Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
22 results
Growing Greens in Cities for Healthy Lives and Spaces: The Case of Community Gardens in Chicago, Illinois Imparted to Philippine Situation
2026R P Mula, Molly Doane, Gabrielle Powell, Myer G. Mula · Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension Economics & Sociology · United States (Chicago)
This study visited, documented, and described 15 community gardens in Chicago, Illinois, and interviewed their leaders. It found the utmost importance of saving traditional crop seeds (heirlooms) for diversity, climate change mitigation, and health, as these are grown organically. Insights include reorienting mindsets, crafting garden requirement manuals, consolidating the value chain, and educating health workers on promoting community gardening.
CommunityHealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHeirloom & landraceClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureGrowing kalo (taro) to promote culture and health in the Continental US
2025Leialoha Ka'ula, Nicole Lee Kamakahiolani Ellison, Constance James, Ashley Oshiro, Kacyn Ideue, Kahoku Ka'ula, Alexandra Malia Jackson · Frontiers in Public Health · United States
An explanatory mixed-methods study using community-based participatory research and an Indigenous evaluation approach, examining a māla kalo (a community garden growing taro) run by Native Hawaiians living in the continental United States. At the end of the 2023 growing season, 12 volunteers and 5 programme leaders aged 18–75 completed a survey and interview. Satisfaction was high and participants wanted to take part more often; thematic analysis identified connection to self, community and land, learning and sharing knowledge, and connection to culture. With only 17 participants and no health outcome measures, the study cannot establish health effects — it documents how a community garden growing a traditional staple can serve as a site of cultural connection for a displaced Indigenous community.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityFood educationHealthRénover Cleveland : démolition, racisme et agriculture urbaine dans l’Amérique abandonnée
2024Pierric Calenge, Maie Gérardot · Métropolitiques · United States (Cleveland)
The work by Max Rousseau and Vincent Béal illuminates the ambiguities of a policy that organizes urban decline and racial segregation in Cleveland. This policy promotes urban degrowth and racial segregation, balancing algorithmic management and urban greening. The study focuses on the Rust Belt region, which experiences de-urbanization marked by the subprime crisis, racism, and segregation.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeBiodiversityFood educationElderlyFood lossOrganic cyclePollinatorsHeirloom & landraceFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureDigital agricultureDIYCompostFood educationWelfareElderlyFood lossOrganic cycleCommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsPolicyHealthEconomicsHeirloom & landraceUrban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureBioactive and nutritional compounds in fruits of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) landraces conserved among indigenous communities from Mexico
2023García-Vásquez R., Vera-Guzmán A.M., Carrillo-Rodríguez J.C., Pérez-Ochoa M.L., Aquino-Bolaños E.N., Alba-Jiménez J.E., Chávez-Servia J.L. · AIMS Agriculture and Food 8(3):832-850 · Mexico
Compared phenolics, vitamin C, carotenoids, capsaicinoids, and antioxidant activity in Oaxacan Huacle and De Agua pepper landraces versus commercial Jalapeño. Landraces showed higher flavonoid and carotenoid contents, underscoring indigenous germplasm value.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthCommunityEffect of Grafting Rootstock on the Antioxidant Capacity and Content of Heirloom Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Hydroponic Culture
2021Greathouse J., Henning S., Soendergaard M. · Plants 10(5):965 · United States
Grafted heirloom tomatoes (Black Krim, Green Zebra) and standard Big Beef onto rootstocks in hydroponics, measuring antioxidant capacity, phenolics, and lycopene. Specific rootstocks raised antioxidant capacity and altered phenolic content of heirlooms.
