Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
628 results(8 / 26)
HORTAS ESCOLARES: PARÂMETROS PEDAGÓGICOS PARA RECURSOS MATERIAIS E ESTRUTURA FÍSICA
2021ELIZABETE CRISTINA RIBEIRO SILVA JARDIM · Editora Realize eBooks · Brazil
This research analyzed Brazilian school garden experiences across three document sets, identifying procedures and resources incongruent with stated counter-hegemonic objectives. The study found structural inadequacies for the school space and omissions regarding the protection and safety of farmers and students during activities. It recommends adjustments to location, spatial organization, and material resources for school gardens to ensure the health of food producers.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityHealthPolicyCultivating a Jewish Eco- Education Framework: The Toronto Heschel School’s Teaching and Learning Garden
2021Nadine Ijaz, Paige Mawson · Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes · Canada (Toronto)
This study highlights the Toronto Heschel School's Teaching and Learning Garden, a Canadian Jewish day school program that fosters student learning on ecology and Jewish identity. Qualitative interviews with two educators and five alumni revealed that the Heschel program, like secular school gardens, implements experiential, interdisciplinary learning activities within a scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) framework. However, the Heschel program supplements these SEK activities with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) rooted in Judaic teachings, resulting in educational outcomes relevant to both universal applicability and Jewish identities.
Food educationCommunityPublic food forest opportunities and challenges in small municipalities
2021Sarah E. Coffey, John F. Munsell, Rico Hübner, Curtis R. Friedel · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Virginia)
A survey of 68 mayors (39% response rate) in Virginia, US, from communities under 25,000 population, investigated public food forest initiatives. Mayors identified long-term maintenance as the greatest barrier and noted that 78% of municipalities lack land use codes for food-producing trees and shrubs. While nearly 70% reported some public land food production, only one-fifth included food-producing trees. Mayors emphasized sociocultural programs and education over food access as the most compelling aspect.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood educationClimate changeAn Education of the Senses at the University of California, Berkeley
2021Cari Borja · Gastronomica The Journal of Food and Culture · United States (California)
To commemorate 50 years since the founding of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, in 1971, Alice Waters and University of California President Michael V. Drake planned an event for August 28, 2021, to gather educators, farmers, and others to address climate change. The event was postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 Delta variant cases, but a message was sent supporting the values of public education through the economic stimulus of local organic food procurement. Waters' vision explored possibilities in our relationship to food and community, connection to land, and the broader cultural picture.
Food educationCommunityHealthClimate changeCitizen Science in Vegetable Garden Cultivar Evaluation in Tennessee
2021Virginia R. Sykes, Natalie R. Bumgarner, Stefanie Brooke Keadle, A. Naseema and K.I. Wilson, Francisco Javier Perales Palacios · Horticulturae · United States (Tennessee)
The University of Tennessee Extension and research faculty developed the Home Garden Variety Trial (HGVT) program, a citizen science approach for cultivar evaluation. This collaborative effort involved over 450 individual gardeners in more than half of Tennessee's counties, conducting trials in their own gardens from 2017 over five years. The HGVT program serves as an effective tool to introduce gardeners to new crops and cultivars while providing previously unavailable data to researchers, supporting residential and community food production.
CommunityFood educationHealthDIYLet's Hear It For Ladybugs!: Observing Ladybugs Offers Opportunities To Integrate Language Arts Into A Life Cycle Unit
2021Rachel Wilson · Science and Children · United States
As part of a school garden project, second graders in the United States participated in integrated lessons exploring ladybug life cycles, culminating in the release of beneficial insects in our school garden. The unit aimed to connect life cycle concepts to a new organism, using a 5E format and integrating language arts activities. This approach met both science content objectives and English Language Arts standards.
Food educationBiodiversityPollinatorsEstrategia de educación y comunicación ambiental para el manejo integral de residuos orgánicos en la colonia zipor, Xalapa, ver.
2021Ana Karen Ricaño Ochoa, María de los Ángeles Chamorro Zárate Achamorro · South Florida Journal of Development · Mexico (Xalapa)
An environmental education and communication strategy for integrated organic waste management was applied in the Zipor neighborhood of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. This project aimed to raise awareness and provide training for residents, promote citizen participation in organic waste classification and biological treatment, and install community urban gardens for compost utilization. A total of 30 residents, divided into three groups (representing 5% of the neighborhood's inhabitants), participated in three stages: waste separation workshops, compost module construction, and urban garden installation.
CommunityCompostFood educationCreating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
2021Chelsea Hetherington, Sarah Cronin, Sara Langworthy, Cari Michaels · Journal of Human Sciences and Extension · United States
This study describes an Extension-Community partnership that designed learning environments to support elementary students experiencing chronic stress in the United States. The intervention included creating a calming room, building a community garden on school grounds, and providing educational programming for teachers, staff, and families. Interviews with 20 teachers and school staff revealed the program's success in supporting positive outcomes for students, staff, the school, and the surrounding community.
CommunityFood educationHealthERVATERAPIA
2021Eric Schwamberger, Adrian José Ramos, Alicia Weber, Eduarda Nunes, Emile de Lima Pollheim, Gabriela Santos Patriarca, Giovana Schwamberger, Isadora Bombassaro, Jamily Assini, Vitor Gomes, Kassia Kathellyn Barboza, Roberta Hoepers Mascarenhas, Rossie Katherine dos Santos, Samuel Carvalho de Matos-Filho, Vinícius Verwiebe, Tatiane Sueli Coutinho · Anais da Mostra Nacional de Iniciação Científica e Tecnológica Interdisciplinar (MICTI) - e-ISSN 2316-7165 · Brazil
A community garden with medicinal herbs serves as an excellent tool for study and environmental awareness for students involved in the project and the wider academic community, as well as for internal and external communities utilizing the accessible herbs. In this project, beds with various medicinal herbs, including ora-pro-nobis, mint, basil, horsetail, boldo, alfavaca, aloe vera, lemon balm, and lemongrass, were created and maintained. The project aims not only to provide natural treatment to the community but also, importantly, to raise awareness about the harms that excessive use of allopathic medicines can cause to metabolism.
CommunityFood educationHealthEscalamiento de la agroecología desde el huerto escolar y la importancia de reconocer la cultura, los alimentos y lugar
2021Helda Morales, Bruce G. Ferguson, Kimberly Chung, Ronald Nigh · Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente · Mexico (Chiapas)
This study explored the potential and limitations for agroecological scaling through formal educational structures, using the LabVida school gardens program in Chiapas, Mexico as a case study. Through training, educators gained an appreciation of agroecology and applied practices in their school gardens, although their understanding of agroecological principles and scientific process remained limited. The program's greatest impact was on educators’ eating habits and their perception of the value of local knowledge and its relevance to schoolwork.
Limited or null effectFood educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceTo What Extent Do Local Farmers' Markets, Community Supported Agriculture Programs, and Community Gardens Help Low-Income Families Improve Access to Fresh, Local Produce?
2021Christy Gene Somsen · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)
Farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, and community gardens, while aiming to help low-income families access fresh produce, often assist more middle-class families. In Utah, these programs could be improved, as the state does not utilize the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program or accept WIC Cash Value Vouchers, and has few Farm to School Programs.
Equity & displacementCommunityCSA & TeikeiWelfareHealthPolicyFood educationGrowing North Minneapolis: Connecting Youth and Community through Garden-based Experiential Learning
2020Mary Rogers, Illana Livstrom, Brandon Roiger, Amy Smith · HortTechnology · United States (Minneapolis)
Growing North Minneapolis (GNM) is an urban agriculture and youth development summer program in North Minneapolis, MN, run as a partnership between the University of Minnesota and community partners that recruits, trains, and employs youth aged 14–15 facing barriers to employment. Post-program qualitative surveys showed that youth learned across multiple domains of knowledge and valued the social interaction offered by the intergenerational mentorship structure.
Food educationCommunityWelfareConnecting Learning and Play in Farm-to-School Programs: Children's Culture, Local School Context and Nested Inequalities
2020· Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · USA
A study of how farm-to-school educators combine education and play in a student-centered learning environment, considering children's culture, local school context, and nested inequalities.
