Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T03:11:36.836Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gearing up to support urban farming in California: Preliminary results of a needs assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2014

Rachel Surls ,
Gail Feenstra ,
Sheila Golden ,
Ryan Galt ,
Shermain Hardesty ,
Claire Napawan  and
Cheryl Wilen
Rachel Surls*
Affiliation:
UC Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County, Alhambra, CA 91801, USA.
Gail Feenstra
Affiliation:
Agricultural Sustainability Institute, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Sheila Golden
Affiliation:
Agricultural Sustainability Institute, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Ryan Galt
Affiliation:
Department of Human Ecology, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Shermain Hardesty
Affiliation:
UC Small Farm Program, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Claire Napawan
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Design, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Cheryl Wilen
Affiliation:
UC Statewide IPM Program and UC Cooperative Extension, San Diego County, CA, USA.
*
* Corresponding author: ramabie@ucanr.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

According to the United States Census, California is the most urban state in the nation. Although there are many outstanding examples of urban farms in California, in general, urban agriculture (UA) has been slower to gain momentum here than in some other states with large urban populations. Over the past several years, urban agriculture's popularity in California has begun to escalate, with strong emerging interest in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles and other metropolitan communities. One challenge for urban farmers and municipal decision makers engaged with UA in California has been limited availability of relevant information and technical assistance. A new project team at the University of California Cooperative Extension, part of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) is working to develop web-based educational resources that will be grounded in a needs assessment that is currently underway. The needs assessment includes a literature review, an internal survey of UC ANR personnel, and community clientele interviews. This paper will report on preliminary findings and analyses of the needs assessment, particularly how UC ANR personnel are engaged with UA, and what tools they think would best serve urban farmers. We suggest implications for those involved with UA, such as personnel of land-grant universities, local governments and non-profits seeking to address the needs of urban farmers in an environment of constrained resources.

Keywords

urban agriculturecommunity food systemsurban farmingcommunity gardenscommunity supported agriculture programsfarmersmarketsfood policy councilsurban planning
Type
Preliminary Report
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 30 , Special Issue 1: Innovations and Trends in Sustainable Urban Agriculture , February 2015 , pp. 33 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Hodgson, K., Campbell, M.C., and Bailkey, M. 2011. Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Places. APA American Planning Advisory Service, Washington DC. p. 1–148.Google Scholar
2 Mendes, W., Balmer, K., Kaethler, T., and Rhoads, A. 2008. Using land inventories to plan for urban agriculture: Experiences from Portland and Vancouver. Journal of the American Planning Association 74:435–449.Google Scholar
3 Colasanti, K., Litjens, C., and Hamm, M.W. 2010. Growing Food in the City—The Production Potential of Detroit's Vacant Land. The CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. p. 1–13.Google Scholar
4 Goldstein, M., Bellis, J., Morse, S., Myers, A., and Ura, E. 2011. Urban Agriculture: A Sixteen City Survey of Urban Agriculture Practices Across the Country. Survey written and compiled by Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University Law School, Atlanta, GA. p. 1–94.Google Scholar
5 Balmer, K., Gill, J.K., Miller, J., Peterson, M., Rhoads, A., and Rosenbloom, P. 2005. The Diggable City: Making Urban Agriculture a Planning Priority. Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, Portland, OR. p. 1–102.Google Scholar
6 Dufour, R. 2009. Start a Farm in the City. ATTRA – National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service Publication, Butte, MT. p. 1–20.Google Scholar
7 SPUR. 2012. Public Harvest. SPUR Report. SPUR, San Francisco. p. 1–36.Google Scholar
8 Cohen, N., Reynolds, K., and Sanghvi, R. 2012. Five Borough Farm. Report by Design Trust for Public Space, New York. p. 1–178.Google Scholar
9 Hodgson, K. 2012. Planning for Food Access and Community-based Food Systems: A National Scan and Evaluation of Local Comprehensive and Sustainability Plans. Report by American Planning Association. p. 1–175.Google Scholar
10 Hendrickson, M.K. and Porth, M. 2012. Urban Agriculture – Best Practices and Possibilities. University of Missouri. p. 1–52.Google Scholar
11 United States Census Bureau. 2012. Growth in urban populations outpaces rest of nation [Internet]. Census Bureau Report; Available at Web site http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-50.html (accessed February 22, 2014).Google Scholar
12 Stinson, S. and Mete, A. 2013. Popular backyard flock program reduces biosecurity risks of amateur production. California Agriculture 67:203–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13 MacNair, E. 2002. Seeds of Success. POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria, Canada. p. 1–34.Google Scholar
14 Twiss, J., Dickinson, J., Duman, S., Kleinman, T., Paulsen, H., and Rilveria, L. 2003. Community gardens: Lessons learned from California Healthy Cities and Communities. American Journal of Public Health 93:1435–1439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Feenstra, G. and Lewis, C. 1999. Farmers’ markets offer new business opportunities for farmers. California Agriculture 53(6):25–29.Google Scholar
16 Galt, R.E., O'Sullivan, L., Beckett, J., and Hiner, C.C. 2012. Community supported agriculture is thriving in the Central Valley. California Agriculture 66:8–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17 Reynolds, K. Expanding technical assistance for urban agriculture: Best practices for extension service in California and beyond. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 1(3):197–216.Google Scholar
18 Golden, S. 2013. Urban Agriculture Impacts: Social, Economic, and Health Literature Review. Compiled for UC Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources. Available at Web site http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/sfs/UA%20Lit%20Review-%20Golden%20Reduced%2011-15.pdf (accessed February 22, 2014).Google Scholar
19 Bradley, K. and Galt, R.E. 2013. Practicing food justice at Dig Deep Farms & Produce, East Bay Area, California: Self-determination as a guiding value and intersections with foodie logics. Local Environment 19(2): 172–186.Google Scholar
20 Ober Allen, J., Alaimo, K., Elam, D., and Perry, E. 2008. Growing vegetables and values: Benefits of neighborhood-based community gardens for youth development and nutrition. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 3(4):418–439.Google Scholar
21 Teig, E., Amulya, J., Bardwell, L., Buchenau, M., Marshall, J.A., and Litt, J.S. 2009. Collective efficacy in Denver, Colorado: Strengthening neighborhoods and health through community gardens. Health and Place 15(4):1115–1122.Google Scholar
22 Holland, L. 2004. Diversity and connections in community gardens: A contribution to local sustainability. Local Environment 9(3):285–305.Google Scholar
23 Patel, I.C. 1991. Gardening's socioeconomic impacts. Journal of Extension 29(4):1–3.Google Scholar
24 Glover, T., Shinew, K., and Parry, D. 2005. Association, sociability, and civic culture: The democratic effect of community gardening. Leisure Sciences 27(1):75–92.Google Scholar
25 Travaline, K. and Hunold, C. 2010. Urban agriculture and ecological citizenship in Philadelphia. Local Environment 15(6):581–590.Google Scholar
26 White, M.M. 2010. Shouldering responsibility for the delivery of human rights: A case study of the D-Town farmers of detroit. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts 3(2):189–211.Google Scholar
27 McClintock, N. 2013. Radical, reformist, and garden-variety neoliberal: Coming to terms with urban agriculture's contradictions. Local Environment 19(2):147–171.Google Scholar
28 Bonacich, E. and Alimahomed-Wilson, J. 2011. Confronting racism, capitalism, and ecological degradation: Urban farming and the struggle for social justice in black Los Angeles. Souls 13(2):213–226.Google Scholar
29 Feenstra, G., McGrew, S., and Campbell, D. 1999. Entrepreneurial Community Gardens: Growing Food, Skills, Jobs, and Communities. Agricultural and Natural Resources publication Report No. 21587. University of California, Oakland, CA.Google Scholar
30 Bregendahl, C. and Flora, C.B. 2006. The Role of Collaborative Community Supported Agriculture: Lessons from Iowa. North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Ames, IA. p. 1–84.Google Scholar
31 Sumner, J., Mair, H., and Nelson, E. 2010. Putting the culture back into agriculture: Civic engagement, community and the celebration of local food. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 8(1):54–61.Google Scholar
32 Suarez-Balcazar, Y. 2006. African Americans views on access to healthy foods: What a farmers market provides. Journal of Extension 44(2):1–7.Google Scholar
33 Fisher, A. 1999. Hot Peppers and Parking Lot Peaches: Evaluating Farmers’ Markets in Low Income Communities. Report by the Community Food Security Coalition, Venice, CA. p. 1–66.Google Scholar
34 Kerton, S. and Sinclair, A.J. 2009. Buying local organic food: A pathway to transformative learning. Agriculture and Human Values 27(4):401–413.Google Scholar
35 Krasny, M.E. and Doyle, R. 2002. Participatory approaches to program development and engaging youth in research: The case of an intergenerational urban community gardening program. Journal of Extension 40(5):1–16.Google Scholar
36 Levkoe, C.Z. 2006. Learning democracy through food justice movements. Agriculture and Human Values 23(1):89–98.Google Scholar
37 Beckie, M. and Bogdan, E. 2010. Planting roots: Urban agriculture for senior immigrants. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 1(2):77–89.Google Scholar
38 Armstrong, D. 2000. A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development. Health and Place 6(4):319–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39 Schukoske, J.E. 2000. Community development through gardening: State and local policies transforming urban open space. Legislation and Public Policy 3(2):351–392.Google Scholar
40 Gale, F. 1997. Direct farm marketing as a rural development tool. Rural Development Perspectives 2(2):19–25.Google Scholar
41 Jarosz, L. 2008. The city in the country: Growing alternative food networks in Metropolitan areas. Journal of Rural Studies 24(3):231–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42 Corrigan, M.P. 2011. Growing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland. Applied Geography 31(4):1232–1241.Google Scholar
43 Larsen, K. and Gilliland, J. 2009. A farmers market in a food desert evaluating impacts on the price and availability of healthy food. Health and Place 15(4):1158–1162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
44 Kobayashi, M., Tyson, L., and Abi-Nader, J. 2010. The activities and impacts of community food projects 2005–2009. Report from The Community Food Project Competitive Grants Program. p. 1–28.Google Scholar
45 Brown, K.H. and Jameton, A.L. 2000. Public health Implications of urban agriculture. Journal of Public Health Policy 21(1):20–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
46 McCormack, L.A., Laska, M.N., Larson, N., and Story, M. 2010. Review of the nutritional implications of farmers’ markets and community gardens: A call for evaluation and research efforts. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 110(3):399–408.Google Scholar
47 Bellows, A., Brown, K., and Smit, J. 2005. Health benefits of urban agriculture. A paper from the members of the Community Food Security Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture [Internet] 1–27. Available at Web site http://foodsecurity.org/pubs.html (accessed February 22, 2014).Google Scholar
48 Alaimo, K., Packnett, E., Miles, R.A., and Kruger, D.J. 2008. Fruit and vegetable intake among urban community gardeners. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 40(2):94–101.Google Scholar
49 Park, Y., Quinn, J., Florez, K., Jacobson, J., Neckerman, K., and Rundle, A. 2011. Hispanic immigrant women's perspective on healthy foods and the New York city retail food environment: A mixed-method study. Social Science and Medicine 73(1):13–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
50 Metcalf, S.S. and Widener, M.J. 2011. Growing Buffalo's capacity for local food: A systems framework for sustainable agriculture. Applied Geography 31(4):1242–1251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
51 Feenstra, G. 2007. The roles of farmers markets in fueling local economies. Gastronomic Sciences 1(7):56–67.Google Scholar
52 Moreau, T. and Hodgson, K. 2012. Delta community-based farm district. Prepared for Corporation of Delta and Century Group. Delta, BC, Canada. p. 1–68.Google Scholar
53 Conner, D.S., Knudson, W.A., Hamm, M.W., and Peterson, H.C. 2008. The food system as an economic driver: Strategies and applications for Michigan. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 3(4):371–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
54 Cooley, J.P. and Lass, D.A. 1998. Consumer benefits from community supported agriculture membership. Review of Agricultural Economics 20:227–237.Google Scholar
55 Voicu, I. and Been, V. 2008. The effect of community gardens on neighboring property values. Real Estate Economics 36(2):2414–2263.Google Scholar
56 Liu, J. 2008. The Whitmire Report. Published by Gateway Greening. [cited 2013 Aug 2]. p. 1–11. Available at Web site http://actrees.org/files/Research/gateway_greening_whitmire.pdf (accessed February 22, 2014).Google Scholar
57 Brown, K., Carter, A., Bailkey, M., Buchanan, T., Meares-Cohen, A., Mann, P., Nasr, J. and Smit, J. 2003. Urban Agriculture and Community Food Security in the United States: Farming from the City Center to the Urban Fringe. Community Food Security Coalition, Venice, CA. p. 1–29.Google Scholar
58 Pearson, L.J., Pearson, L., and Pearson, C.J. 2010. Sustainable urban agriculture: Stocktake and opportunities. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 8(1):7–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
59 Hagey, A., Rice, S., and Flournoy, R. 2012. Growing Urban Agriculture: Equitable Strategies and Policies for Improving Access to Healthy Food and Revitalizing Communities. Report by PolicyLink, Oakland, CA. p. 1–52.Google Scholar
60 Viljoen, A., Bohn, K., and Howe, J. 2005. New Cities with more Life: Benefits and Obstacles. Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes. Architecture Press, Burlington, MA. p. 56–65.Google Scholar
61 Herrera, H., Khanna, N., and Davis, L. 2009. Food systems and public health: The community perspective. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 4:430–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62 Macias, T. 2008. Working toward a just, equitable, and local food system: The social impact of community-based agriculture. Social Science Quarterly 89(5):1086–1101.Google Scholar
63 Broadway, M. and Broadway, J. 2011. Green dreams: Promoting urban agriculture and the availability of locally produced food in the Vancouver Metropolitan Area. FOCUS on Geography. 54(1):33–41.Google Scholar
64 Kremer, P. and DeLiberty, T.L. 2011. Local food practices and growing potential: Mapping the case of Philadelphia. Applied Geography 31(4):1252–1261.Google Scholar
65 Kaufman, J. and Bailkey, M. 2000. Farming Inside Cities: Entrepreneurial Urban Agriculture in the United States. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA. p. 1–124.Google Scholar
66 Campbell, M.C. and Salus, D.A. 2003. Community and conservation land trusts as unlikely partners? The case of Troy Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin. Land Use Policy 20(2):169–180.Google Scholar
67 Campbell, D., Carlisle-Cummins, I., and Feenstra, G. 2013. Community food systems: Strengthening the research-to-practice continuum. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Advance online publication. 121–138. Available at Web site http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2013.033.008 Google Scholar