Heirloom & landraceHealthOrganic cycleConservation and Use of Latin American Maize Diversity: Pillar of Nutrition Security and Cultural Heritage of Humanity
2021Guzzon F., Arandia Rios L.W., Caviedes Cepeda G.M., Céspedes Polo M., Chavez Cabrera A., Muriel Figueroa J., Medina Hoyos A.E., Jara Calvo T.W., Molnar T.L., Narro León L.A. · Agronomy 11(1):172 · Latin America
Reviews the fundamental role of Latin American maize landraces for food security, livelihoods and culture, the threat of genetic erosion, and the current state of their conservation and use.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthCommunityMotor City Green: A Century of Landscapes and Environmentalism in Detroit by Joseph Stanhope Cialdella
2021T. G. McCarthy · Michigan Historical Review · United States
Joseph Stanhope Cialdella's book, "Motor City Green," describes how Detroit residents maintained various relationships with nature, including growing plants and food in their backyards and vacant lots, throughout the city's 130-year history. The book presents a series of episodes, from 1890s vacant lot programs to the Detroit Urban League's 1920s efforts to encourage gardening among African American residents and 1930s summer camps, which defined ideas about urbanism, nature, and relationships among residents.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsHeirloom & landraceUrban gardening and neglected and underutilized species in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
2020Manuela Alves da Cunha, Lidice Almeida Arlego Paraguassú, José Geraldo de Aquino Assis, Arthur Benjamin de Paula Carvalho Silva, Ryzia de Cassia Vieira Cardoso · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine · Brazil (Salvador)
A city-wide mapping of active food gardens in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, followed by site visits and interviews with gardeners. Only 18 active food gardens could be located in the whole municipality; 17 took part (8 communal, 9 private). Gardeners averaged 55.76 years old and were 52.9% male overall, but women made up 87.5% of communal-garden gardeners and had higher education levels. For 52.9% of respondents the garden was their main source of income; 82.4% ate the produce, 70.6% also sold it and 47.1% donated. Fifty-nine neglected and underutilized species (NUS) were recorded, with 76.5% of respondents reporting they eat 19 of them. The gardens supply affordable food and food diversity without government support — but the very small absolute number of active gardens in a city of this size is equally part of the finding.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceMemory, waterways, and ecocultural identity
2020Jeffrey Alan Hoffmann · · United States
Hoffmann examined oral histories and interviews (1995-1996, 2014, 2017) with elders of multiple ethnicities in a working-class urban agricultural neighborhood in the U.S. Southwest. The study found that while ecocultural memory fosters trust in shared water relationships, historical anxieties stemming from urban development violence can impede communities' ability to organize to protect and restore ancestral waterways.
Equity & displacementCommunityUrban–rural linkageHeirloom & landraceEspacios socioculturales y mecanismos de comunicación para el aprendizaje y apropiación de conocimientos sobre el uso de plantas medicinales y gastronómicas en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
2019Cinthia Asunción Peralta-González, Rodolfo Mondragón-Ríos, Eduardo Bello Baltazar · Estudios Sociales Revista de Alimentación Contemporánea y Desarrollo Regional · Mexico (San Cristóbal de Las Casas)
This qualitative study analyzed sociocultural spaces and communication mechanisms used for collective learning and knowledge appropriation regarding medicinal and gastronomic plant use among residents of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Ethnographic techniques were employed with members of the urban agriculture network Sembrando Jovel, citizens from the Santa Lucía neighborhood, and various city markets. Results identified formal, non-formal, and informal spaces linked by communication mechanisms such as intergenerational coexistence, daily practices, experimentation, knowledge exchange, classes, courses, workshops, diplomas, and mass media. The study was limited to a small number of families (four cases) in the Santa Lucía neighborhood regarding the domestic sphere. As a result of appropriation processes, knowledge about medicinal and gastronomic plant uses has been re-signified, adopting critical stances against food industries and in favor of personal, social, and cultural well-being.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceSeed exchange networks and food system resilience in the United States
2015· Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences · United States
Documents seed exchange networks in the United States (including the Seed Savers Exchange) and their role in food system resilience and heritage crop diversity.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityCBHL Members. CBHL 2015 Annual Meeting: Taste, Tradition and Beauty in the Edible Landscape. Member presentations.
2015Bill Musser · · United States (Iowa)
The 2015 CBHL annual meeting and conference was hosted by Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, from June 16-20, 2015. Held during SSE's 40th anniversary year, the conference theme reflected the growing public interest in creating edible landscapes.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceCBHL Members. CBHL 2015 Annual Meeting: Taste, Tradition and Beauty in the Edible Landscape. Saturday tours.
2015Bill 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.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityFood educationPeople, Plants, and Fungi: Examining the Ecological and Social Landscapes of the Swan Creek Park Food Forest
2014Renee Meschi · Sound Ideas (University of Puget Sound) · United States (Tacoma)
This research examined the plants, fungi, and people of Tacoma's Swan Creek Park Food Forest (SCPFF) in the United States. The study investigated the site's history, including indigenous plant use by the First People of Cascadia, Native American food sovereignty projects, and the influence of immigration waves. It concluded with recommendations for ethical development and cultural sensitivity at the SCPFF.
CommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceHeirloom & landraceThe Big Watermelon: A Cultural History of Florida's Brooksville Ridge
2013Douglas E. Ponticos · Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) · United States (Florida)
A thesis on the cultural history of Florida's Brooksville Ridge in the United States traced the changing cultural landscapes of west-central Florida, from pre-Columbian and Seminole landscapes to the rise of the Ridge. Using primary and secondary documents, including local primary sources such as photographs of locals replanting forests and accounts of community gardens and canning, the study traced how a uniquely settled Floridian culture emerged from unsettled landscapes during the early 20th century, amidst war and depression.
CommunityHeirloom & landraceRooted in Place: Growing and Learning from Cultural Tradition in an Urban Food Desert
2013Kevin J. Holohan · Language arts journal of Michigan · United States
This paper is based on an empirical study conducted at a charter high school in a Midwestern US metropolitan area. The study investigated how social ecology, with urban agriculture as a hands-on practice, fosters an ideal of citizenship through a program where students collect traditional Puerto Rican recipes from elders and grow the necessary produce within their community.
Food educationCommunityHeirloom & landraceFood sovereignty & justiceAgricultura urbana e conservação de agrobiodiversidade: um estudo de caso em Mato Grosso, Brasil
2012Mirella Cultrera, Maria Christina de Mello Amorozo, Fábio Cop Ferreira · SITIENTIBUS série Ciências Biológicas · Brazil (Mato Grosso)
An ethnobotanical study in five peripheral neighborhoods of Santo Antônio do Leverger, Mato Grosso, Brazil, surveyed 135 households and detailed 30 to characterize food plant cultivation. Ninety-seven species from 38 families were identified across homegardens, fields, and empty lots. While some species were common, the similarity between species/varieties across households was generally below 50%, and many had low frequency, revealing a vulnerability to species loss despite social network circulation.
Limited or null effectBiodiversityCommunityHeirloom & landraceUrban–rural linkageAssessing the vulnerability of traditional maize seed systems in Mexico to climate change
2011Bellon M. R., Hodson D., Hellin J. · PNAS 108(33):13432-13437 · Mexico
Assesses farmer-based traditional maize seed systems in Mexico and their vulnerability to climate change, with implications for maintaining and adapting landrace diversity in situ.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityPolicyHere Live the Stories: Working the Land through Indigenous Knowledge
2011Joyce Rain Anderson · Journal of international women's studies · United States (Bridgewater)
A project in Bridgewater, United States, is creating an Indigenous garden at the BSU community gardens, involving the construction of a traditional wetu dwelling and the cultivation of a "three-sisters" and medicinal garden. Local Native participants are constructing and tending the garden, and will be instructed in ancestral ways. The initiative aims to support and advance Native culture, allowing students and community members to learn about traditional gardening and dwelling construction from a Native perspective.
CommunityFood educationHeirloom & landraceDIVERSIDADE BIOLÓGICA NA AGRICULTURA PERIURBANA DO DISTRITO FEDERAL, MÉXICO
2010Hiran Moran Ramon Soriano-Robles · Ateliê Geográfico · Mexico (Mexico City)
In peri-urban agriculture in Mexico City, a traditional multi-cropping agro-ecosystem combining diverse species like maize, beans, and amaranth is preserved. Maize and amaranth are central to productive activities and are part of Mexico City's biological and cultural heritage. The conservation and utilization of this diversity can enhance the genetic potential of native crops, contribute to local agricultural development and sustainability, and potentially offer alternatives for a future global food crisis.
BiodiversityPeri-urban agricultureHeirloom & landraceFood sovereignty & justiceOral History Interview: Daniel Arp (1140)
2010Emma Schroeder, Daniel J. Arp · · United States
In a 2010 interview with Emma Schroeder, Dan Arp recounted his experiences living in Eagle Heights as a graduate student in the late 1970s. Arp shared his recollections of participating in the gardens with fellow Eagle Heights residents, discussing the variety of plants and vegetables grown, organic gardening practices, weeds, pesticides, and irrigation. This interview was conducted for inclusion in a Master's thesis focusing on the Eagle Heights Community Gardens.
CommunityOrganic cycleHeirloom & landraceSaving Seeds, Saving Culture: A Case Study of a Heritage Seed Bank
2007· 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.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunity