Research & reports

M. L. Browning, Stacy Herrick · Journal of Extension · United States (West Virginia)

The marketing campaign for the inaugural West Virginia Urban Agriculture Conference, a collaboration between West Virginia State University (WVSU) and West Virginia University Extension Services, was successful. The WVSU communications team developed an innovative, character-driven campaign combining urban and rural elements, featuring "Chicken Stu" as the official spokes-chicken who shared his journey from farm to city via social media. The campaign surpassed its goals and demonstrated the impact of innovative social media marketing in promoting Extension initiatives.

Connor J. Sloan · Scholarly Commons (University of the Pacific) · United States (California)

This phenomenological study investigated the role of school gardens as learning places and how place-based education influenced teachers' pedagogical approaches and curriculum decisions, involving four elementary school teachers in Central California. Analysis of interviews, classroom and garden observations, and supplemental curricula showed that participants were inspired to integrate project-based learning and interdisciplinary supplemental curriculum through interactions with school gardens. Direct interactions and experiences with elements of place-based learning in a school garden influenced how participants perceived the purpose of their pedagogical approaches and curriculum decisions.

Kamyar Enshayan · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States (Iowa)

A group of urban women in northern Iowa, facing various life challenges, learned self-sufficiency by collaboratively planning, planting, growing, and harvesting produce from a community garden. This initiative focused on developing farming skills through practical engagement.

de Vries, Arianna · · United States (New Jersey)

This study investigated three large-format suburban community gardens, each with over one hundred plots, in Central New Jersey, United States. Using geospatial mapping, on-site observation, and interviews with coordinators and gardeners, the research explored participation reasons and the suburban conditions fostering these gardens. It found that suburban gardeners participate for reasons similar to their urban counterparts, but the suburban context significantly shapes how these motivations are defined and described.

Maggie Caroline McGriff · Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science · United States

This study investigated whether three elementary school garden club programs influenced students' attitudes and behaviors regarding fruit and vegetable consumption. Quantitative analysis using pretest and posttest questionnaires found non-significant results, indicating no significant effect on participants' perceptions of fruit and vegetable consumption. Qualitative analysis of participant interviews also showed mostly non-significant changes in healthy eating, although participants reported positive experiences in other aspects like respect for nature and enjoyment of activities.

Tim Cashion, I. Forbes, Irena Knežević · · Canada

This preliminary study in Nova Scotia, Canada, explored the initiation and sustainability of community food initiatives through in-depth interviews with coordinators. The research identified that these initiatives are in a precarious state due to reliance on volunteers, land ownership issues, and a lack of consistent funding. Despite these challenges, they persist through community support and coordinator dedication.

Judy Egeland · UNI ScholarWorks (University of Northern Iowa) · United States (Postville)

This oral history project recording features Judy Egeland, a master gardener and Vice President of the Diversity Council in Postville, United States. Egeland, who moved to Postville in 1970, was instrumental in establishing a community garden and a school garden in the rural town. The community garden is noted for bringing together people from diverse backgrounds.

Melea Press, Eric J. Arnould · Journal of Marketing Management · United States

This paper examines how alternative marketing organizations communicate transparency amidst generalized risk and skepticism, using Community Supported Agriculture programs across the United States as context. It contrasts the traditional numeric approach to transparency, involving auditing and third-party certifications, with an alternative narrative transparency approach that emphasizes stakeholder dialogue and invites stakeholders to act as auditors. The article illustrates how alternative marketing organizations employ rhetorical tactics such as persona, allegory, consumer sovereignty, and enlightenment to communicate transparency to their stakeholders.

Jessica Owley, Tonya Lewis · · United States

This article explores land tenure concerns that can hinder urban agriculture development in American cities. It examines various property law tools, such as long-term leases, permits for city-owned land, and theoretical self-help nuisance concepts, used across the United States. The study highlights urban agricultural land trusts and partial property rights like conservation easements as particularly intriguing and widely applicable tools for meeting urban agricultural needs.

Andrew Zitcer · Antipode · United States (Philadelphia)

This article explored the paradox of exclusivity in consumer food cooperatives in the United States, focusing on two food co-ops in Philadelphia, PA. The study found that exclusivity manifests in the co-ops' sales, business practices, and marketing, inadvertently excluding certain practices and people. This paradox hinders co-ops from fully realizing their transformative social and economic potential.

Kelly Atterberry, Carol Miles, Lee Anne Riddle, Janice Rueda, Drew Betz · The FASEB Journal · United States

A pilot study in a Washington school cafeteria investigated the effects of a school garden and nutrition education intervention on pulse crop consumption by school-aged children. Fifty-six students (25 in fourth grade, 31 in ninth grade) participated, with a STEM-based curriculum combining exposure to pulse crops in a school garden with classroom nutrition education. Pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed changes in students' knowledge about pulse foods and their attitudes towards spending class time in the school garden.

Vincent M. Smith, John A. Harrington · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Madison)

This research explored the market value of community food production (CFP) in the Madison, Wisconsin, Urban Area, USA. The study measured and mapped the extent of CFP using a survey of 2,454 addresses and existing garden lists, and determined productive output from 36 test plots tended by citizen scientists. It found that the market value of gardening and garden-based programs, and their correlation to food-insecure communities, are not yet well understood.

EMBRAPA. · infoteca-e (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) · Brazil

This publication focuses on technological solutions and innovation to strengthen family farming in Brazil. Embrapa's research benefits family agriculture and traditional Brazilian populations, introducing technologies for sustainable agricultural systems, improved basic sanitation, adoption of sustainable techniques, successful organic colored cotton harvests, and increased harvest opportunities in dryland farming through underground dams. It also highlights the implementation of irrigation systems in community gardens and the enrichment of rural diets with traditional vegetables.

