Blacks, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Pacific Islanders and some Asian Americans are at increased risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, which can cause premature death . Data shows that many of the census tracts with higher rates of diabetes in Long Beach are also low-income areas, where a significant number of residents are located over half a mile away from supermarkets, including food stores, grocery stores, and food warehouses . This supports previous research findings, which suggest that low SES groups lack access to healthy foods due to insufficient resources or low availability in their neighborhood and schools . Across the United States and other countries, high produce costs are a barrier for food-insecure individuals to consume fruits and vegetables, which prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity by supplying dietary fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants . This is particularly challenging for those who live in a “food desert,” defined by the USDA as an urban community or neighborhood located over a mile away from venues that offer nutritious foods, such as grocery stores . Food deserts are often located in lower SES regions, weed drying rack in which members lack resources and access to transportation . For food deserts, urban gardening is one of the main options available for access to fresh fruit and vegetables .
Environmental justice is a movement that seeks to address health inequities, specifically by targeting the inequitable distribution of environmental hazards and benefits . This movement was a direct response to the injustices faced by communities disproportionately exposed to environmental risks, due to their race, color, national origin, or income . Though low-income communities of color typically lack the resources to politically and legally oppose or hold accountable polluting companies in their neighborhoods, they have historically made several efforts to resist environmental injustice through protest and social change .In relation to CCW, social, resistant, and navigational capital are important for communities to organize against injustice. As described in Chapter 1, Native Americans have experienced the loss of land, water, minerals, and other raw materials since the appearance of non-Native explorers and settlers in the late 15th century . The intellectual and legal traditions of Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples, such as collective systems that encourage sharing resources, share much in common with modern principles of environmental justice . The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, a multinational movement “of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of [their] lands and communities,” drafted and created 17 principles of Environmental Justice . These principles affirmed the right of all species to be free from ecological destruction, and called for public policies free of discrimination, ethical uses of land, education of present and future generations on social and environmental issues, and the opposition of exploitation from multinational corporations and militaries.
Several communities across the United States reported benefits from UA, which can transform the built environment while creating positive social change . In New York, community activists took the initiative to build gardens on lots left empty by the city council. They were “squatted by local community activists” to grow flowers and vegetables in an otherwise neglected site, once occupied by gangs and drug dealers . In a study of 17 community gardens in Illinois, Lanier et al. found that the most frequently reported benefits were learning how to build and tend a garden, giving back to the community, promoting healthy living, increasing physical activity through gardening, and fostering new friendships between volunteers and the population served . In Bakersfield, California, graduate students, community members, and local agencies collaborated to transform a low socioeconomic neighborhood’s vacant lot into a garden. The community garden improved residents’ eating habits, increased property value, and “fostered a tighter-knit, stronger community” . Ron Finley of South-Central Los Angeles, a food desert where healthy food options were limited, began planting vegetables in neighborhood parkways. After being cited by the City of Los Angeles for gardening without a permit, he petitioned with fellow activists to gain the right to grow food in their community . In San Diego, the Ocean View Growing Grounds community garden was developed in 2012 from a privately owned vacant lot, which was used as parking and storage for an automotive repair facility. OVGG, now equipped with a kitchen and amphitheater, grows a variety of crops including figs, limes, and strawberries.
Cooper et al. note the risk of converting spaces for urban gardening, as they found detectable levels of lead in the leaves of fruit trees and arsenic in leafy green crops grown directly in the ground. However, edible fruit tissues did not accumulate heavy metals and arsenic, and crops grown in raised soil beds had no detectable contamination. The study recommended soil and food sample testing but concluded that UA can minimize health risks by providing a source of fruits and vegetables, as well as a space for cultural exchange and social connections in the community .Research suggests that UA can influence health by improving the environment, increasing access to healthy food, and providing a space for educational workshops and classes in nutrition education and physical activity . In general, UA increases access to green space. Residents with access to green space have lower asthma prevalence, reduced mortality from circulatory disease, and greater longevity . Studies suggest that access to green space helps urban dwellers increase their access to physical activity, cope with stress, ease symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and depression, and reduce aggression and crime . Spaces with trees remove air pollution, while also providing shade and preventing heat-related illnesses . Additionally, green space in the form of gardens and urban farms can increase access to affordable food . UA can generate economic benefits by providing an affordable source of fruits and vegetables, promoting entrepreneurship, and alleviating poverty and social exclusion . Ferris et al. documented the efforts of St. Mary’s Youth Farm, which offered affordable organic produce, employment , and training opportunities to residents of a San Francisco housing project. A 2004 study of Latino community gardens in New York City found that an investment of $5 to $10 in plants for a garden plot can yield $500 to $700 worth of fruits and vegetables, which some participants sold to markets or restaurants . In 2017, Saha and Eckelman conducted a geospatial analysis of potential UA spaces at ground level and rooftops in Boston and found that UA could yield enough fruits and vegetables for the city’s population. UA sites can also provide employment opportunities, which increase job and interpersonal skills such as respectfulness and teamwork . There is evidence that UA provides educational opportunities, which can also influence health habits . A study of 845 residents from Flint, Michigan found that respondents with a household member who participated in a community garden consumed fruits and vegetables 1.4 more times per day, compared to those without household participation in a community garden. In addition, households with a community gardener were significantly more likely to have participated in a neighborhood cleanup or beautification project . According to a California study of six community garden programs in the cities of Berkeley, Escondido, Loma Linda, Oceanside, San Bernardino, and West Hollywood, community gardens increased participants’ average fruit and vegetable consumption and provided space for nutrition education and physical activity workshops . Through funding from California Healthy Cities and Communities, these cities established garden programs to serve residents, children at schools and day care centers, or seniors. Programs offered classes in gardening, exercise, vertical racks and cooking. Twiss et al. found that staff and gardeners also had opportunities to build their skills in leadership, community organizing, program planning, and cultural competency .
