The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature

Horst, Megan; McClintock, Nathan; Hoey, Lesli

doi:10.1080/01944363.2017.1322914

Cited by 260 publications

(222 citation statements)

References 124 publications

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“…Horst et al [33] would argue no; rather, an explicit commitment to food justice and an "equity lens" is needed for policymakers and planners to create UA spaces that benefit low income and minority communities equally if not more than already advantaged groups [33]. Due to the current landscape of "disparities in representation, leadership and funding, and insecure land tenure," unless these problems are explicitly addressed, "even the most well-intentioned initiatives will perpetuate or even reinforce the injustices that practitioners and supporters aim to address" [33]. This sentiment is echoed in Morales' chapter in Cultivating Food Justice [7], which calls for "applied research to discover and advance policy objectives related to the antiracist and economic objectives espoused by the Growing Food and Justice Initiative" [111].…”

Section: Policy and Planning Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can place a double burden on struggling households to find the time, money, land and expertise to feed themselves without city support: "the emphasis on 'grow your own' reinforces self-help and government austerity arguments, absolving government of the responsibility to address the structural and institutional causes of food insecurity" [33]. Urban agriculture is part of the solutions portfolio to improve food justice and food access, but must be complemented and reinforced by other policy, planning and civic engagement efforts to provide affordable, healthy food through neighborhood groceries, food hubs, cooperative markets, culinary and nutrition education programs, farm to school programs or other means of addressing structural causes of food insecurity (e.g., poverty and job access).…”

Section: Reframing Ua As a Public Good: Using An Equity And Systems Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Horst et al [33], expanding urban agriculture operations across cities "does not guarantee that people experiencing food insecurity will access that food . .…”

Section: Food Access: Do Low-income Urban Consumers Access Urban Prodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theoretical work such as this is important to advance ideas of what is possible and motivate efforts to make change, although it must constantly stay in dialogue with what is happening in practice and expand beyond a production-specific focus on local food systems. Urban farms are, after all, producing a lot more than food, and "increasing food production in cities does not guarantee that people experiencing food insecurity will access that food" [33]. As such, urban farms can be valued as a secondary food source for large populations, but primary forces for social integration, food-related education, and environmental justice [118].…”

Section: Policy and Planning Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They question, "who really benefits, and who loses in specific efforts to promote urban farms in the 'sustainable city' landscape?" [24,33,34] and, "how can white food activists reframe their work so as not to fuel displacement of residents of color?" [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review

2018

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Abstract:The aim of our review is to critically analyze the urban agriculture and urban food systems literature in order to understand the impact of urban-produced foods on community food security. We examine the role of city planning, food policy, and civic engagement in creating spaces for urban agriculture in cities across the United States, and whether (and how) these spaces promote food justice and food security. Bringing together multidisciplinary literature on access to urban agriculture and the distribution of urban-produced foods in a thematic, systematic review, we point out gaps in the academic research that would benefit from further study. The review integrates academic literature generated from Web of Science searches with gray literature identified through Google Alerts. We find that while there is a strong focus on elucidating the multiple benefits of urban agriculture, there are few studies that robustly measure the impact of urban farms on improving food security in low-income communities. Much of the literature is theoretical, focused on the production potential of urban agriculture, while more work is needed to understand and overcome barriers to access and distribution among communities in need. We conclude with a set of recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who seek to create spaces in cities for food justice, equity, access, and sovereignty.

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Section: Policy and Planning Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reframing Ua As a Public Good: Using An Equity And Systems Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Horst et al [33], expanding urban agriculture operations across cities "does not guarantee that people experiencing food insecurity will access that food . .…”

Section: Food Access: Do Low-income Urban Consumers Access Urban Prodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy and Planning Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review

2018

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Public food forest opportunities and challenges in small municipalities

Coffey

Munsell

Hübner

et al. 2021

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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The opportunities and challenges associated with public food forest initiatives in small municipalities are understudied compared with large metropolitan counterparts. Research in small population centers is needed to identify and understand factors affecting the growth of public food forests where resources more commonly available in cities often are lacking. To study these factors, we surveyed mayors in Virginia, United States, serving communities with populations under 25,000. Out of 176 mayors who received a paper survey through the mail, 68 (39%) responded. Mayors perceived long-term maintenance as the greatest barrier to public food forests and education, recreation, and spiritual experience as the most desirable benefits. Nearly 70% noted that their town has some form of food production on public land but only one-fifth include food-producing trees and shrubs. Most municipalities (78%) do not have food-producing trees and shrubs land use codes. Summated variables representing mayoral ratings of public support and physical space for food forests in their municipalities were used in a k-means cluster analysis to group towns into four types: (a) ambivalent and resource-poor, (b) optimistic and capable, (c) doubtful and unsupported, and (d) unsure with potential. Each community has unique challenges and opportunities, but mayors stressed that providing sociocultural programs and education rather than food access is the most compelling aspect of a public food forest.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Strategic placement of urban agriculture: A spatial optimization approach

Thapa

Banerjee

Wilson

et al. 2021

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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Strategic placement of urban agriculture such as community gardens can expand alternate food supply, support physical activity, and promote social interactions.While social and health benefits are critical priorities when planning new urban agriculture locations, no widely accepted site selection methods have been established.We developed a spatial optimization model to identify new urban agriculture locations in the City of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. Considering block groups with vacant parcels as potential locations, the study uses p-median optimization to identify the 25 best locations that would minimize travel from any block group in the city to potential garden locations. We weighted each block group based on food access and prevalence of obesity, where food access was characterized on three dimensions: economic, geographical, and informational. The model was simulated for three policy scenarios with equal, stakeholder-driven, and obesity-driven weights, and the results were compared with randomly selected locations. We found that optimally selected locations were 52% more efficient than randomly chosen locations in terms of the average distance traveled by residents based on the p-median solution. However, there was no significant difference in travel distance among the three policy scenarios. The spatial optimization model can help policymakers and practitioners strategically locate urban agriculture sites.

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The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature

Cited by 260 publications

References 124 publications

Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review

Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review

Public food forest opportunities and challenges in small municipalities

Strategic placement of urban agriculture: A spatial optimization approach

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