Research & reports

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.

Ceccanti F., Bischi A., Desideri U., Baccioli A. · Energy Conversion and Management · 国際比較（トロンハイム・上海・ドバイを想定したモデル計算）

Filling a gap left by studies that assessed vertical-farming energy use and cost-effectiveness with simplified models, this paper isolates how individual input parameters drive efficiency, sustainability and economic viability using a detailed modelling framework with sensitivity and correlation analyses. It evaluates 162 scenarios combining three levels of temperature, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and CO2 concentration across the socio-environmentally distinct Trondheim, Shanghai and Dubai regions, at two insulation thicknesses. Because of HVAC and dehumidification, crop productivity stays optimal regardless of insulation or external climate. PPFD dominates growth (correlation 0.85), ahead of CO2 (0.36) and temperature (0.22), and also drives energy consumption (0.73). Lowest specific energy consumption coincides with lowest productivity (55 kg/m2), and the cheapest levelized cost of lettuce came at 24 degC, 250 umol/m2s PPFD, 1400 ppm CO2 with insulation (102 kg/m2). Only decarbonised energy systems can support vertical farming without raising CO2 emissions relative to imported lettuce.

Glaros A., Newell R., Pizzirani S., Newman L. · Urban Transitions · カナダ・ブリティッシュコロンビア州ローワーメインランド（都市圏）

Using the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada as a case study, this paper defines and assesses the tradeoffs across six common scenarios for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) implementation. Land use considerations and operational priorities define the scenarios and weight the modelling criteria. Geospatial modelling estimates the share of the population within walking distance of potential CEA sites that could be supplied with their daily intake of leafy greens, alongside associated yields, energy use, water use and potential land sparing. Across all scenarios, between 4% and over 100% of nearby populations could be served, demonstrating both the promise of hyper-local food provisioning and how sharply outcomes swing with siting and operational goals.

Arun Kumar, Sandhya Prajapati · · Global

Urban farming has emerged as a viable approach that encourages intensive farming techniques and urban wastewater to sustainably generate food. This approach optimizes available urban spaces like rooftops, vacant lots, and vertical structures to cultivate food within city boundaries. It lessens reliance on lengthy supply chains and promotes a clean, sustainable environment by minimizing resource consumption, including fresh water and pesticides.

Wang, Junrong · Digital Commons - RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) · Global

This project uses landscape architecture to reduce carbon emissions from restaurants by implementing compost gardens that shorten compost transportation routes. These gardens, placed on roofs and at ground-level, create new local food sources to replace distant shipments and provide materials for organic pesticides, reducing carbon-intensive VOC emissions. The compost gardens are integrated into existing parking lots and vacant lots, forming a community garden network.

Dr.M.K. Ganesh · International Journal for Multidimensional Research Perspectives · Global

This mixed-methods study examined the farm-to-table movement in restaurant food production, identifying benefits like enhanced food freshness and local economic support. However, it also found significant challenges including higher costs, seasonal variability, and complex supply chain logistics. Consumer perceptions were generally positive, but the study emphasized the need for increased consumer education and policy support to overcome barriers.

Chunrong Ni, Katarzyna Dohn · International Journal of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management · Global

This article establishes a low-carbon urban agricultural product co-distribution model to reduce circulation levels and environmental impact. It analyzes fuel consumption and carbon emissions estimation models for delivery vehicles and develops a mathematical model for optimizing cold chain distribution routes from a low-carbon perspective. Using a logistics center as an example, the model's rationality and feasibility were verified by optimizing distribution routes with a genetic algorithm.

