Research & reports

Laure DeMattia, Shannon Lee Denney · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · United States

This article reviews community-based programs in the United States aimed at slowing the rate of childhood obesity, which affects one in three children. It examines interventions such as recipe preparation demonstrations, community gardens, and school-based curricula. The article concludes with suggestions for intervention efforts and funding priorities, emphasizing the importance of primary prevention focusing on high-risk populations of low-income overweight women of childbearing years.

Nathan McClintock · · United States (California)

This paper uses urban political ecology to explore the rise of urban agriculture (UA) in Oakland, California, where the city aims to source 30% of its food locally, partly from UA in "food deserts." The analysis argues that 20th-century industrial capital flows and racialized urban planning concentrated capital devaluation in the flatlands, leading to the creation of food deserts. Food justice activists are mobilizing through UA to counter these uneven transformations.

Public Affairs Office · DigitalCommons - CalPoly (California State Polytechnic University) · United States (Los Angeles)

Students and faculty at Cal Poly cultivated 4,000 fruit and vegetable plants on 180 vertical panels, which are intended for mounting on commercial building walls in Los Angeles' inner city. These vertical panels were designed to maximize growing space in congested urban locations. The project aims to provide a practical solution for accessing fresh, affordable produce.

Gary Paul Green, Michael L. Dougherty · Community Development · United States (Door County, Wisconsin)

This paper examined culinary tourism through a case study of the Kingdom So Delicious program in Door County, Wisconsin. The analysis was based on intensive interviews with owners/managers of four restaurants and surveys of 30 retailers and 40 farmers in the region. The most frequently cited concerns with producing for local establishments involved in culinary tourism were low prices and challenging logistics.

Laura Greenwold Derks · The South Carolina State Library Digital Collections (South Carolina State Library) · United States

A 2008 survey was conducted among 175 public and private schools in South Carolina to assess the impact of school gardens. The survey covered garden type, activities, costs, and assessment. Most responding schools indicated that students participate in the garden, suggesting opportunities for student interaction with the garden.

Nathan McClintock · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This paper explores the rise of urban agriculture (UA) in Oakland, California, using an urban political ecology framework. A macro-level structural analysis of Oakland's history reveals how 20th-century industrial capital flows and racialized urban planning concentrated capital devaluation in the flatlands, ultimately giving rise to food deserts. The study suggests that food justice activists are mobilizing through UA to counter these uneven transformations, despite critiques that some urban garden programs are neoliberal, emphasizing self-betterment while filling state-left gaps.

Anna Differnderfer, Tim Reusch, Nic Acker, Candace Moyer, Marcy Gaston, Charles A. Holt, Alison H. Harmon · · United States

This report describes the Towne's Harvest Garden, a 3-acre diversified vegetable plot at the MSU Horticulture Farm, established by the MSU Friends of Local Foods Student Organization in 2006. The garden aims to raise awareness about local foods and encourage sustainable lifestyles on campus and in the community. Its name honors a former landowner.

Kathryn Skelton · University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) · United States

The District 13 Gardens Committee sought a Conceptual Master Plan for the Eleanor Graham Community Garden and the surrounding green space. This project summary shows the community input process and includes a copy of the final site design.

Erin Foster West · · United States (Minneapolis)

This study explores the interaction between community gardens and public agencies in Minneapolis and Hennepin County, United States. It identifies that despite a large number of community gardens in the Twin Cities Metro Area, there is no comprehensive city policy for community gardening, making land acquisition difficult as vacant land becomes scarce. The research inventories public policies related to land use, water, and compost specific to community gardens, highlighting the need for public agencies to provide essential services.

Anne‐Marie Hamelin, Céline Mercier, Annie Bédard · Public Health Nutrition · Canada (Quebec City)

A study in Quebec City, Canada, interviewed 55 food-insecure households and 59 stakeholders to compare perceptions of food security needs and community programs. While both groups agreed on the need for better financial resources, households reported that food quality and access were neglected, and that existing programs, even combined, were insufficient to meet their needs. Stakeholders, however, largely perceived households as satisfied with programs and believed their primary need was a basic amount of food. The study concluded that community programs alone cannot bring about the social change needed to prevent food insecurity.

Wayne C. Zipperer · Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America · United States

The Urban Ecosystem Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America implemented a quarterly newsletter and field trip in 2007, sponsored two symposia, and voted to support travel awards for students presenting at the 2008 ESA meeting. The section's officers met their objectives by establishing these initiatives and will hold a meeting on August 5th to nominate new officers, discuss future events, and present travel awards.

Monika Roth, Leigh MacDonald Rizzo · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States

This paper proposes developing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) fruit and vegetable demonstration garden and six hands-on IPM lessons for youth gardening programs. The initiative aims to address the disconnect between children and the outdoors, promoting physical activity and improved diets. The lessons, to be piloted at Ithaca Children’s Garden, will teach youth and adults about pest identification, beneficial insects, and pest management, with training offered to school garden coordinators.

M. Pilar Viviente · Visual Culture & Gender · United States (New York City)

This visual essay discusses the feminist pedagogy of double-coding embedded in the "SAVE NATURE-SAVE CULTURE" (2006) art installation. The installation, located in Le Petit Versailles (LPV), a community garden in New York City's East Village, addressed the sustainability of community gardens. LPV is a public garden maintained by neighbor volunteers, focusing on environmental sustainability and themes such as housing, graffiti, gender, and sexuality.

S. Karrie Reid, Lorence R. Oki · California Agriculture · United States (California)

In California, there is a growing need for landscape plants requiring fewer water and chemical inputs. A program at UC Davis screened ten unused or underused California native plants for low water tolerance in open-field conditions during summer 2006. No significant differences were found in summer growth or physical appearance across four irrigation levels. Six species maintained a favorable appearance throughout the season and are now undergoing further assessment in demonstration gardens across seven climate zones.

Ronald Labonté, Glenn Laverack · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · Canada

In a Canadian city, a group of single mothers living in poverty started a community garden. This garden was primarily about creating capacity and empowering experiences, such as successfully negotiating with authorities, rather than just food production. For some, it served as a tool for political activism, while for others, it provided a sense of control and coherence through gardening.

Dorothy Blair · The Journal of Environmental Education · United States

An evaluative review of U.S. literature on children's gardening found that quantitative studies showed positive outcomes in science achievement and food behavior. However, these studies did not consistently demonstrate improvements in children's environmental attitude or social behavior, and validity and reliability issues reduced general confidence in the results. Qualitative studies documented a wider range of desirable outcomes, but teacher enthusiasm varied based on support and horticultural confidence.

Sue McCraven · PCI Journal · United States

A short article on the 909 Walnut Street Parking Structure in Kansas City, Missouri, which received PCI's Best Sustainable Design award in 2007. John Tanner, P.E., senior engineer at project specialty engineering firm FDG Inc. of Arvada, Colorado, discusses the challenges of building a parking structure engineered to support a rooftop garden.

Evan Green · · United States (California)

A literature meta-analysis on lead contamination in urban farms was applied to Alemany Farm in San Francisco, California, where soil lead concentrations range from 60 to 720 ppm. It found that every food crop except tree fruits may pose a health risk if grown in Alemany Farm's soil. A phytoremediation plan using Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) to remove lead was found to exceed the farm's available budget, and its timescale made it impractical. The study concludes that phytoremediation is generally not feasible for small-scale urban farms and that other measures are needed to reduce lead exposure for urban farmers.

Alvin D. Sokolow, Sonja Varea Hammond, Maxwell Norton, Evan E. Schmidt · California Agriculture · United States (California)

An exploratory study compared high- and low-conflict urban-agricultural edges in four crop-growing communities across two California counties, where about 2.5 million agricultural acres lie adjacent to or near nonfarm residences; a separate sidebar analyzed two edge situations involving animal and nursery operations in San Diego County. High conflict levels were found to stem largely from residents' unfamiliarity with agricultural activities, though conflict also related to specific farming practices; the study presents these as tentative generalizations and poses questions for further systematic research rather than firm solutions.

Philip E. Gates, Libby Gravatt, Tyler Mellos, Alex Miller, Dario Turjanski · Digital Commons - Trinity University (Trinity University) · United States

A rainwater collection system built for a small community garden in San Antonio, Texas, designed to operate as efficiently as possible for irrigation. The paper covers the original design problem and proposed solution, the construction process, and evaluation of the final design, including experiments run to determine specific building parameters. Once built, the system successfully distributed water through the garden plot using its component parts; drip hoses flowed at an average of 0.64 gallons per hour per foot, above the 0.45 GPH/ft minimum target, at a water height of 36 inches from the ground. The paper outlines the complete stepwise construction process and offers recommendations for future or similar systems.

Kevin C. Matteson, John S. Ascher, Gail Langellotto · Annals of the Entomological Society of America · United States (New York City)

Bees were surveyed over 4 years in community gardens in heavily developed neighborhoods of the Bronx and East Harlem, New York City, yielding 1,145 individuals from 54 species (13% of recorded New York State bee fauna). Soil-nesting individuals were relatively rare (25%), possibly due to a lack of suitable nesting soils, and parasitic species were scarce (5.6% of species, 2.6% of individuals); exotic species were common, comprising 27% of individuals and 19% of species collected. Compared with other bee faunal surveys in New York and New Jersey, including Central Park and Prospect Park, bee richness in these urban gardens was reduced and the species composition was biased toward exotic and cavity-nesting bees, though the gardens still supported a diverse bee assemblage despite their small size and location within highly urbanized areas.

Michelle Lee D’Abundo, Andrea M. Carden · Community Development · United States

A Community Garden Education Program created to combat obesity in a low-income community in eastern North Carolina, United States, was examined through observations conducted throughout the program and two focus groups held at the end of its first phase. The focus groups found that the administrators' initial program goals, centered on obesity reduction, differed from participants' own goals, which centered on wellness and community development. Participants also reported improved food sustainability as a result of the program.

Carolyn L. Hufford · EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University (Cleveland State University) · United States (New York City)

This historical account traces urban agriculture in Cleveland, Ohio, across the 20th century into the present. It documents recurring revivals of city-land food cultivation in response to economic hardship—working men's farms during the Great Depression, victory gardens during World War II, community gardens established during urban renewal, and present-day market gardeners of the local food movement—along with the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture Program (CPSHP), which trained generations of student gardeners until it ended in 1978, after which some former school garden sites (tract gardens) became community gardens, and notes that greater Cleveland was once home to America's largest concentration of farming acreage under glass (Rose, 1950).

Wakefield S., Yeudall F., Taron C., Reynolds J., Skinner A. · Health Promotion International 22(2):92-101 · Canada

Qualitative Toronto case study using observation, focus groups and interviews. Gardeners perceived numerous health benefits, including improved food access, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and community cohesion.

· Society & Natural Resources · United States

Case study of a nonprofit heritage seed bank (the Seed Savers Exchange), examining the cultural significance of heirloom seed saving and exchange.