Transdisciplinary Evaluation of Urban Agriculture

Transdisciplinary evaluation of popular urban agriculture types related to productivity, community health, environmental sustainability and food system resiliency

Since 2015, the core urban food systems team at Kansas State University has been delivering a graduate course, Urban Agriculture Study Tour, which explores different cities each fall through the lens of food security. Students are required to conduct a Food Security Audit, which was designed to evaluate UPA systems for their ability to contribute to food security.

The goal of this objective is to develop a more detailed evaluation instrument and then utilize it to compare sites in Kansas and the region and how they contribute to society. This will provide information that changemakers can use to make informed decisions.

Working Groups
Our project team has developed four working groups (WG): agricultural productivity (WG1), community health (WG2), environmental sustainability (WG3), and food systems resiliency (WG4). These groups worked independently to develop metrics shown below based on the expertise of each team member. Next, the whole group (22 PIs) worked as a team to outline this comprehensive study.

We will utilize this transdisciplinary team to evaluate the contributions of various UPA types to the food system and society as a whole. Our goal is to acquire data that range from hyper-local (individual site, block level, and neighborhood level) to the regional level in regard to impact.

Data Collection and Reporting
We will collect data from 24 sites, primarily in Kansas and Missouri, but also outside of these states when needed. For example, there are few high-tech greenhouse producers or food hubs in the state. For each category that is included in the study, at least three sites will be evaluated to determine if trends are statistically significant and/or repeatable. Instruments will be developed by each working group to determine the contribution of each site to each major category.

Throughout the process, working groups will report their progress to the other teams in order to learn from each other and coordinate efforts into one comprehensive approach.

The sites will be chosen based on their ability to fall into specific categories: community gardens, urban farms (within city limits), peri-urban farms (markets directly to urban areas), high-tech production, and food hubs. Qualifying statements will be developed that are inclusive and definitive. For example, high-tech production may involve soil-less production techniques, while presenting variations in terms of outdoor versus greenhouse settings, and the use of either natural or artificial lighting.

We will utilize existing networks across the project team such as the following: Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE) Local Foods Transdisciplinary Team (TDT), the Growing Growers KC program (25 host farms), Kansas City Community Gardens, Cultivate KC, Kansas City Food Hub, and other professional networks to identify and recruit sites.

We will collect data from 16 sites in year 1 and 8 additional sites in year 3. This will provide the opportunity to develop a robust data set in year 1 for publication and dissemination, and will also give the project team time to analyze data during the development of the SAS proposal.

In year 2, we will adjust the evaluation instrument based on the experiences gained in year 1 and collect data from 8 additional sites in year 3. We will utilize a mixed-method approach for collecting quantitative and qualitative data including surveys, interviews, and online focus groups.

In the online format, focus groups may be synchronous or asynchronous, and we have observed that online focus groups provide a unique and productive environment as participants can interact anonymously and have time to reflect upon discussion (McManus et al., in press).