Research & reports

Philippe Robert-Demontrond, Vanessa Beaudouin, Isabelle Dabadie · Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition) · Global

This article examines consumer engagement in community-supported agriculture (CSA) programmes, an alternative direct-selling model, using ethnographic fieldwork and cultural theory as an anthropological analytical framework. It finds that CSA programmes function as "community enclaves" operating outside of and against the conventional market, and that different cultures coexist within the broader CSA movement. This diversity of worldviews generates tensions, but their complementarity is described as proving positive for the movement.

Luz Dary Agudelo Gutiérrez · Journal of research in engineering sciences. · Colombia

In Colombia, this study aimed to implement urban agriculture as a pedagogical and didactic strategy for training vulnerable populations in the production and consumption of healthy food, oriented toward food security. To structure a proposed design for agroecological gardens, the researchers carried out a participatory validation process with the community and supporting local professionals, aiming to spread knowledge and build community ownership of the project. The initiative aims to use vacant urban land for gardening that increases biodiversity while strengthening food security.

Silvia Rodríguez Navarro, Juan Esteban Barranco Florido, Victor Hugo Marín Cruz, Roberto Alejandro Terrón Sierra · Sociedades Rurales, Producción y Medio Ambiente · Global

To identify control alternatives for Macrodactylus pests in urban agriculture zones, this study evaluated the biopesticide action of enzymatic extracts from the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana, Isaria fumosorosea, and Metarhizium anisopliae against Macrodactylus infuscatus, an insect of economic importance. The fermentative extracts showed chitinolytic and proteolytic activity that degraded the insect cuticle and caused mortality. After 12 days, survival was lowest with I. fumosorosea extract (20%), followed by B. bassiana (25%) and M. anisopliae (38%), versus 48% in the control. With transformed data, I. fumosorosea again showed the lowest survival (10%), followed by B. bassiana (18%) and M. anisopliae with the highest survival (31%) (p 0.0026). Mean time to death was shortest for I. fumosorosea (5 days), followed by B. bassiana (7 days) and M. anisopliae (9.5 days), all significantly different from the control (p 0.05). This is described as the first study applying these biological control agents to M. infuscatus; treated insects showed decreased food consumption and mobility, apparently due to fungal metabolite effects.

Katyelle Rafael, Ariella Andrade Marchioro, Cristiane Maria Colli, Bruna Tiaki Tiyo, Fernanda Ferreira Evangelista, Renata Coltro Bezagio, Ana Lúcia Falavigna-Guilherme · Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · Brazil

This study genotyped Giardia duodenalis in raw-eaten vegetables (crisp lettuce, regular lettuce, kale, chicory, and rocket) sampled from street markets and community vegetable gardens in an urban area of southern Brazil. Researchers analyzed 130 samples from street markets and 130 from community gardens (260 total), washing them in Tween 80 solution, filtering through a cellulose acetate membrane, amplifying the GDH gene by semi-nested PCR, and genotyping positive samples by PCR-RFLP. 7.3% (19/260) of samples tested positive for G. duodenalis, from both street markets (10/130) and community gardens (9/130), including both organic and non-organic products. Assemblage AI predominated, but assemblages B and E, which carry zoonotic potential, were also found. The study concludes this points to a need for investigating commercially sold raw vegetables and establishing stricter quality control.

Melanie Bedore · Social & Cultural Geography · Canada

Drawing on mail-in surveys and interviews with participants in the Good Food Box (GFB) community food program in south-eastern Ontario, Canada, this qualitative study used Foucault's later work to examine socio-spatial relations of care for self and proximate others in food provisioning. GFB participation was found to be predominantly a self-caring act motivated by frugality and physical health; where care for others was expressed, the dominant themes were helping less economically fortunate others, local farmers and family.

Miriam Hermi Zaar · OKARA Geografia em debate · Brazil

Arguing that analyzing territory across multiple scales requires an analytical framework grounded in the dynamic, repeated interweaving of elements and processes that combine into — and clash as — diverse "territorial fragments," this paper examines urban agriculture as a site where city and countryside, urban and rural, and their diverse practices approach, blend and are sometimes confused with one another. Focusing on horticulturists in the Gramorezinho Community in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, as its case, the study shows that historical and spatial singularities — environmental, socioeconomic and administrative — have produced distinct processes that at times align and at other times contradict one another.

N. Delille · WORLD OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT · Global

This article examines the concept of ecological citizenship -- which positions citizens as agents of change and sources of progress, in contrast to environmental policy's long-standing treatment of citizens as passive actors -- against the backdrop of the rise of community-supported agriculture (CSA). It argues that this new form of sustainable consumption can be considered tangible evidence for Dobson's theory of ecological citizenship, but states that the scientific literature needs to take more interest in the topic to understand its implications for public policy, which it says has not yet been done.

