Research & reports

Charlotte Prové · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · United States (Philadelphia)

This project aimed to understand the dynamics of urban agriculture in Philadelphia and formulate how governance processes can address its developments. A literature study and interviews with diverse stakeholders, including farmers, project founders, public officers, and researchers, were conducted. The City of Philadelphia's Greenworks plan sets a goal to establish twelve commercial agriculture projects over the next eight years, developing necessary infrastructure such as distribution facilities and water sources.

Georgeanne M. Artz, Linda Naeve, Artz, Georgeanne M., Naeve, Linda · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · United States (Iowa)

A study in Iowa indicated that small-scale farmers considering scaling up production face challenges balancing increased labor costs with the need for specialized machinery. The study collaborated with five groups of farmers who shared different pieces of machinery, developing sharing agreements. While the article provides an overview of the benefits and challenges of machinery sharing, the abstract does not state specific findings that machinery sharing resolved economic viability issues.

Ellen Barnidge, Elizabeth A. Baker, Mario Schootman, Freda Motton, Marjorie Sawicki, Frank Rose · Health Education Research · United States

This quasi-experimental study in rural Missouri evaluated an intervention providing nutrition education and community garden access to African Americans to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. At mid-intervention, the intervention county showed lower hypertension and BMI. Both nutrition education participation and community garden access were independently associated with perceived fruit and vegetable consumption, with the strongest effect when combined. However, individuals with access but without education had a reduced likelihood of consuming recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.

Gerda R. Wekerle, Michael Classens · Local Environment · Canada (Toronto)

This paper examines approaches to urban agriculture in Toronto that renegotiate land access for food production between private property owners and landless growers. It documents three methods challenging current property relations: temporary use of development sites, redesignating suburban backyards for farmer training and production, and garden sharing of private backyards. These initiatives promote collaboration and a sharing economy to expand urban agriculture's land base.

Tracy George, Debbie Humphries, Trace Kershaw, Josh Singer · The FASEB Journal · United States (Washington, DC)

This study explored the health and community experiences of gardeners at Wangari Gardens, a community garden in Washington, DC, through 17 semi-structured qualitative interviews. Gardeners chose to garden for improved nutrition, chronic disease management, hobbies, and connection to nature and community. They continued gardening for relationships, physical benefits, harvests, and self-efficacy, indicating community gardens provide multi-faceted individual and community benefits.

Luciene Rodrigues, Maria Antônia Carniello · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

This study aimed to document the use and agricultural management practices of tuberous plants by residents in urban backyards in Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil, using semi-structured interviews. Nine species were recorded, including Manihot esculenta, with carrot, sweet potato, ginger, and saffron cited for medicinal use (8.3% to 16.6%). Planting followed seasons and lunar phases, and soil fertility was corrected with organic fertilizer and sawdust.

José Tobias Marks Machado, Jeferson Tonin, Evandro Pedro Schneider · SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología · Brazil

This study, conducted in two schools in Cerro Largo - RS, Brazil, during 2013, performed a post-implementation analysis of ecologically based school gardens introduced through a university extension program. Positive results included the proliferation of similar projects. However, significant difficulties were emphasized in integrating the school gardens with disciplinary education, attributed to existing conservatism in the educational context.

Luke Drake · · United States

This study examined the role of networks in producing community gardens. Focusing on community gardening in New Jersey, USA, the research involved a survey of 445 community gardening organizations in the U.S. and Canada, discourse analysis of archival documents from the 1890s to 2010s, 48 semi-structured interviews in 19 municipalities, and two years of participant-observation. These methods revealed a complex web of resource flows and the mechanisms through which they are configured.

Danny Tarng · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This commentary discusses how nonprofit urban agriculture organizations, central to the U.S. food justice movement, can foster better allyship. It highlights that as the movement expands, the transformation of allies' privilege into empowerment at an organizational level is crucial for ongoing growth and success. The text provides insights into organizational policies and practices that can improve allyship.

Ari Novy, Devin Dotson · CSA News · United States

This article argues that botanical and public gardens are well-positioned to connect the public with agriculture, especially in urban centers where interest in food and agriculture is resurging. With over 70 million visitors annually and existing infrastructure, botanical gardens can serve as urban nodes for science-based education. They can perform plant research, offer education, interpret plant uses, and showcase plant beauty.

Alicia S. Landry, Nikki Chittendon, Christine Coker, Caitlin Weiss · Journal of Extension · United States

This article describes the perceived physical and psychological health impacts of community gardening on participants in the Mississippi Delta. Identified themes include gardening as an educational tool, increasing self-efficacy, and fostering responsibility for personal and community health. Additional benefits reported are exposure to new healthy foods, increased physical activity, and legacy building.

Yun-Wen Betty Fletcher · ScholarSpace (University of Hawaii at Manoa) · United States

This observational study examined the range-of-motion movements demonstrated by elders while gardening in a community garden in Manoa, United States. A specific study instrument was used to identify the observed range of motion movements during their gardening activities.

Fa-Tai Shieh · Gastronomica The Journal of Food and Culture · United States (New York City)

This article is by Fa-Tai Shieh, director of citywide food procurement for NYC and involved in urban farming projects in New York City. This content is only available via PDF.

