrooms: Introducing an Agriculture Program at Grand Valley State University
2011Kendall Gilbert · ScholarWorks - GVSU (Grand Valley State University) · United States
This project aims to utilize the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Community Garden for agricultural studies, research, education, and outreach. It seeks to expand opportunities for GVSU students, the campus community, and the greater Grand Rapids area to engage in gardening fieldwork. The project intends to promote GVSU as a new field site for agricultural education and production, bridging the gap between students and food systems.
Food educationCommunitySouth Sudan community garden project : Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
2011· · United States (New Hampshire)
The South Sudan Community garden project in Manchester, New Hampshire, is a seven-month program for South Sudanese refugees aged 24-44. Implemented in partnership with the International Institute of New Hampshire and the South Sudanese Community Center, its purpose is to provide gardening skills and resources to empower refugees towards self-employment, better economic opportunities, and increased household income, fostering their participation in American life.
CommunityWelfareFood educationEconomicsVivienda sustentable en el barrio de Los Reyes
2011Ricardo Vásquez Ochoa, Emilio José García Bidegorry · · Mexico
The "Eutropia" project, which won second prize in the Holcim America 2008 Next Generation category, proposes sustainable housing for 36 families in the Los Reyes neighborhood, Mexico. It addresses precarious living conditions by compressing housing areas to create public spaces and integrating sustainable infrastructure. The design includes a block with a green roof for food production and recycling, a clearing house, and a street market for trading self-produced food.
CommunityDIYOrganic cycleAgricultura urbana na cidade de Teresina: hortas comunitárias - políticas públicas ou segurança alimentar?
2011Marcos Antonio de Castro Marques Teixeira · Aleph UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences · Brazil
This study surveyed urban gardens in Santa Maria da Codipi and Dirceu Arcoverde, Teresina, Brazil, to assess their economic viability for gardeners. The study found that urban gardens in both areas do not provide income security for those who work them. Problems identified include petty theft, low education levels, lack of technical assistance hindering investment in new crops, and pesticide use creating a competitive disadvantage.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsSupporting Local Agriculture
2011Kathleen L. Cappellano · Nutrition Today · United States
This article outlines farmers markets, community-supported agriculture, school- and community-based gardening, and collaborative programs that provide access to fresh produce, in response to American consumers' growing interest in learning about how and where their food is produced. It highlights online resources that describe these programs and organizations, which inform people about the many benefits of local agriculture.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood educationEconomicsEducating Future Generations of Community Gardeners
2011Shane J. Ralston · PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) · United States
This paper presents a Deweyan argument that school gardening prepares students for community gardening, a political activity aimed at food security, education, and community development. School gardening can also prepare children for environmental political activism, particularly involvement in gardening movements, which is presented as an interpretation of John Dewey's "civic turn" to school gardening.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicy