Research & reports

Cody Gusto, Catherine Campbell, Annie Wallau, Wendy Wood · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

With Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension educators in the United States seeking new audiences amid reduced enrollment and a lack of unified vision, workplace wellness and education programs are identified as an emerging opportunity, particularly to complement workplace Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs that connect local farmers and employees via employer-sponsored cost-offsets. A study assessed potential workplace wellness program participants' perceived knowledge, attitudes, and barriers to purchasing and cooking local food, and their preferred information types and program format, to guide development of a local food health and wellness education program. Respondents had positive attitudes about local food but limited knowledge of how to purchase and prepare it. They indicated that information on those topics, plus information on unusual locally grown fruits and vegetables and reducing food waste, would be most useful, and preferred online program offerings during weekday lunchtimes.

Breno Giordane dos Santos Costa, Marcelo de Rezende Pinto · Revista Economia & Gestão · Brazil

An exploratory qualitative study using practice theory examined a community garden in the city of Betim, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Individuals involved in producing and consuming food from the urban community garden reported two categories of positive change: health as a tangible benefit and general well-being as an intangible benefit.

Miriam Elizabeth Mery-Ruiz, Gabriela Carmona Ochoa, Areli Lopez-Montelongo · Apple Academic Press eBooks · Mexico

Focusing on the Alameda Zaragoza district in Saltillo, Mexico, this study investigates the relationship between urban morphology and sustainability in the built environment. It used an ethnographic methodology involving qualitative social media research, collecting images and text through Microsoft Bing word searches and analyzing them with nubedepalabras software to identify semantic networks. The findings show that online communities' urban imaginaries offer insights into sustainability strategies, and the study recommends expanding the analysis to other case studies and including search results in additional languages.

Anne Kerber, Ivana Guarrasi, Hsinhuei Sheen Chiou, Sabrina Ehmke, Kristi Oeding, Sachi Sekimoto · Health Communication · United States

Drawing on the Garden EngAGEment community garden project at Minnesota State University, Mankato, this article develops the concept of "artful place-making" as an alternative, experiential approach to organizing and teaching care for people with Alzheimer's and related dementias, using arts-based research, place-based education, and sensory studies. It describes the interplay of knowing, making, and being in the garden as fostering a new culture of care in health professions training, multi-sensory connection, and personal, relational, and community transformation.

Brent F. Kim, Sara N. Lupolt, Raychel Santo, Grace H. Bachman, Xudong Zhu, Tianbao Yang, Naomi K. Fukagawa, Matthew L. Richardson, Carrie Green, Katherine M. Phillips, Keeve E. Nachman · PLoS ONE · United States

A pilot study (2024, PLoS ONE) planted Darkibor kale seedlings at three urban and four rural farms in and around Baltimore City, Maryland, had farmers grow them using their usual practices, and analyzed harvested kale for carotenoids, vitamins C and K1, ten nutritional elements, and eight non-essential metals. Sample sizes were in some cases too small to yield statistical significance, but the study identified potentially meaningful differences between urban and rural kale: mean carotenoid and vitamin concentrations were 22-38% higher in rural samples, while mean concentrations of eight nutritional elements were higher in urban samples, by as much as 413% for iron. Most of nine non-essential metals were higher on average in urban samples, though lead and cadmium concentrations across all samples stayed below public health guidelines; for six elements, variance within urban or within rural farms exceeded variance between the two groups, suggesting urbanicity may not be the primary driver of some differences, and some urban-rural gaps were more pronounced than in prior research.

Tatiana Hlinka · Journal of Student Research · United States

In New Jersey, 50 food desert areas face the most severe food insecurity across both rural and urban contexts. This study identified nine barriers to implementing urban agriculture initiatives in New Jersey's urban food deserts, using a sequential quantitative analysis combining a survey of food systems professionals with a GIS-based spatial analysis to identify the most prevalent barrier. Working in partnership with New Jersey urban agricultural organizations, the study found that lack of funding was the most commonly cited barrier to expanding urban agriculture initiatives. The GIS-based spatial analysis found that high-priority barriers varied by region, but that all organizations identified funding, or lack of access to funding, as a significant barrier regardless of whether they operated in a low- or high-income neighborhood. The study concludes that policymakers must reevaluate the role of urban agricultural organizations in New Jersey's urban food deserts.