Multiple studies documented UA’s influence on children’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to nutrition . In 2008 and 2009, Growing Healthy Kids established three community gardens in Carrboro, North Carolina . This program hosted weekly gardening sessions, cooking and nutrition workshops, and family events. According to the evaluation report, participating families reported a 146% increase in fruit and vegetable availability and increases in fruit and vegetable consumption. At the end of GHK, 17% of obese or overweight children had improved their BMI classification. According to parental reports, there was an increase of 146% in the availability of fruits and vegetables and a 28% increase children’s in fruit and vegetable intake. Following GHK’s implementation, Carrboro changed its planning policies to include community gardens at designated parks, require recreation spaces in private developments, and periodically review plans with the GHK program team to sustain current garden sites . Youth gardening programs were found to improve access and consumption of healthy foods, promote development through social relationships and respect for others, and increase science achievement and environmental attitudes . One example of such a program is AmeriCorps Farm to School , which was established in Wisconsin in 2008 . The F2S program evaluation included nine school sites, with 1,191 students. F2S incorporated locally grown ingredients into school meals, and consisted of activities such as gardening, field trips, and nutrition education. F2S schools served more fruits and vegetables to students, and students from schools with one year or more of F2S demonstrated increased knowledge and improved attitudes on food, nutrition and agriculture. . Another program, Sustainability via Active Garden Education , was developed as a community-based participatory research intervention, to increase physical activity and produce consumption among children aged 3 to 5 years old at early childhood education centers in Phoenix, Arizona and Houston, Texas. In addition to garden maintenance and taste tests, children participated in interactive learning activities, such as songs and games. Though participants did not report significant changes in fruitand vegetable consumption, participants had a higher amount of physical activity post intervention . Table 2 provides an overview of the conceptual framework for this dissertation, which aims to further explore this concept, through a case study of community-led UA in Long Beach, California.Chapter 3 will partially answer my first two research questions regarding how communities create, maintain, and engage in UA, and what forms of skills and knowledge do they draw on to create UA sites. This chapter provides context for what UA sites in Long Beach look like, where they are, when they were formed, what they grow, and how they are managed. From May to January 2024, I visited 26 active UA sites in Long Beach, including 17 community gardens, five school gardens, and four urban farms. During these field visits, I also identified 14 gardens and farms that are either no longer operational or under new ownership. In this chapter, I share photographs from my field visits and discuss descriptive findings from UA sites: location, year when the site was built, who owns the property, who manages the property, amenities, and food grown. Long Beach is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 10b, which means that extreme winter temperatures range from 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit . From my observations, all UA sites planted seasonal crops that thrive in the warm Southern California climate, such as the following fruits and vegetables: arugula, beans, beets, bok choy, broccoli, carrots, chard, collard greens, cucumber, eggplant, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, peas, peppers, radishes, strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini and other types of squash, and wheat. Due to the similarity of crops, this chapter will only discuss plants that were unique to a site or specifically mentioned by gardeners. It is important to note that I intentionally wrote about UA sites in the present tense, based on the concept of the ethnographic present . Though UA sites will inevitably change over time, I chose to distinguish operational sites from nonoperational sites .The Veterans Affairs Hospital Patient Garden is a two-acre site that has served long-term patients since the 1960s. The Patient Garden is behind the main hospital, the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center , and next to the Fisher House, which provides temporary accommodations at no cost for families and caregivers of Veterans and Service members receiving treatment through a VA Medical Facility. Long Beach’s VA Hospital was established in 1941 as a Naval hospital and became part of the Veterans Administration in 1950 . The hospital fulfills the health care needs of over 50,000 veterans as part of the VA Long Beach Healthcare System .