Browsing by Subject "Community gardens"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Analyzing the real-world impacts of the use of Community Gardens and Urban Agriculture
(2022-05-26) Wilkins, Aspen; Lieberknecht, Katherine E.
Climate change-related issues of flooding, global warming, and growing food insecurity are exacerbating the current Food Desert crisis and obesity epidemic in the United States. According to data from the CDC and USDA, 58 of the 258 Texas Counties are considered Food Deserts. Many Texans do not have a vehicle or live within a mile of a supermarket, leaving them without access to healthy, affordable food. This creates an endless cycle of obesity, preventable illness, nutritional deficiencies, and food insecurity. Society has begun to adapt to these circumstances by using Urban Agriculture, Community Gardens, and Schoolyard Gardens to increase food security in cities and for lower-income populations. This is also helpful in providing nutrition education for children and adults who otherwise do not have access. The use of these gardens is relatively new on the timeline of human existence, and little research exists to identify just how effective these gardens have been in aiding humanity. Currently, there is little information about health benefits, social benefits, and environmental benefits from these green spaces as a whole. This paper will serve as a comprehensive report on the real-world impacts of these green spaces. The research will outline how effective these projects are in increasing the supply of nutrient-rich, minimally processed foods in low-income areas and looking at heat maps and food desert maps. The report will also examine whether or not these gardens are effective in reducing obesity rates and creating a sense of community. Are Community Gardens living up to what they promise?
Back to the garden : promoting sustainable communities by incorporating community gardens into city planning processes
(2009-05) Dalrymple, Heather Elizabeth; Oden, Michael
City leaders and residents are increasingly considering the need to address urban food provision. Community gardens are one aspect of the urban food system that is seeing a resurgence of popularity and support. Although not intended to replace market-based food streams or the federal food safety net, these gardens can provide many benefits to their communities besides increased food security and access to fresh produce. They can encourage community development, especially in struggling areas, by serving as tools for addressing community issues. Because they are effective uses of open space, cities should consider supporting the development of community gardens. Along with a literature review to show the potential benefits of community gardens, this report uses case study research to show the adaptability of community gardens in meeting communities’ diverse needs. Cleveland, Ohio and San Francisco, California were selected to show how community garden provision is addressed in two greatly differing cities. They provide examples of how community gardens can succeed in many types of urban environments.
Food in the floodplain? Exploring the potential to grow food and racial equity on Austin’s floodplain buyout lands
(2021-05-05) Albornoz, Sara Belén; Lieberknecht, Katherine E.
As climate change unfolds, municipal governments like the City of Austin, Texas are using voluntary floodplain buyouts—a form of planned retreat—as a strategy to move residents out of hazard-prone areas. As a result of buyouts, city governments become stewards of vacant, publicly owned lands that cannot be developed, and face decisions about how to use them. Governments have the opportunity to repurpose buyout lands into community amenities, such as sustainable agriculture projects, that can generate an array of social and ecological benefits. In deciding how to repurpose buyout lands, however, governments have a responsibility to pay special attention to the implications of their actions for racial equity. Racial equity matters in this context because communities of color are being disproportionately impacted by both climate change impacts and planned retreat, and because the creation of green amenities in historically disinvested neighborhoods has the potential to spur gentrification and displacement. This professional report explores the questions: 1) Are sustainable agriculture projects a viable use for public, urban floodplain buyout lands? and 2) How can municipal governments pursue such projects in a way that prioritizes racial equity? I address these questions through a case study of a specific prospective agriculture site on City of Austin-owned floodplain buyout land in the Lower Onion Creek buyout area, which is located in the historically Latinx, climate impacted Southeast Austin neighborhood of Dove Springs. Using an environmental justice framework and a mixed-methods approach, I evaluate the likelihood that the conditions that sustainable agriculture projects require for success can be met at the prospective site, in light of the site’s physical characteristics and propensity for flooding; safety considerations; and regulatory and environmental constraints. Drawing insights from Dove Springs community leaders and subject matter experts, I discuss how the planning and implementation of a sustainable agriculture project at the prospective site could be carried out in a way that advances racial equity and environmental justice. Finally, I present recommendations for concrete next steps the City of Austin can take to move this project forward while prioritizing equity and justice.