John Ikerd · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

An opinion piece arguing that although some critics view the growing popularity of urban agriculture as a superficial response to concerns about urban food deserts, it could instead become an important part of the U.S. food system, as it already is in much of the rest of the world. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 800 million people worldwide cultivate fruits and vegetables or raise livestock in cities, and the World Watch Institute estimates that urban agriculture produces 15 to 20 percent of the world's food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not yet collect data on urban agriculture, but urban gardens are described as an increasingly important source of fresh produce in some cities, particularly the inner-city areas of older post-industrial cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia, and Camden, New Jersey.

Kadarso Kadarso, Rini Raharti · Jurnal Pertanian Agros · Indonesia

This study, aiming to identify promising urban farming commodities and develop agricultural production toward food self-sufficiency in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, used a combined qualitative and quantitative approach with Location Quotient, Dynamic Location Quotient, and SWOT analysis. Mergangsan, Ngampilan, Tegalrejo, Kotagede, Mantrijeron, Gondokusuman, Wirobrajan, Pakualaman, Umbulharjo and Kraton were identified as economic-base areas, while Gedongtengen, Gondomanan, Danurejan and Jetis were non-base areas. Mergangsan, Ngampilan, Kotagede, Danurejan, Gondokusuman and Jetis showed faster development potential, while Gedong Tengen, Gondomanan, Tegalrejo, Pakualaman, Mantrijeron, Wirobrajan, Umbulharjo and Kraton showed slower development potential. Based on the SWOT analysis, the study proposed strategies including leveraging economic-base strengths and strengthening agricultural extension officers (S-O), promoting farming and improving farm management (W-O), improving infrastructure quality and marketing efficiency (S-T), and expanding market share while noting the constraint that other non-agricultural businesses are more promising (W-T).

Bronwen Morgan, Declan Kuch · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · Global

A chapter draws on an extensive study of grassroots innovation responding to climate change, spanning a continuum from social activism to social enterprise, examining the diverse motivations of entrepreneurs who started community-supported agriculture projects, car-sharing schemes, and co-working spaces. It shows how entrepreneurs' differing biographical trajectories shape the initiatives they create around economic, environmental, and social benefits. The chapter argues these benefits must be understood through the ambiguity of a socio-legal lens: while "sharing" initiatives may occasionally catalyze opportunities to move beyond neoliberalism, the ways lawyers and legal techniques shape the infrastructure of collaboration are deeply implicated in the economics of the neoliberal inheritance — meaning such sharing-economy governance remains entangled with, rather than genuinely escaping, neoliberal economic structures.

Fábio Cunha Coelho, Enilce Maria Coelho, Monika Egerer · Scientia Agricola · Global

A review paper on the consumption of locally produced food examines its relationship to local and global sustainability, the effect of transport distance ("food miles"), low-carbon farming practices, urban agriculture's contribution to local food, and links to nutrition and health. It states that transportation is not the sole determinant of how efficiently local food is consumed — the agricultural technologies used are often more responsible for the degree of sustainability — and that local production does not always mean lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Eva Olsson, Eva Kerselaers, Lone Søderkvist Kristensen, Jørgen Primdahl, Elke Rogge, Anders Wästfelt · Sustainability · Europe

A study focusing on peri-urban land in Gothenburg (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Gent (Belgium) analyzed the relationship between peri-urban food production and urban resilience. It found that arable farming has declined in all three areas since 2000 due to urban expansion and recreational land use changes. While policies for farmland preservation exist, strategies for local food production are not expressed in current planning documents, and competing land uses and high dependence on global food systems reduce peri-urban food production and improvements in urban food security.

Cristina D’Alessandro, Kobena T. Hanson, George Kararach · African Geographical Review · Southern Africa

This paper critically examined existing literature on peri-urban agriculture in Southern Africa, arguing it is a viable livelihood response to feeding urban residents. Despite its potential, the literature indicates that peri-urban agriculture does not play a major role in Southern Africa. The study concluded that a lack of political will and weak or absent policy frameworks, stemming from capacity deficits, hinder its promotion.

Pierpaolo Mudu, Alessia Marini · Antipode · Italy

In Italy, the occupation of abandoned urban spaces for "orti urbani" (urban gardens) has increased within the squatting movement over the last 10 years. The city of Rome shows widespread activity in organizing self-managed spaces for growing fruits and vegetables. These initiatives support food autonomous configurations and represent a strategy to re-appropriate and commune urban space.

Carolyn Dimitri, Lydia Oberholtzer, Andy Pressman · British Food Journal · United States

Based on a 2012 national survey of urban farmers in the USA (35 questions), this study analyzed the social missions of urban farms, their extent, and differences and similarities among farms with varying missions. The survey found that food production is an essential mission for all urban farms, and some also have social missions related to food security, education, and community building. Farms with explicit social missions were found to donate a higher share of food and were less likely to own farmland compared to market-oriented farms.

