Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1961 results(67 / 79)
Growing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland
2011Corrigan M. P. · Applied Geography 31(4):1232-1241 · United States
Qualitative study of Baltimore community gardens via interviews and observation. Gardens contributed to individual, household and community food security but needed added support through education, policy and funding.
WelfareCommunityFood educationThe Influence of Social Involvement, Neighborhood Aesthetics, and Community Garden Participation on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
2011Litt J. S., Soobader M.-J., Turbin M. S., Hale J. W., Buchenau M., Marshall J. A. · American Journal of Public Health 101(8):1466-1473 · United States
Denver survey finding community gardeners ate fruits and vegetables 5.7 times daily versus 4.6 for home gardeners and 3.9 for non-gardeners, with social involvement and neighborhood aesthetics also shaping intake.
HealthCommunityD-Town Farm: African American Resistance to Food Insecurity and the Transformation of Detroit
2011White M. M. · Environmental Practice 13(4):406-417 · United States
Case study of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, framing farming as resistance to structural food insecurity and a site of community building, culturally relevant food education, and political agency.
CommunityWelfareThe Effects of School Garden Experiences on Middle School-Aged Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Associated With Vegetable Consumption
2011Ratcliffe M.M. · Health Promotion Practice · USA
A study of garden-based education for middle school-aged students; 236 completed a Garden Vegetable Frequency Questionnaire and 161 a taste test, showing improved recognition, attitudes, preferences, and willingness to taste vegetables, plus greater variety eaten.
Food educationHealthSisters of the Soil: Urban Gardening as Resistance in Detroit
2011Monica M. White · Race/Ethnicity Multidisciplinary Global Contexts · United States (Detroit)
This article analyzes the experience of black women activists in Detroit who engage in urban agriculture as a form of resistance. They use urban gardening to reassess cultural roots, reclaim personal power, and build a sense of community. The study examines their efforts to transform vacant land into a community-based food system and safe, green spaces, challenging racial and class-based barriers to healthy food access.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyActually Existing Commons: Three Moments of Space of Community Gardens in New York City
2011Efrat Eizenberg · Antipode · United States (New York City)
This paper analyzes community gardens in New York City as an urban space argued to function as the commons in a neoliberal city. It unpacks this space according to three Lefebvrian moments: material space, representations of space, and lived space. Engaging alternative conceptualizations of social relations in the urban space, it complicates and explicates the notion of the commons and its actually existing manifestations.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceNourishing women: toward a feminist political ecology of community supported agriculture in the United States
2011Lucy Jarosz · Gender Place & Culture · United States
This article examines the motivations of women farmers involved in community supported agriculture (CSA) in a US metropolitan region, based on interviews. It argues that these women's motivations reflect an ethics of care, centering their work on nourishing themselves and others. Their choices are shaped by the urban context, race, and middle-class status, expressing self-care and a post-capitalist politics that challenges neoliberal subject formation.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsLegitimating community supported agriculture through American pastoralist ideology
2011Melea Press, Eric J. Arnould · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States
This study examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs gained legitimacy as a market form in the United States, using a socio-historical lens. It argues that American pastoralist ideology, linking historical agrarian ideals with modern CSAs, helped integrate them into the mainstream. The research suggests that the Internet further aided this legitimation by fostering personal commercial communications and de-massification, reinforcing egalitarian principles and community perceptions central to pastoralist ideology while masking cultural contradictions.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsCommunity Gardens, Ghetto Pastoral, and Environmental Justice
2011Robert Emmett · ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment · United States (Los Angeles)
The South Central Farm in Los Angeles, a 14-acre community garden cultivated by hundreds of residents for over a decade, was a significant site against environmental racism. However, urban development ultimately led to its destruction. As of this writing, satellite images show the former lush gardens replaced by a scraped, vacant field, highlighting the impermanence of such community-led green spaces in the face of dominant urban development narratives.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyInfluência 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 & justiceReproductive Health And The Industrialized Food System: A Point Of Intervention For Health Policy
2011Patrice Sutton, David Wallinga, Joanne Perron, Michelle Gottlieb, Lucia Sayre, Tracey J. Woodruff · Health Affairs · United States
This article examines evidence that the intensive use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, and fossil fuels in food production, as well as chemicals in food packaging, are potentially harmful to human reproductive and developmental health. The US food production system, while relatively low in cost, often yields food that is high in calories and low in nutritional value. The authors conclude that policies to advance a healthy food system are necessary to prevent adverse reproductive health effects.
HealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceAgricultura Apoiada pela Comunidade: poderia a experiência dos agricultores americanos ser útil para os agricultores urbanos brasileiros?
2011Marina Castelo Branco, RS Liz, F. A. de Alcântara, HAG Martins, J.A Hanson · Horticultura Brasileira · Brazil
This study gathered information on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA/AAC) projects in the US and assessed the willingness of consumers and poor urban producers in a low-income Brazilian city to engage in such projects. US AAC farmers typically cultivated less than 2 hectares, offered various vegetables for at least four months, but faced challenges with production planning and long-term maintenance. Brazilian consumers showed willingness to participate, mainly for fresh, organically produced food, while poor urban producers were unwilling due to their inability to guarantee production.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsWelfarePolicyImproving fruit and vegetable consumption: use of farm-to-consumer venues among US adults.
2011Heidi M. Blanck, Olivia M. Thompson, Linda Nebeling, Amy L. Yaroch · PubMed · United States
This study analyzed data from 1,994 US adults from the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey to assess the use of farm-to-consumer venues for purchasing fruits and vegetables. It found that 27% of grocery shoppers reported at least weekly use of these venues during summer. Older adults and those in the Northeast were most likely to use them weekly, with no differences observed by sex, race/ethnicity, education, or income.
CSA & TeikeiHealthFood miles & supply chainHere 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 & landraceCarbon, Nitrogen, and Orthophosphate Leaching from Soil under Single- and Mixed-species Landscapes
2011Tim Pannkuk, Jacqueline A. Aitkenhead‐Peterson, Kurt Steinke, James C. Thomas, David R. Chalmers, Richard H. White · HortScience · United States (Texas)
This experiment quantified nutrient concentrations and fluxes in leachate from single- and mixed-species urban landscapes at two Texas sites with different irrigation water chemistry. Plant species significantly affected phosphate flux, and irrigation chemistry significantly affected all nutrient fluxes. An interaction between plant species and irrigation chemistry was found for phosphate flux.
Organic cycleClimate changeBiodiversitySegurança alimentar e nutricional, pobreza urbana e suas relações com a Agricultura Urbana: fragmentos de uma discussão
2011Marina de Fátima Brandão Carneiro, Igor Martins de Oliveira, Gabriel Alves Veloso · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Brazil
This article discusses food and nutritional security, urban poverty, and their relationship with urban agriculture, which arises from the urbanization process. It analyzed quantitative data from the Pan-American Health Organization and Pastoral da Criança in two neighborhoods of Montes Claros, Brazil, to map poverty distribution and child malnutrition. It concludes that the search for more effective and continuous alternatives for food insecurity is increasingly urgent, as hunger has only increased globally despite various initiatives.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareHealthCultivating 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 & justiceDesigning a School Garden Space that Emphasizes Children's Wants and Uses Permaculture Design Methods
2011Mikhaela Mullins · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Lincoln)
This case study at Saratoga Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska, aimed to identify children's desires for a garden space. A school garden was constructed, and an after-school garden club was implemented, where participating students drew their ideal gardens. Elements from these drawings were categorized as 'highly desired' or 'somewhat desired' and subsequently integrated into a proposed garden design plan for Saratoga, which utilizes Permaculture design methods for sustainability.
Food educationDIYOrganic cycleMetro 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 linkage