Grace Carlin Interview
(2021-07-30) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life
This interview is with Grace Carlin, a San Antonio-based environmentalist. Grace discusses finding her passion for nature through exposure to national parks and educational opportunities. She talks about her work coordinating the Urban Land & Water program with the Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, describing the impacts and challenges of community gardens. Grace also shares her interest in youth engagement, particularly the value of young people’s contributions and their right to a future with a stable global climate.
Greenbox : home growing food as a transition to new food systems
(2022-05-09) De Leon Perez, Jesus Guillermo; Catterall, Kate; Perez, Jose
A stable food supply has been and still is one of the most valuable resources for any human society and essential to its success. Mastering agriculture allowed for groups of people to settle and develop societies and as populations settled and grew food systems evolved becoming more complex, ultimately providing people in most locations access to many types of food year-round. With the current population at almost 8 billion people food demand has tripled in the past 50 years (Hinnou et al.,2022) both because the population doubling and the increment in the per-capita demand. The global population is expected to grow around 10 billion by 2050 and food demand is expected to increase between 60% and 70% (Van Dijk & Luise Rauet al.,2021) so food production would need to be drastically increased. According to the World Bank and the United Nations this scenario means that there simply will not be enough food to feed the world population. In this scenario food shortages will become an issue especially on large urban areas where around 70% of the world population will live in (United Nations, “68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN”). The challenge of maintaining a stable supply chain in these circumstances and with the current volumes goes beyond a single solution, rather it depends on systematic changes in how we approach food production and consumption. In order to secure food supply in the long-term new systems need to be envisioned that consider the decentralization of food production and that also support and push people into developing habits like consuming locally grown produce and decreasing the consumption of animal-based foods. My research territory is urban food systems and the possibility of envisioning new and more resilient systems that can increase food security through the support of regional resilience, self-sufficiency and the participation of people as not just consumers. The objective with this thesis project, GreenUp is to design a concept that could seed the idea of growing food today to augment our daily diets in the future, with the long-term goal of developing resilient habits that will lead to food systems that are decentralized, stable and more democratic, all this achieved in the context of urban settings, were space is limited and growing indoors will be necessary to augment the production.
Opportunities to integrate on-site food production in affordable housing developments in Austin, Texas
(2011-05) Falgoust, Katherine Anne; Dooling, Sarah; Brown Wilson, Barbara
In order to build community and provide additional amenities at their properties, several affordable housing developers in Austin, Texas have begun integrating on-site food production into their developments. This project explored the experiences of staff and tenants at two agencies that have connected food production and housing. Based on analysis of these narrative data, I identified current opportunities to further integrate and expand on-site food production into affordable housing. I proposed solutions to overcome challenges and recommended policies and incentives that could support the integration.
Urban agriculture for Rust Belt resilience : a case study of food policy in Cleveland, Ohio
(2021-08-13) Johansen, Kathryn Rita; Oden, Michael
In 2010, Cleveland, Ohio established a series of food policies and programs in response to the foreclosure crisis in 2008 that resulted in swaths of vacant parcels being placed under the control of the city and county land banks. The weight of the recession and increased building abandonment exacerbated blight and disinvestment within the region. This report explores the benefits of urban agriculture in historically marginalized communities and the efficacy of those food policy programs in the revitalization of these neighborhoods. Urban agriculture is by no means a panacea for economic stability or reawakening, but rather a tool to build resilience and community cohesion that will improve the quality of life for existing residents. Through a series of interviews with urban farmers, planning academics, and land bank experts, along with a community survey ad GIS analysis of food deserts and land suitability, we can glean that Cleveland has the potential to be an attractive site for urban agricultural and food systems development. With tens of thousands of vacant parcels available to the public, the process of obtaining land to produce and distribute healthy food and provide livelihoods for Cleveland residents is quite promising. However, restrictions in the application process make this land unattainable for many residents, with more than 9,000 Cuyahoga County individuals and families with tax delinquencies on their properties in 2019 alone (Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer, 2020). The city of Cleveland should push for policies that allow residents of Cleveland to avoid tax-delinquencies and foreclosures and remain in their homes that were secured through sub-prime loans. The city of Cleveland can create promise and opportunity for under-served neighborhoods by granting residents access to secure and permanent agricultural land. This will not only encourage generational wealth and food sovereignty, but an increase in urban farms, markets, and community gardens will benefit the health and well-being of the city at large, though improved access to healthy food and produce.