Research & reports

Larissa Siqueira Chaves, Giovanna Simokado Magalhães, Soraya Nór · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This article reflected on the potential of feminism in urban development as a practice of counter-hegemonic architectures. Through a cartography of central Florianópolis, it was shown that only ten streets in the city center were named after women, revealing that patriarchal patterns are fixed in the territory. Women in urban agriculture are presented as individual and collective body-territories that construct a counter-hegemonic praxis in urban spaces and social movements, politically building alternatives that foster care, reproduction of life, reconnection with nature, protection of popular traditions, as well as gender issues and the right to the city.

Corona-Munoz, Sergio · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States

"Growing Character" is a three-lesson series modeling how agricultural spaces, particularly school gardens, can integrate social emotional learning (SEL) and social justice education. The program aims to empower students with skills for healthy emotional management and socially conscious behavior through an educational experience.

Karla L Hanson, Lynn Xu, Grace A Marshall, Marilyn Sitaker, Stephanie B Jilcott Pitts, Jane Kolodinsky, April Bennett, Salem Carriker, Diane Smith, Alice S Ammerman, Rebecca A Seguin-Fowler · Public Health Nutrition · United States

This study analyzed factors associated with participation in cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) among low-income households with children in ten communities across New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington states. Participation rates varied significantly (33% to 89% of weeks picked up) across communities. Offering multiple share sizes was associated with higher participation (76.8% vs. 57.7% of weeks), while offering community pick-up locations was associated with lower participation (64.7% vs. 78.2% of weeks).

Antônio Carlos Ribeiro Araújo Júnior, Roberto Xavier da Costa, Mirian Pereira dos Reis Oliveira · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

The "Programa Planta Roraima" project, initiated by the civil society organization Movimento ID, proposes establishing a Reference Center for Food and Nutritional Security in the Cidadão Housing Complex. This center will create an urban community garden to promote sustainable integration among immigrants, refugees, and socially/economically vulnerable nationals. The project aims to understand access to knowledge for food production, transformation, distribution, and consumption in small urban spaces, and to analyze access to income-generating technologies for vulnerable populations. Based on an analysis of the "PROJETO PLANTA RORAIMA: Minha Horta Comunitária Cidadã" developed by SETRABES, the project is relevant as it provides basic technical training in food production, fostering autonomy and integrating vulnerable populations as productive citizens, and demonstrates that idle urban spaces can be valuable for collective uses like community gardens.

R.A. Seguin, A.S. Ammerman, W. Wang, I. Lu, J. Kolodinsky, J. Garner, L.C. Volpe, E.H. Belarmino, L. Gonsalves, S.B. Jilcott Pitts, M. Sitaker, K.L. Hanson · UNC Libraries · United States

This qualitative study examined the experiences of 96 low-income participants in 28 focus groups across rural and micropolitan communities in New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington (USA) regarding nutrition education classes complementing a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. Participants reported improved nutrition knowledge, food preservation skills, and cooking behaviors, and a promoted sense of community. However, other obligations and class logistics were barriers to attendance, with recommendations for flexible scheduling and better integration of CSA produce into lessons.

DANDARA TEIXEIRA MALVINO · DIGNIDADE RE-VISTA · United States (Champaign)

This article aims to analyze the strategies created by low-income Black communities in Champaign, Illinois, to confront food deserts through the creation of urban community gardens, as a form of resistance to food insecurity.

T. E. H. Williams · Digital Archive @ GSU · United States

The Morrow Community Garden, established in 2012, expanded from 14 to 32 beds, enabling residents to grow produce and donate to a local clinic. Facing unstable membership, limited space, and reliance on membership dues, the garden requires an action plan to achieve its goals. An action plan was created to help stabilize membership, expand the garden, educate residents, and create a youth engagement program.

Paulo Silvano Magno Fróes-Júnior, Fabrício Khoury Rebello, Marcos Antônio Souza dos Santos, Cyntia Meireles Martins, Maria Lúcia Bahia Lopes, João Paulo Borges de Loureiro · Conjecturas · Brazil (Belém)

This study interviewed 63 urban farmers in Curuçambá, Belém Metropolitan Region, Brazil, analyzing business management and entrepreneurial skills amidst urbanization and crime risks. It found that 98.41% of businesses are family-managed, but 52.38% have little management experience, with 76.19% never keeping financial records and 81.71% never seeking technical assistance. A significant 33.33% of farmers rated criminality as "very high" severity, indicating that a lack of public safety severely limits commercial performance and investment in urban agriculture.