LaShonda M. Stewart, Steven A. Miller, R. W. Hildreth, Maja V. Wright-Phillips · New Political Science · United States (Chicago)

A preliminary analysis of Chicago's 49th Ward, the first participatory budgeting experiment in the United States, examined whether it resulted in different budgetary priorities and met social justice outcomes. Citizens chose projects classified as low priority by research literature, and while there was no clear pattern of projects only in affluent areas, geographic clustering was evident. Select areas received projects like community gardens, while others were limited to infrastructure repairs, indicating mixed social justice outcomes.

Ben Hall · ˜The œAgricultural education magazine · United States (North Carolina)

The agriculture department at North Stokes High School in Danbury, North Carolina, operates a 3,500-square-foot production garden and a 600-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse. The school aims for commercial production and marketing, supplying its cafeteria, and thus obtained GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification, developed by the USDA in 1998. GAP prevents microbial contamination of food through recordkeeping, irrigation water testing, documentation of manure and pesticide use, and worker training.

Laura Chan, Jeff Friedrich, Katie Garthwaite, Sundeep Khakh, Sarah Morrison, Meredith Seeton · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · Canada

This student project developed a strategy to enhance food sustainability within the residences of UBC's proposed University Boulevard Neighbourhood, specifically through rooftop gardens integrated with residential commons space. The strategy was based on an analysis of UBC's development plans, eco-villages, and permaculture design concepts. Recommendations included that UBC Campus and Community Planning develop standards and a framework for implementation, and that future student projects work with stakeholders to develop an action plan and indicators for food sustainable planning.

Evan Weissman · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (New York City)

This case study in Brooklyn, New York, used mixed qualitative research methods to investigate the political possibilities of urban agriculture for fostering food justice. Findings indicate that problematic contradictions rooted in the neoliberalization of urban agriculture limit the transformative possibilities of farming the city as currently practiced in Brooklyn. The study suggests that longstanding agrarian questions are informative for critically interrogating urban agriculture as a politicization of food.

Freeman Wu · · United States (Chicago)

This graduation project proposes an urban farming theme restaurant located in an abandoned industrial area in South Chicago. The design strategy focuses on using urban farming to activate the vacant site. The proposed building is an urban farming themed restaurant.

Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · Boom · United States (Los Angeles)

This article recounts the history of a central Los Angeles community garden, primarily used by women from Southern Mexico and Central America, which served as an informal support network and a place to grow culturally significant plants. The essay then details the significant upheaval that occurred after a local nonprofit took over and invested in the garden, implying a negative impact on the existing community.

Claudia Mattogno, Manuela Ricci, Bruno Monardo, Pietro Antonio Valentino, Anna Laura Palazzo · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · United States (San Diego)

This paper explores recent policies and planning practices for urban agriculture (UA) in the United States, particularly in California, focusing on its potential for urban revitalization and social inclusion. It examines strategies for agricultural re-use and rezoning of vacant urban areas within the context of 'healthy food access'. The experience in San Diego, CA's City Heights neighborhood demonstrates the potential of UA to combine social inclusion with physical and economic redevelopment.

Susan J. Algert, Aziz Baameur · The FASEB Journal · United States (San Jose, California)

A study in community gardens in San Jose, California, from Spring to Summer 2012, evaluated a method for quantifying crop yields and cost savings. Eighty-three community gardeners completed a background survey, and a representative subset of 10 gardeners measured produce output from their plots over a four-month growing season. Results indicated that community gardens produced 0.75 lbs of vegetables per square foot, exceeding conventional agricultural practices at 0.60 lbs/sq ft. Gardens averaged 2.55 lbs per plant and resulted in $435 in cost savings per plot for the season.

Jeremy Woodruff · Journal of sonic studies · United States (Pittsburgh)

This essay explores the contribution of sound art to progressive ecology groups in Pittsburgh, focusing on the installation "Gongburgh: Steeltown Forests" developed at the Hazelwood Food Forest (HFF). The composition, using sounds from the urban garden, gamelan, and steel factories, aimed to create social connections and promote the HFF through a sustainable music-making experiment. It highlights novel similarities and differences between these sounds and their social organization, raising political questions for the garden and listeners.

Renee Meschi · Sound Ideas (University of Puget Sound) · United States (Tacoma)

This research examined the plants, fungi, and people of Tacoma's Swan Creek Park Food Forest (SCPFF) in the United States. The study investigated the site's history, including indigenous plant use by the First People of Cascadia, Native American food sovereignty projects, and the influence of immigration waves. It concluded with recommendations for ethical development and cultural sensitivity at the SCPFF.

Jessica L. Warren · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · United States (California)

This thesis examines the influences of individualism within a school garden program at a Southern California continuation high school during the spring semester of 2014. The program involved high school students, college interns, and co-directors. It found that alternative educational settings, even when challenging individualism, incorporate some aspects of it due to influences from the larger school system.

Márcio Aleksandro Daniel, Ednaldo Michellon, Aline Midori Takemura, Jéssica Brasau da Silva, Willian Scanacapra · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

The Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Reference Center (CERAUP) in Brazil implements a school garden project for students aged 6 to 12, funded by MEC/Proext. This project teaches vegetable cultivation and the importance of agroecological foods, fostering teamwork and learning in subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and geography. The project has been ongoing for over a year, with agronomy and pedagogy interns participating under the guidance of agronomists.