Gamal El Afandi, Hossam Ismael, Souleymane Fall · Sustainability · United States

Using a hybrid approach combining the HYSPLIT and AgDRIFT models, this study estimated organophosphate pesticide spray drift from corn and soybean fields into urban-agricultural interface communities in Sangamon County, Illinois, at both field and county scales. Preliminary findings indicate that all residential areas near agricultural land are at risk of pesticide drift, since buffer zones do not exceed 25 meters; of 34 water bodies (rivers, lakes, streams, and drains) within the 30,200-acre study region, 12 fall within the high-drift zone, and roughly 106 buildings across an estimated 10,300 km² were found to have potential exposure to drift.

Camila Neves Lange, Bruna Moreira Freire, Lucilena Rebelo Monteiro, Marycel Elena Barboza Cotrim, Bruno Lemos Batista · Plants · Brazil (Santo André)

Sixty-four lettuce plants were collected from six urban garden sites in Santo André, Brazil, to measure potentially toxic elements and test household washing. Lead reached 0.77 mg/kg at the Capuava 1 site near an industrial complex, above the 0.1 mg/kg limit, with chromium and arsenic also elevated. Sodium-hypochlorite soaking worked best, removing 48% of lead, 46% of arsenic and 52% of vanadium, while plain water immersion removed about 30% of lead and arsenic and cadmium and chromium fell by under 10%. Total cancer risk for children exceeded acceptable thresholds at some gardens, and the authors conclude washing alone is insufficient and environmental source control is required. Roots were not analysed because gardeners did not want beds damaged.

Landry M., Asigbee F., Vandyousefi S., Ghaddar R., Davis J. · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 123(3):637-643 · United States

A cluster randomized controlled trial in mostly low-income, Hispanic Texas elementary schools testing whether the TX Sprouts garden, nutrition and cooking intervention affected academic performance. It found the program did not harm academic outcomes, showing that garden-based food education can be integrated into instructional time without lowering achievement.

García-Vásquez R., Vera-Guzmán A.M., Carrillo-Rodríguez J.C., Pérez-Ochoa M.L., Aquino-Bolaños E.N., Alba-Jiménez J.E., Chávez-Servia J.L. · AIMS Agriculture and Food 8(3):832-850 · Mexico

Compared phenolics, vitamin C, carotenoids, capsaicinoids, and antioxidant activity in Oaxacan Huacle and De Agua pepper landraces versus commercial Jalapeño. Landraces showed higher flavonoid and carotenoid contents, underscoring indigenous germplasm value.

Litt J. S., Alaimo K., Harrall K. K., Hamman R. F., Hébert J. R., Hurley T. G., Leiferman J. A., Li K., Villalobos A., Coringrato E., Courtney J. B., Payton M., Glueck D. H. · The Lancet Planetary Health 7(1):e23-e32 · United States

Observer-blind RCT among Denver community-garden waitlist adults. The gardening intervention significantly increased fiber intake and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and reduced perceived stress and anxiety compared with controls.

Alaimo K., Beavers A. W., Coringrato E., Lacy K., Ma W., Hurley T. G., Hébert J. R. · Current Developments in Nutrition 7(5):100077 · United States

Mixed-methods analysis of an RCT showing community gardeners increased vegetable intake from baseline to harvest, an effect mediated by greater seasonal eating of locally available produce.

Frank Oliver, Melanie N. Stock, Paul Grossl, Grant Cardon · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Salt Lake County)

This study conducted an initial screening survey of soil contaminants (lead, arsenic, and benzo(a)pyrene) in community gardens and urban farms in Salt Lake County, Utah, where urban agriculture is expanding. Lead ranged from 14.8 to 516 mg/kg (mean 91.8) and arsenic from 2.83 to 39.3 mg/kg (mean 11.8), with all arsenic values exceeding the US EPA regional screening level of 0.68 mg/kg. The baseline data were used to develop local screening levels and soil management plans for producers.

Samuel 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.

Zhiming Zhang, Dibyendu Sarkar, Frances Levy, Rupali Datta · Sustainability · United States (Jersey City)

This field study demonstrated the effectiveness of a chemically catalyzed phytoextraction model, using the biodegradable chelating agent EDDS with vetiver grass, in a lead-contaminated community garden in Jersey City, New Jersey. Despite ongoing lead input from a nearby construction site, soil lead fell from 1144 to 359 mg/kg over three years. EDDS converted non-plant-available lead forms into plant-available forms, and vetiver roots accumulated more lead than in plots without EDDS.

Logan Bowdish, Adalie Duran, Justin Richardson, Eric Vukicevich · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States

In an urban community farm, this study evaluated how crop identity, harvested tissue, and soil factors—including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi—affect crop uptake of lead and arsenic. Lead uptake increased with lower soil pH and lower soil phosphorus, greater AM fungal colonization was associated with greater lead uptake, while more fungal storage vesicles related to less arsenic uptake into leaves.

Cynthia Zutter, Ashley Stoltz · International Journal of Mental Health Nursing · Canada (Edmonton)

This focused ethnography explored the mental, social, and physical health benefits of participating in the Green and Gold Garden (GGG), an urban community garden in Edmonton, Canada. Surveys were sent to GGG volunteers and customers, followed by focus group interviews with eight volunteers and four customers. Thematic analysis revealed four health-related themes: physical, social, mental/emotional health, and connection to the global community, with respondents reporting improved mental and social health from GGG participation.

Tailana Fraga Lima, Sperandio, Ana Maria Girotti, 1962- · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This qualitative descriptive study, based on a bibliographic and documentary review with secondary data analysis, systematically investigated dietary challenges in the Brazilian population due to excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods. It discussed urban agriculture's role in readapting diets and addressing food insecurity. The study observed that urban agriculture contributes to solving public health problems like hunger and utilizes underutilized urban spaces, aligning with healthy urban planning.

Erin A. Hudson, Marissa Burgermaster, Sophia M. Isis, Matthew Jeans, Sarvenaz Vandyousefi, Matthew J. Landry, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler, Joya Chandra, Jaimie N. Davis · Frontiers in Nutrition · United States

A secondary analysis evaluated the TX Sprouts school-based gardening, cooking, and nutrition education intervention on the home availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The cluster-randomized trial involved 16 schools (8 intervention, 8 control) over one academic year, serving predominantly Hispanic families with low incomes, with an analytic sample of 895 participants. The intervention positively changed the home availability of targeted foods and beverages, primarily by improving the availability of vegetables and vegetable juice, suggesting a positive influence on the home food environment.

Geisa Zanini Rorato, Eugenia Aumond Kuhn, Bruno Luan Soares Paula de Mello, Rodrigo Vitória Alves, Giulia Togni Geremia · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Porto Alegre)

This study mapped and characterized 82 urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) initiatives in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It found that educational and health-related initiatives with social and ecological objectives predominated. A significant finding was that only half of these initiatives were active at the time of the survey, with the rest being inactive or closed, indicating structural fragilities, especially in peripheral and less dense areas impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diane Smith, Katherine Selting Smith · Advances in biological sciences research/Advances in Biological Sciences Research · United States

This paper describes a SNAP CSA pilot and introduces the Farm to Families (F2F) Toolkit, developed to engage low-income consumers receiving SNAP benefits in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). USDA rules now permit SNAP benefits for CSA shares, provided the CSA is SNAP-authorized and prepayment is within 14 days of produce receipt. This aims to expand access to fresh produce for SNAP recipients and support farmers.

Angela 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.

Saria Lofton, Akilah Martin, Marjorie Kersten, Nanyombi Lubimbi, Helene Vilme, Forgive Avorgbedor, Angela Odoms‐Young · Community Health Equity Research & Policy · United States (Chicago)

This study interviewed 17 urban growers and local food advocates in predominantly Black communities in Chicago to understand barriers to accessing healthy food through urban agriculture. Key barriers identified were the lack of accessibility to traditional food retailers, the high availability of processed foods, and issues with the cultural acceptability of urban-produced foods. The research highlights significant challenges faced by these communities in accessing healthy food despite urban agriculture's potential.

Alvorí Ahlert, Tatiane Fátima Nandi · REVISTA DE EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL Y SOSTENIBILIDAD · Brazil (Paraná)

A qualitative and quantitative study in schools bordering Lake Itaipu in western Paraná, Brazil, verified the use of school gardens as an environmental education tool. The research applied questionnaires to public elementary, primary, and special education teachers in the region. Findings showed that most teachers favored using school gardens but found it difficult to teach students about their importance due to a lack of technical knowledge on the subject.

Lila B. Karki, Prem Bhandari · Global Journal of Agricultural Research · United States (Maryland)

This 2022 project collected data from 22 small, socially disadvantaged minority urban gardeners in Maryland to enhance their efficiency. Findings showed farmers operated rationally, cultivating an average of 20 diversified specialty, ethnic, and medicinal crops on 1.2 acres. They employed integrated alley and mixed cropping systems, rainwater harvesting, expanded compost-making, maintained high cropping diversity, and introduced a tier system to mitigate production, marketing, and financial risks.