S.B. Jilcott Pitts, R.A. Seguin, J. Kolodinsky, E.H. Morgan, M.J. White, M. Sitaker, J.T. McGuirt, W. Wang, K.L. Hanson, A.S. Ammerman · UNC Libraries · United States

This study examined perspectives on food access among 53 low-income families with children participating in a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) program across nine communities in the US states of New York, North Carolina, Washington, and Vermont. Focus groups revealed that while produce quantity was abundant and affordability was generally good, payment timing was a barrier for some, and unfamiliar foods and quick spoilage hindered acceptability. The study concluded that CO-CSA may facilitate increased access to fruits and vegetables, but perceptions of positive diet change may be limited by challenges in incorporating share pick-up into regular travel patterns and meal planning, with food waste concerns being particularly acute for families with constrained resources.

Michele Hartmann Feyh · Revista Verde de Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Sustentável · Brazil

A community garden was implemented in Vila Buritis II, Planaltina, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil, a socially vulnerable urban area with low purchasing power. The garden transformed an idle area into a productive space, planting 27 edible species, and 30 to 40 residents regularly visit to collect food. However, the maintenance and increase of garden productivity still require technical assistance and resources.

Contingent Horizons · Contingent Horizons The York University Student Journal of Anthropology · Canada (Winnipeg)

This paper uses the Rainbow Community Garden in Winnipeg as a case study to discuss the benefits and challenges of community gardening for new immigrant and refugee families. Through a literature review and interviews with gardeners, the study emphasizes the role of food and community gardens in facilitating cross-cultural interactions, providing culturally appropriate food, and expressing cultural identity. The main conclusion is that for new immigrant and refugee participation, a garden is not only physical soil but also an important place for practicing culture and engaging in meaningful cross-cultural interaction beneficial for adjusting to a new life in Canada.

André Ferreira, Wanderley José Deina · Revista NEP - Núcleo de Estudos Paranaenses da UFPR · Brazil

This study examines the activities of MOB-PR (Movimento de Organização de Base do Paraná, founded in 2014), a grassroots organizing movement in Comunidade Portelinha, an urban occupation in Curitiba, Brazil formed 13 years earlier. It focuses on two of the movement's working groups: "Ciranda," popular education activities for children and adolescents, and the "Horta Comunitária Eduardo Felipe" community garden. Fieldwork combined audio-recorded interviews, field diaries, children's drawings and photographs. The article concludes that grassroots work is itself applied popular education, which should not be reduced to simple didactics but should remain in constant relation with other political work. Since its founding, the occupation has demanded basic public services such as water and electricity and land tenure regularization.

Dorceta E. Taylor, Ki’Amber Thompson, Dominique Abednour-Brown, Ember McCoy, Socorro Martha Meg-ay V. Daupan, Clarice Hollenquest · American Behavioral Scientist · United States

This 2022 study analyzed 53 community gardens in Michigan, United States, surveyed from summer 2020 through winter 2021, examining how garden managers' race/ethnicity and sex, along with neighborhood characteristics, relate to garden activities. White managers ran 66% (35) of the gardens and people of color ran 34% (18); roughly half the gardens were managed by men and the remainder by women. None of the gardens had paid staff and all relied on volunteers. About 53% were located in low-income census tracts with a median household income of $40,000 or less. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 31% of gardens reduced staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than before the pandemic, and 51.9% saw increased numbers of people seeking food.

F. Becot, K.L. Hanson, R.A. Seguin, A.S. Ammerman, J. Kolodinsky, J.T. McGuirt, S.B. Jilcott Pitts, M. Demarco · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States

A modified exploratory choice experiment, embedded within in-depth interviews, examined willingness to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program under varying price, frequency, food quantity, and accessibility conditions among 42 low-income adults with at least one child in the household in North Carolina, New York, Vermont, and Washington. Comparing summed willingness across conditions, the analysis suggests the ideal CSA would be a full-sized share of eight to nine mixed items, distributed every other week, priced under US$15, no more than 10 minutes farther than the supermarket from home, and preferably cheaper than but no more than 20% pricier than supermarket prices.

Yuki Kato, Caroline Boules · Journal of Urban Affairs · United States

The disruption of social and food systems during the COVID-19 pandemic presented a distinct set of opportunities and challenges for urban agriculture. Based on 79 in-depth interviews with managers of community gardens, school gardens, and urban farms in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, this study used post-disaster "social recovery" theory to explore how each type of urban agriculture responded differently to the pandemic's social, economic, and personal disruptions. Findings showed significant differences in immediate impacts across the types of urban agriculture, with community gardens being the least affected and urban farms implementing the most variant adaptation strategies. Notable differences also appeared within each type, especially among urban farms. The study attributes these variant adaptation trajectories to pre-disaster conditions, including autonomy over cultivation space, access to resources, and connections with other facets of city life, concluding by underscoring the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of urban agriculture when assessing its transformational capacity and potential.