Dennis Guerra-Centeno, Paula Guerra-Burmester, Carlos Valdéz-Sandoval, Alfredo Gómez-Chacón, Sayra Pérez-Julián, Jackeline Marisol Noriega-Huertas, Ligia Vanessa Rios · Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar · Global

This 10-week study evaluated the productivity of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) in two artisanal hydroponic towers, measuring survival, growth, biomass production, and light incidence effects. Survival was 97%. Final average heights were 40.6 cm in the upper stratum and 29.8 cm in the lower stratum, with significant differences from the second week (p < .001). Final average plant weight was 12.55 g in the upper stratum and 5.35 g in the lower, but no significant difference in average weights between strata was found (U = 212, p = 0.754). Total biomass production was 358 g, equivalent to 1.33 kg/m2.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO · Global

Using FAO's newly developed Urban Rural Catchment Areas (URCA) dataset, the report analyzes household survey data from 11 African countries. It finds reliance on purchased food is high even in rural areas 1-2 hours (56%) and over 2 hours (52%) from an urban centre, with own production covering only 33-37% of consumption value in low- and high-food-budget countries respectively. Processed food penetration extends even to remote rural areas, and the report concludes that affordability of healthy diets is a critical issue across the entire rural-urban continuum, not just in cities.

Ada Górna · Prace i Studia Geograficzne · Global

A study analyzed urban agriculture supply chains in Havana, Kigali, Bissau, and Singapore based on fieldwork conducted from 2018 to 2020. It found that while shortened supply chains are typical for urban agriculture, their benefits are not arbitrary and depend on local economic, social, and spatial conditions, as well as the supply chain's organization and structure. The positive effects of localized food production are not universal, indicating a need for further research into supply and value chain structures.

Beatriz Urbano, Marcia Barquero, Fernando González‐Andrés · Scientia Horticulturae · Global

This study used a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to compare the environmental impacts of eight scenarios for fresh tomato supply to urban citizens. Zero-miles production in heated greenhouses showed the highest environmental impact (GWP 0.33 kg CO2 eq/kg tomato), performing worse than unheated greenhouses with long-distance transport (GWP 0.21 kg CO2 eq). Conversely, open-field zero-miles production was the most environmentally favorable option (GWP 0.12 kg CO2 eq), and product travel distance was less important than transport efficiency. Urban Agriculture was not environmentally superior to zero-miles agriculture carried out in rural areas.

Norbert Goldfield · · Israel

A chapter on an HATD-funded joint farming initiative between Israeli Jews and Bedouin in southern Israel, covering the geographic setting, the organizations involved, the initiative's activities, preliminary results and possible future directions. It cites prior US research on community-supported agriculture, including a randomized clinical trial reporting that CSA participation produced clinically meaningful improvements in diet quality, and describes White Hill Farm (WHF) as one of only a handful of efforts concretely promoting engagement between Israeli Bedouin and Israeli Jews amid ongoing tension between the two groups.

Zhaohui Wu, Madeleine Pullman · Oxford University Press eBooks · Global

A book chapter surveys sustainable food supply chain issues, introducing the typical actors in food supply chains and the global food system characterized by consolidation and industrialization. It discusses traceability, transparency, certification and standards, and alternatives to industrialized food systems — including cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, and small and medium-sized growers practicing regenerative agriculture — and closes with emerging logistics topics such as last-mile delivery, new technology, and cold chain management.

Agni Kalfagianni, Sophia Skordili · · Global

This book explores the potential of short food supply chains (SFSCs) to address environmental, social, and economic challenges in the global agri-food system. It demonstrates that SFSCs, including farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture, offer innovative forms of collective action for local sustainable transformations. The book concludes that alternatives to the dominant agri-food system are possible and thriving, but require concerted effort and collaboration to realize their full potential.

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.

Gundula Proksch · · Global

This chapter investigates factors for implementing sustainable, energy-efficient urban agricultural operations, focusing on the solar needs of plants, the extension of growing seasons indoors, and passive solar gains for buildings. It provides an overview of greenhouse typologies, cover materials, and lighting systems to optimize energy use and production. Additionally, it examines the potential for photosynthesis and the carbon cycle to utilize building exhaust systems for CO2-rich air and excess heat to support crop cultivation, exploring intersections among nutrient, water, and energy cycles through case studies.

J. Dominique Gumirakiza, Laura J. Hopper, Gumirakiza, J. Dominique, Hopper, Laura · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

An exploratory study of existing literature on locally grown food systems identified common findings, recommendations, and proposed priorities, key variables, and relationships for future research. Findings indicate that local food marketing through farmers' markets and Community Supported Agriculture, along with the benefits of local food systems to local economies (an ongoing debate), heavily dominate the literature. Prior studies commonly reported enthusiasm for locally grown fresh produce but presented diverging results regarding significant consumer characteristics.

Tracey Adams · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · Global

A University of Nebraska study examined whether urban farming could support future food security through a literature review and hands-on work on small farms. Mapping community garden locations in Omaha, Nebraska against the city's median household income found that urban farming is prevalent even in poverty-affected areas, despite Omaha being surrounded by extensive rural farmland.

Hiran Roy, C. Michael Hall, Paul W. Ballantine · · Global

This excerpt is the introduction to a chapter on barriers facing hospitality businesses' use of local food; it covers only the background on rising North American and European consumer demand for local food, driven by desire for fresh food access, support for local farmers and communities, and concerns over trust, locality, transparency, animal welfare and food safety, alongside the post-1990s growth of farmers' markets, food box programs and community-supported agriculture. The specific economic barriers and constraints named in the chapter's title are not described within this excerpted text.

Jean-Francois Paquay, Sue Spaid · The Journal of Somaesthetics · Global

This philosophical essay observes that somaesthetics — the philosophy of embodied aesthetic experience — has tended to shift its focus from producers to consumers when discussing food, neglecting farmers, and proposes urban farming as a somaesthetics case study. It begins by examining urban farming's absence from Aesthetics, then discusses how the aesthetic experiences associated with urban farming collapse artistic and aesthetic distinctions, debates whether somaesthetics can be considered a subset of everyday aesthetic practice, and analyzes whether urban farming's capacity to contribute to well-being makes it a potential somaesthetic enterprise. One explanation offered for urban farming's absence from somaesthetics is that its success owes more to luck than to the disciplined will that guides successful somaesthetic practices, and the essay argues that for it to function as a somaesthetic practice, cultivators would need to adopt unconventional approaches that raise "the foodies' bar."

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu · · Global

This abstract discusses how urban expansion and the separation of urban and agricultural areas increase energy demand for transporting food and goods. It notes that despite technological advances, a gap exists between energy demand and supply, even in advanced countries. The abstract concludes that reducing energy demand is a more realistic approach for sustainable development than solely relying on technological progress.

Ulf Hackauf · Repository hosted by TU Delft Library (TU Delft) · Global

This paper explores urban pig farming as a specific form of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). It uses a design-based research strategy, drawing on the 'City Pig' study (2009) from Delft University of Technology, to identify the potential benefits of urban pig farming and assess how un-built design projects can inform future real projects. A significant limitation is that the study concerns virtual, un-built design proposals.

Robert Paarlberg · · Global

Organic foods, initially championed in the early 20th century, gained commercial significance in the 1990s as consumers sought to avoid chemical residues and improve nutrition. However, scientific support for nutritional benefits and significant reductions in pesticide residue risks is weak. While organic crops reduce chemical runoff, they require more land due to lower yields, leading to the promotion of "local" foods and urban agriculture.

L.D. Albright · ·

A discussion piece noting that peri-urban farming, historically important in the United States, is now less prominent. It states that growing interest in local food production has focused attention on urban agriculture and vertical greenhouses, but that high land and energy costs, limited access to appropriately sized and shaped open space, and shading from surrounding tall buildings constrain urban agriculture options, and argues that peri-urban farming in traditional horizontal greenhouses can be a better alternative to vertical greenhouses.

Zhu Qing-hai · Ecological Economy · Global

This paper describes a new cultural movement in agricultural food emerging in Western developed countries, driven by concerns over food safety, environmental pollution, global climate change, and inequality. This movement encompasses community-supported agriculture, food miles, and fair trade. These initiatives are presented as ensuring food safety, promoting regional economic development, safeguarding global fairness and justice, and influencing global environmental improvement.