John Crossan, Andrew Cumbers, Robert McMaster, Deirdre Shaw · Antipode · United Kingdom (Glasgow)

This paper examines community gardens in Glasgow, acknowledging their vulnerability to neoliberal cooptation where citizen work may alleviate state service provision. However, it argues that even with neoliberal practices, these gardens cultivate collective practices that suggest a progressively transformative polity. This form of citizen participation, termed "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) Citizenship, encourages reconsideration of relationships and effective political practice.

Christine Hvitsand · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Norway

This article explores why Norwegian producers and consumers engage in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), identifying distinct values and motivations related to environmental protection, justice, health, participation, and communication. While CSA demonstrates transformational power in the agri-food system through sustainable practices and power reallocation, the challenge remains to upscale these actions and prevent the dilution of core values and agroecological practices.

Daniela Gasperi, Giuseppina Pennisi, Niccolò Rizzati, F. Magrefi, Giovanni Giorgio Bazzocchi, Umberto Mezzacapo, Monique Centrone Stefani, Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)

This paper analyzed current practices in the requalification of vacant areas as urban gardens in Bologna, Italy, using six case studies across four types of vacant areas. For most cases, urban horticulture improved the image and quality of the areas and provided social benefits like improved life quality, food access, and social interaction. Strong differences were found between top-down and bottom-up initiatives, with bottom-up approaches being preferable for citizen engagement.

Piroska Nagy · Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) · Global

This study provides an overview of the development, geographical emergence, and key values of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) globally and in Hungary, using secondary research methods. The roots of CSA trace back to Rudolf Steiner's ideas in the 1920s, forming the basis for CSA movements in Germany, Switzerland, and the Americas. In contrast, the French AMAP and Hungarian CSA are based on the teikei communities that emerged in the 1970s. Both models were found to be motivated by consumers' desire for access to healthy food, with consumers initiating their establishment.

Edwin Joseph, Elizabeth O'Dea · Advances in environmental engineering and green technologies book series · United States (South Bend)

This chapter examines South Bend, Indiana, a city facing urban decay and food insecurity among its poor, similar to some developing countries. It reviews the city's history, economic strategies, and efforts by various organizations to alleviate poverty and hunger. The chapter advocates for integrating spatial technologies, such as GIS, to promote collaboration and sustainable urban agriculture among diverse stakeholders to address poverty and malnutrition.

Eromosele George Oko-Oboh, Philip A. Adewuyi · · Nigeria

This work developed an affordable microcontroller-controlled home irrigation system for urban farmers in Nigeria, aiming to conserve water and mitigate urban poverty and food insecurity. The system, utilizing a PIC16F877A microcontroller, was designed to be cheap in procurement, maintenance, and running costs compared to conventional irrigation. Performance tests conducted in the Proteus VSM environment showed improved performance and energy savings over existing conventional irrigation systems.

Antonia Bousbaine, Christopher Bryant · Challenges in Sustainability · Global

This article proposes Action Research as a key approach for research to contribute to sustainable solutions in urban agriculture. It describes the researcher's roles, such as providing information, counseling, and organizing meetings, which are adopted based on requests from actors like citizens and farmers. The article synthesizes relevant research on sustainable agricultural systems in periurban areas and the co-authors' own research over eight years, identifying patience, process emphasis, and multi-actor participation as necessary characteristics of Action Research.

Alex Franklin, Imre Kovách, Bernadett Csurgó · Sociologia Ruralis · Global

This article qualitatively examined a public sector-led initiative to instigate co-production of community food growing, focusing on the discretionary practice of front-line public sector workers. The study found that public sector-led initiatives lack sufficient intention or scope to transform existing social orders. However, they do contribute to propagating individual and smaller-scale occurrences of social innovation in community food security.

Zachary Schrank, Katrina Running · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States

This study analyzed consumer motivations in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs using interview data from 58 members in a large southwestern US city. Researchers investigated whether members were primarily motivated by individual interests (e.g., nutritional benefits, taste) or collective concerns (e.g., environmental, economic). Findings indicated that CSA members pursued individualist and collectivist goals equally, emphasizing environmental issues and sustainability through local organic consumption as a pathway to individual health.

Irene Antoni-Komar · HiBiFo – Haushalt in Bildung & Forschung · Global

This study evaluated how new food-related economic forms, such as urban gardening, food coops, and community-supported agriculture, contribute to reshaping consumption practices and market relationships to foster a sustainable food economy. Based on empirical data, the research elucidated the specific characteristics and transformative potentials of these initiatives. The question is whether these initiatives can transform the prevailing food system from the bottom up.