Congreso de la República del Perú · El Peruano, Normas Legales (Diario Oficial del Perú) · Peru

Peru's Congress passed Law No. 31458 on 26 April 2022, published the next day in the official gazette El Peruano (Normas Legales). The law legally recognizes ollas comunes (community soup kitchens) as temporary or permanent grassroots social organizations, guarantees their sustainability and financing during emergencies such as natural disasters or health emergencies, and promotes beneficiaries' productive work and entrepreneurship. It authorizes local governments and the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion to reallocate budget to fund food procurement and distribution for ollas comunes, and requires the Ministry of Health to approve technical guidance on sanitary and nutritional conditions.

Ministerio de Desarrollo e Inclusión Social (MIDIS) · Ministerio de Desarrollo e Inclusión Social (MIDIS), Plataforma del Estado Peruano · Peru

Peru's Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS) reported on 6 May 2022 that, according to registration data in its Mankachay Perú ("Mi ollita Perú") information system, Lima Metropolitana had registered the most Temporary Citizen Food Support Initiatives (ICAAT, including ollas comunes) at 2,506, followed by Callao (242), La Libertad (101) and Arequipa (98). The system launched on 5 November 2021, with local governments entering data that citizens and officials can view in real time.

Instituto Escolhas · 100 Políticas (Instituto Escolhas) · Brazil

A policy analysis of Rio de Janeiro's Hortas Cariocas program, launched in 2006. It comprises 56 gardens — 27 school-based and 29 community-based — across 25.3 hectares, employing 276 people (191 in schools, 85 in communities). In the first half of 2022 the gardens produced about 35 tons of food; in June alone, 7.2 tons were produced (3.1 tons sold, 4.1 tons donated), with roughly R$150,000 per month paid from the municipal treasury as stipends.

Lange S. J., Calancie L., Onufrak S. J., Reddy K. T., Palmer A., Warnock A. L. · Nutrients 13(2):683 · United States

National survey showing that the presence of food policy councils is associated with local policies supporting healthy food access, including for food-insecure populations, underscoring their role in food system governance.

Marilyn Sitaker, Mackenzie McCall, Weiwei Wang, Mia Vaccaro, Jane Kolodinsky, Alice Ammerman, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Karla Hanson, Diane Smith, Rebecca Seguin-Fowler · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States

Using a qualitative approach, this study describes the organizational models and best practices of five well-established nonprofit cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programs in the US, which aim to increase low-income households' access to fresh produce while helping CSA farms grow. Administration took several forms—direct subsidies to member farms, acting as an aggregator/packer/distributor, or sourcing from an in-house incubator or food hub—funded through government grants, donations, and fundraising, with dedicated staff and community partnerships identified as key success factors.

Russomanno J., Jabson Tree J. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA

A PRISMA-guided systematic review of how sense of community (belonging) at farmers markets shapes customer engagement, and how markets relate to food access for low-income shoppers.

· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · USA

A study of how agency and sociality within gardens designed for health and healing cultivate participant wellbeing and community resilience.

Mariana Portilho, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira Rodrigues , Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)

This study presents the formation of Arranjo Local da Penha, a community territorial network established in 2016 in the Penha favela complex in Rio de Janeiro. Primarily led by women and focused on promoting urban agriculture based on agroecology, this network fostered women's protagonism and built emotional ties between them and the place, mainly by enabling access to "real food" in the favela.

Jackie Hendrickson · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)

Utah State University's Food $ense and Master Gardener programs partnered to create the "Create Farm Fresh Gardens" community gardening program, targeting low-income families in Cache Valley, Utah. Piloted during the 2018 growing season, the program aimed to improve food security by increasing access to fresh vegetables and enhancing participants' self-efficacy in gardening and nutrition. Participants provided supportive feedback, and the program was slated for statewide implementation in Utah during the 2019 growing season.

Mia Arvizu · Ethnic studies review · United States

This paper introduces "Cocoon: a series" by independent artist Mia Arvizu. This initial series challenges white supremacy culture and assimilation, serving as a stepping stone to spark conversations that spread resistance against patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism. Arvizu is currently working in a fellowship with the National Park Service (NPS) and Groundwork, USA, focusing on communications for community-based projects such as community gardens.