Research & reports

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on 'victory gardens' — vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at homes and in public parks during World War I and II to supplement food rations and boost civilian morale. In the US during WWI, over 5 million gardens were established, with produce valued at more than $1.2 billion by war's end. In WWII, the US had 18 million victory gardens by May 1943 (12 million urban, 6 million farm-based), accounting for about one-third of US vegetable production; in 1944, 9-10 million short tons were harvested, matching total commercial fresh-vegetable production. In Britain, allotments roughly doubled to about 1.4 million by 1943.

· Wikipedia · United States

A Wikipedia article surveying the history and present state of community gardening in the United States. It traces early examples such as the Moravians' garden in Bethabara, North Carolina in the early 1700s, Detroit's municipally sponsored 'Pingree's Potato Patches' of the 1890s, World War I/II victory gardens, and the founding of the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) in 1978. Current figures cited include over 3,000 gardens statewide in New York, over 550 gardens on New York City property (plus 745 school gardens), about 1,400 gardens in Detroit, over 800 documented in Chicago, about 180 in Boston, and Seattle's P-Patch program with 1,900 plots across 68 locations totaling 23 acres.

City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods · Seattle Department of Neighborhoods · United States

The official page for Seattle's P-Patch Community Gardening Program, run by the city's Department of Neighborhoods. It describes 91 P-Patch community gardens distributed throughout the city where residents grow organic vegetables, flowers, and herbs in shared plots that also serve as community gathering and learning spaces.

Keep Growing Detroit · Keep Growing Detroit · United States

The official site of Keep Growing Detroit, an urban agriculture organization aiming for food sovereignty in which most fruits and vegetables consumed by Detroiters are grown within the city. It runs the Garden Resource Program, education series on topics like beekeeping and carpentry, and an online farm store, Grown in Detroit.

Black Creek Community Farm · Black Creek Community Farm · Canada

An 8-acre urban agriculture centre in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighbourhood. In 2024 it harvested 31,046 pounds across 49 crops and 115 varieties, engaged 7,500 program participants, donated 3,066 pounds of food to food banks, held over 200 workshops, and provided over 60 youth employment opportunities.

The Stop Community Food Centre · The Stop Community Food Centre · Canada

The official site of The Stop Community Food Centre, a Toronto-based food organization operating for over 40 years, running a food bank, community kitchen, and urban agriculture programs. It serves 522 meals per week, draws 126,000 annual farmers market visitors, and is supported by 180 volunteers, emphasizing community empowerment over a charity model.

Common Roots Urban Farm · Common Roots Urban Farm (Ecology Action Centre) · Canada

Official site of Common Roots Urban Farm, which operates two sites in Nova Scotia, Canada: BiHi Park in Halifax (established 2019) and Woodside in Dartmouth, on the grounds of Nova Scotia Hospital (active since 2015). It runs communal gathering gardens, teaching gardens, and 240 community allotment plots rented or donated to individuals and groups. The farm is now part of the Ecology Action Centre, working with partner organizations including Nourish Nova Scotia, YWCA Halifax, and Feed Nova Scotia.

Incredible Edible Todmorden · Incredible Edible Todmorden · United Kingdom

The official site of Incredible Edible Todmorden, the UK grassroots movement that plants and shares free-to-harvest vegetables, fruit and herbs in public spaces around the town. It runs with no office, no paid staff and no major funding, and states that the wider Incredible Edible network now numbers over 700 groups worldwide.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · United Kingdom

A donation page for the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, stating that over 30,800 schools and groups across the UK already receive support and around 2.1 million children take part in gardening activities through the campaign.

· Wikipedia · Global

Food neophobia is a fear of new things, referring specifically to a child's tendency to reject unfamiliar foods. About two-thirds of the variation is attributed to genetics, with psychosocial factors (observing parents' food preferences) and heightened bitterness sensitivity (supertasters) also implicated. Effective strategies include offering non-food rewards for trying new foods, parental modeling, and repeated exposure (acceptance may require around 15 tries), while pressure or punishment worsens the problem.

· Wikipedia · Global

The mere-exposure effect is the phenomenon whereby liking increases simply from familiarity with a stimulus, also called the familiarity principle in social psychology. Robert Zajonc led research on it from the 1960s to 1990s, showing that an initial fear/avoidance response to novel stimuli decreases with repeated exposure and turns into liking. A meta-analysis of 208 experiments by Bornstein (1989) found an effect size of r=0.26, with the effect typically reaching its maximum within 10-20 presentations.

· Wikipedia · Global

Experiential learning is defined as learning through experience, or more specifically learning through reflection on doing, distinguished from classroom-based learning by the learner's active role. David A. Kolb systematized the modern theory in the 1970s, building on the work of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget. Learning is described as a cycle of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, with genuine learning requiring active engagement, reflection, analytical skills, and decision-making/problem-solving skills.