Food educationCommunityA Multi-Sectoral Approach Improves Early Child Development in a Disadvantaged Community in Peru: Role of Community Gardens, Nutrition Workshops and Enhanced Caregiver-Child Interaction: Project "Wawa Illari"
2020Doris González-Fernández, Ana Sofía Mazzini Salom, Fermina Herrera Bendezu, Sonia Huamán, Bertha Rojas Hernández, Illène Pevec, Eliana Mariana Galarza Izquierdo, Nicoletta Armstrong, Virginia Thomas, Sonia Vela Gonzáles, Carlos Gonzáles Saravia, Marilyn E. Scott, Kristine G. Koski · Frontiers in Public Health · Peru (Lima)
In peripheral settlements of the Pachacámac district of metropolitan Lima, Peru, community health promoters delivered a sequence of (1) home and community gardens, (2) 'conscious nutrition' and (3) parenting workshops (ICDP), comparing 113 children aged 0–3 in intervention communities with 127 in control communities at baseline, 8 and 12 months. The interventions significantly reduced the risk of food insecurity (adjusted risk ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.08–0.51) and of language delay (0.39, 0.19–0.82), but did not significantly improve motor or social/cognitive delay. Multiple micronutrient supplement use lowered motor delay risk (0.12), while households with more pets had higher risk of motor delay (3.24), social/cognitive delay (2.72) and food insecurity (1.73). Because gardens were bundled with nutrition and parenting components, the contribution of the gardens alone cannot be isolated.
Limited or null effectHealthFood educationCommunityWelfare“Sow, Grow, Know, and Show”: The Impact of School Gardens on Student Self-Perception in the Mississippi Delta
2020Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Wesley James, Karen Matthews · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · United States (Mississippi Delta)
This research evaluated the impact of school garden programs on fifth-grade students' garden knowledge, self-perception, and standardized test scores in the Mississippi Delta. The study found no effect on standardized test scores, but students showed increased garden knowledge and reported positive feelings about their future, teamwork, and leadership ability, supported by observations of joy and confidence.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthCommunityData Science Outreach Educational Program for High School Students Focused in Agriculture
2020Jasmine B. Sami, Zachary Stein, Krystin Sinclair, Larry Medsker · Journal of STEM education · United States
George Washington University (GWU) and USDA partnered to implement a two-week tuition-free summer camp (July 23-August 3, 2018) for high school students from the Washington Metro Area. The camp introduced participants to data analytics methods and tools using STEAM-related Open Data, focusing on food nutrition, forestry, and urban agriculture. Learning goals, including demonstrating basic data science knowledge and presenting results, were assessed using a survey tool, with positive results reported.
Food educationPROJETO HORTA COMUNITÁRIA NO BAIRRO NHAPINDAZAL IRATI-PR
2020Carolina Ferreira dos Santos, Bruno Hosrt, Daniele Ukan · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil
In the Nhapindazal neighborhood of Irati-PR, Brazil, a community garden project was implemented by the PET – Engenharias Group in partnership with "pastoral da criança." The project aimed to supplement food conditions and improve dietary habits for socially vulnerable families. Through a community meeting with representatives, plans for the garden's construction, maintenance, materials, and plant species were discussed. Academic students actively participated in the installation, and the community organized to maintain the garden, resulting in improved and diversified diets for those consuming its produce.
CommunityWelfareFood educationHealthLand, Language, and Food Literacy: Co-Creating a Curriculum at Lach Klan School with Gitxaała Nation
2020Ada P. Smith · Collaborative anthropologies · Canada
In Canada's Gitxaała Nation, the potential of the Gitxaała community garden and the summer reading program at Lach Klan School as a "food literacy" learning platform for achieving food security and food sovereignty was explored. This research suggests that hands-on learning activities integrating local Indigenous language and knowledge have the potential to contribute to food sovereignty goals by better equipping students to shape their food system.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationHealthWelfarePROJETO HORTA ESCOLAR NA BAHIA
2020Cassia Silva Santos Góes · Revista Integrativa de Inovações Tecnológicas nas Ciências da Saúde · Brazil
This paper documents the presentation of the “School Garden Project in Bahia” at the International Congress on Technological Innovation in Health Sciences, held from November 15 to 18, 2017, at IFBA SAJ. The presentation highlighted the school's experiences with a social community garden, including resistances, advancements, garden care outside school hours, and the teaching of composting and natural fertilizers using organic compounds.