Elizabete Cristina Ribeiro Silva, Alexandre Brasil Carvalho da Fonseca, Fernanda Pereira Dysarz, Ernani Jardim Reis · Alexandria Revista de Educação em Ciência e Tecnologia · Brazil

This research identifies parameters for school gardens in Brazil, analyzing various experiences and an urban public school case. The study correlates the health of students and farmers in agricultural activities, explicitly pointing out negligences in this regard. It argues that a healthy eating concept from school gardens requires an equally healthy production system, and attention to student safety can highlight farmers' working conditions, which is crucial for food and nutritional education.

Hannah Cobb, Madisen Hasenauer · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States (California)

This paper proposes that school gardens can be a powerful tool for teaching sustainability concepts to elementary school students. It suggests that teachers who receive school support, collaborate with committed volunteers, and have access to appropriate resources are prepared to confidently educate students on ecological conservation through school gardens.

Mayhah Suri, Paul Goeringer · University Libraries (University of Maryland) · United States (Maryland)

This report highlights the results of a survey conducted in summer 2014 by the Maryland Department of Agriculture on contract use and risk management tools by Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operators in Maryland. It also details workshops and materials developed by the Department of Agricultural and Resource and the Ag Law Education Initiative in winter 2015. Additionally, the report mentions state programs that verify CSA operators in California.

Matthew Potteiger · · United States (New York City)

This paper explores a fundamental shift in urban agriculture based on productive urban ecologies and foraging practices. Part one identifies urban foraging as a significant cultural practice, summarizing ethnographic research in Syracuse and New York City, and a multi-city USDA Forest Service study. Part two focuses on design strategies for urban foraging and productive ecologies, presenting case studies and design proposals for Syracuse and New York City. The study outlines a paradigm shift in design and planning to integrate urban agriculture with critical landscape systems and re-localize urban metabolism.

Stephen R. Miller · · United States (Newark, New Jersey)

This article proposes a new approach to financing local food, viewing it as a finance problem similar to urban manufacturing, to scale up local food production. It explores the necessity of large-scale urban agriculture, focusing on vertical farms, and examines creative financing examples like AeroFarms in Newark, New Jersey. The paper suggests deploying existing and potential financing types, modeled on economic development agreements, to advance local food initiatives.

Bill Musser · · United States (Iowa)

The CBHL 2015 annual meeting and conference was hosted by Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, from June 16-20, 2015. The conference theme reflected the growing public interest in creating edible landscapes.

Laura Forbes · Digital Commons - CSUMB (California State University, Monterey Bay) · United States (California)

School gardens are common in elementary schools, but teachers find it challenging and unnecessary to incorporate them into their time and everyday curriculum due to time restrictions and the need to focus on required classroom curriculum. This capstone focuses on the beneficial factors students can receive by properly implementing the school garden into everyday curriculum and how teachers can successfully incorporate it. By creating a garden-based program and lesson plans that incorporate required subjects, teachers can spend the necessary time teaching required subjects while utilizing the school garden.

P. Qasimah Boston, Ivette A López, Krista Harper · Practicing Anthropology · United States (Tallahassee)

This study used Photovoice to evaluate an urban agricultural food movement event in Tallahassee, Florida. Youth were trained to collect and interpret data, describing the event's value and highlighting cultural influences on the food environment, including diversity and inclusion. The evaluation method, termed Evaluation for Community Action (EFCA), linked improving the food environment with innovative assessment.

Silene Maciel dos Santos, Samuel Ferreira da Fonseca, Luiz Andrei Gonçalves Pereira · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Brazil (Pirapora-MG)

This study analyzed the spatial distribution of urban agricultural activities in the Sagrada Família neighborhood, Pirapora-MG, Brazil, through a literature review. It examined urban agriculture practices, their socio-economic role, and the problems and challenges faced by urban agriculture actors in the neighborhood. The study concluded that the identified issues suggest urban agriculture as an emancipatory process.

Gabriel R. Valle · Aztlán A Journal of Chicano Studies · United States

This essay explores the self-valorization of work in community gardens to advance a grounded theory of time and value, which has been lacking in Chicana/o studies. Urban community gardens are pivotal to the environmental justice movement, with Chicana/os playing a central role. The essay proposes a revolutionary logic of labor through reframing time and value, aiming to reconnect community gardeners to the means of their own production and reproduction. By creating "gardens of sabotage," communities challenge capitalism by reclaiming the value of work and confronting orthodox notions of economy, work, citizenship, community, and time.

Fabio Fernando Kobs, Marcello Sgarbi, Eloy Fassi Casagrande, Maclóvia Corrêa da Silva, Dario Eduardo Amaral Dergint · Revista Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade · Brazil (Curitiba)

This paper aimed to identify mutual trust within an urban farming cooperation network, using a case study of a residence of about 350 square meters for urban farming in the urban area of Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil. Exploratory survey, case study, bibliographical research, and random observation methods were used. Data collection allowed for the construction of a cooperation network, establishing the trust relationship, and confirming the initial hypothesis that the type of trust is process-based.

Haoluan Wang, Brent Swallow · 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California · Canada (Edmonton)

This research aims to assess the multiple values of agricultural land in the Alberta Capital Region, Canada, where significant agricultural land conversion has occurred. The study's objectives are to estimate residents' values for conserving land in different agricultural uses, explore links between these values and residents' affinity for ecosystem goods and services, and identify public interest areas for agricultural conservation. The methodology began with focus group discussions.