農林水産省 · 農林水産省 · Japan

Shokuiku (food and nutrition education) is positioned as "the foundation for living, underlying intellectual, moral, and physical education," aiming to help citizens cultivate lifelong health and rich humanity. The Basic Act on Shokuiku was amended on May 27, 2026, and the 5th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Shokuiku was decided on June 24, 2026. MAFF operates a public-private food education platform, an award system for exemplary food-education organizations, and a national Shokuiku Month campaign, among other initiatives.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) · United Kingdom

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) runs a campaign to make plants "an integrated part of everyday school life," offering free biannual newsletters, online training courses, a five-level School Gardening Award, and a library of activity plans and teaching guides. It also offers guided and self-guided school visits to RHS gardens and a biodiversity project with the Natural History Museum (the National Education Nature Park). The page does not state specific participation figures such as the number of schools involved.

· Wikipedia · Global

A school garden is an area designated for students to learn how to grow plants and produce at school, aimed at improving students' health, social development, and academic achievement. In Europe, the practice began in Schleswig-Holstein in 1819 and spread, reaching about 20,000 schools in Austria, 45,000 in France, 8,000 in Russia, and 2,500 in Sweden by the early 20th century. Research suggests the experiential nature of gardening increases preference for and consumption of fruits and vegetables, though more quantitative research is needed to prove benefits to children's health and wellbeing.

· Wikipedia (Deutsch) · Germany

The article on Germany's intercultural gardens. The pilot project grew out of the initiative of immigrant families in Göttingen-Geismar in 1996, and as of 2025 more than 400 intercultural garden projects exist across the country. Support centres on the Stiftung Interkultur in Munich, described as a creation of the foundation partnership anstiftung & ertomis. The association at the movement's origin, Internationale Gärten e. V. Göttingen, was set up in 1998 and runs three gardens covering 11,000 square metres with around 70 families from 25 countries.

Oyewole Michelle T., Pellow David N., Cassels Susie · Environmental Justice · 米国

A study measuring soil lead by X-ray fluorescence at 31 Brooklyn public schools with active garden programmes, sampling both garden beds and adjacent school grounds. Proximity to 306 known environmental hazard sites was mapped geostatistically and combined with demographic data and soil-management surveys. Of the samples, 42% exceeded the US EPA's minimum screening level for child-accessible soils near known lead sources (100 ppm); garden soils showed lower average lead concentrations than adjacent school-ground soils. The authors argue that soil lead in schools, and the disparities in it, have received far less attention than lead in paint and water.

Municipalidad de Rosario · Municipalidad de Rosario · Argentina

A Rosario municipal procedural page describing a free training-visit programme for institutions and civic organizations to tour the city's gardens and Park Gardens and learn about agroecological practices, run by the Productive Spaces Coordination unit under the Social Economy Sub-secretariat. Appointments are booked at six district municipal centers on Wednesdays 9:00-13:30, with the programme's legal basis cited as Decree 2561/2004 and Ordinance 9044/13.

Municipalidad de Providencia · Municipalidad de Providencia · Chile

A municipal announcement for the 2026 Harvest Festival (Festival de la Cosecha), organized by the Municipalidad de Providencia in Santiago, Chile. The free family event runs from 10:00 to 18:00 on June 20, 2026, at the Espacio Verde Urbano on Padre Mariano 140, featuring a producer market of seasonal vegetables, seeds, and artisanal products, live cooking demonstrations, a home garden workshop, puppet shows, a giant squash competition, and musical performances.

Hadi A.A., Pratiwi P.I., Budiarti T., Arifin H.S., Pratiwi N.K., Alhakim M.A. · Tájökológiai Lapok · インドネシア・ボゴール（都市部・近郊）

Set against urbanisation that has cut farmland and limited access to fresh vegetables, this study evaluates garden towers as a vertical landscape element for community-based vegetable production. Using a descriptive-evaluative approach, it assesses 105 garden-tower units distributed to 21 women farmers groups in and around Bogor, Indonesia, and discusses their contribution to food availability and social-ecological resilience in dense settings.

· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Spain (Barcelona)

A study analysing both the agronomic and the organisational dimensions of Barcelona's community gardens, examining empirically how citizen-led urban gardens are managed and run.

名古屋市 東部・緑農政課 · 名古屋市 市民農園調査・広報資料 · Japan

Nagoya outreach and survey material cataloguing municipal allotment types — Nogomi, community, partitioned and Minori farms — with plot sizes, fees and recruitment timing, showing the reality of publicly operated rental gardens.

さいたま市 · さいたま市 農業統計・振興報告書 · Japan

Saitama's annual agricultural report summarising publicly supported urban agriculture including the urban agriculture council, land-coordinator programme and 79 public/private citizen farms with supply statistics.

Schreinemachers P., Kumar S.S., Uddin M.N. · Food Security · Bangladesh (Dhaka)

Panel data from 679 households across four Dhaka metropolitan city corporations shows that promoted urban home gardens significantly improved vegetable production and consumption, with 85% of participants being women.

Liu Y., Chanse V., Chicca F. · Urban Science (MDPI), Vol. 9, No. 8, Article 305 · New Zealand (Wellington)

This study quantifies Wellington, New Zealand's community gardens' capacity to meet post-disaster vegetable demand in terms of weight and nutrient content, finding current gardens insufficient alone but identifying substantial potential through expanded urban agriculture land use.