Food educationCommunityCompostOrganic cycleHorta and composting project: solid waste treatment in public school in UrutaÃ
2020A. V. Silva, Jamerson Fábio Silva Filho, Dalcimar Regina Batista Wangen, M. L. C. Souza, E. L. Silva · Scientific Electronic Archives · Brazil (Urutaí)
This project at Maria Cândida de Jesus Municipal School in Urutaí, Brazil, engaged elementary students and staff in composting and school gardening to raise awareness about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Participants learned about environmental issues, practiced composting with Californian worms, and used the resulting compost to fertilize vegetables in a newly built school garden. The initiative successfully demonstrated student enthusiasm for selective waste collection, composting monitoring, and garden implementation.
Food educationCompostCommunityDevelopment and Implementation of a Longitudinal School-Based Community Garden Curriculum by Pediatric Residents
2020Lydia Maleknia, Vanessa Boshuizen, Deepika Parmar, Mengyou Wu, Catherine Pourdavoud · PEDIATRICS · United States
The REACH program of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California pediatrics residency aimed to develop a school-based gardening program for middle-school students to promote nutritional education. A needs assessment of 278 students revealed 33% experienced food insecurity and 51% consumed more than one sugary drink daily. After only three classes, 12 participating students reported improvements in eating at least five vegetables daily (from 58% to 66%) and in nutrition knowledge (from 20% to 50% accuracy in completing a "healthy plate").
Food educationCommunityHealthWelfareUM OLHAR GEOGRÁFICO A PARTIR DA HORTA ESCOLAR: EDUCAÇÃO SOCIOAMBIENTAL E SOBERANIA ALIMENTAR
2020Stéfanny da Cruz Nóbrega, Lara Cristine Gomes Ferreira · OKARA Geografia em debate · Brazil (Goiânia)
This article presents results from a university extension project between the Federal University of Goiás and elementary school students in Goiânia, Brazil. The project focused on socio-environmental education through an agroecological school garden, integrating theory and practice with didactic sequences on agrarian geography topics like food consumption awareness, socio-biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and soil management. Activities included workshops on vertical gardens and composting, a soil workshop, and field trips, aiming to exchange knowledge on agricultural production forms, agroecology, and food sovereignty, valuing family farming.
Food educationFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityCompostHeat Treatment Reduces Bacterial Contamination of Medicinal Plants Grown in A Community Garden
2020Cleusa Fernandes Ramos, Andréia Assunção Soares, Isabela Carvalho dos Santos, F. Ramos, Odair Alberton, Luciana Kazue Otutumi, Lidiane Nunes Barbosa, Ricardo de Melo Germano, Daniela Dib Gonçalves, Luiz Sérgio Merlini · Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology · Brazil
This 2020 study in Brazil evaluated the bacteriological quality of six medicinal plants from community gardens, including Cymbopogon citratus and Aloysia citriodora. Analysis of cold extracts revealed bacterial contamination, with Plectranthus barbalus showing the highest aerobic mesophile count and Aloysia citriodora the highest coliform count at 45°C. However, the study concluded that heat treatment (boiling for teas) can significantly reduce or eliminate this bacteriological contamination, making the plants safe for consumption.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthFood educationPedagogical Vegetable Garden: a participant-research of teacher’s training on education by projects
2020Sérgio Murilo de Souza Filho, Vanessa Aparecida Alves de Lima · · Brazil (Joinvile-SC)
A participant research on teacher education using a project-based learning model was conducted with three teachers from a municipal school in Joinvile-SC, Brazil. The study involved seven meetings with the teachers and three diagnostic tools, including a semi-open questionnaire and a focus group. The experience demonstrated that garden pedagogy can dynamize content within the school curriculum, and a pedagogical garden was constructed with the help of students throughout the process.
Food educationCommunityThe integration of food biodiversity in school curricula through school gardens and gastronomy in Brazil
2020Ana Rosa Domingues dos Santos, Nádia Lúcia Almeida Nunes, Alessandra Santos dos Santos, Camila Neves Soares Oliveira, Lídio Coradin, Daniela Moura de Oliveira, Neio Campos · · Brazil
This paper described the integration of food biodiversity into school curricula through school gardens and gastronomy activities in Brazil. School gardens were utilized as rich pedagogical tools in various classes, including arts, math, and languages, beyond the initially expected biology and geography. The gastronomy area focused on cultural and regional food habits and the technical and sensorial features of food, also serving as a pedagogical tool in classes from history and sociology to math and geography.
Food educationBiodiversityCommunity