Master of Science / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Cary L. Rivard / As populations of cities continue to increases, communities in the United States are implementing urban food systems including locally-cultivated produce. Urban and peri-urban farmers apply intensive production systems, including high tunnels, to better utilize limited space. Grafting tomato with vigorous rootstocks provides the potential for higher yields. Our first objective was to identify tomato rootstocks that improve productivity in high tunnel environments with no soilborne diseases in the Central U.S. Eight replicated high tunnel trials were conducted at four sites in northeastern Kansas in 2013 and 2014. We selected 'BHN 589' scion for all sites and evaluated seven rootstocks. Grafting with ‘Maxifort’, ‘Multifort’, ‘Arnold’, ‘DRO 131’, and ‘Colosus’ rootstocks resulted in significant increases in total fruit yield, which ranged from 40% to 73% when compared to nongrafted plants (P<0.05). No significant increases in yield were observed for ‘RT-1028’ and ‘RST-04-106’ rootstocks. Our results suggested that tomato growers that utilize high tunnels should be strategic when selecting rootstocks. Our second objective was to develop simple propagation techniques that yield high quality grafted transplants for small-batch propagators. Formation of adventitious roots (AR) from the scion can result in poor quality plants and loss of rootstock function/benefit. Greenhouse studies were designed to investigate how leaf removal (LR) affects AR formation and plant growth post-grafting. We applied three treatments, 0% LR, 50% LR, and 90% LR, to the ‘BHN 589’ scion and then grafted them onto ‘Maxifort’ rootstock. The experiment included 4 replicated blocks and was conducted in three different healing chambers. Our results indicate that both 50% and 90% LR significantly decreased AR formation in the low humidity chamber, but only 90% LR reduced AR formation in the chambers with high humidity (P<0.05). We measured plant growth 24 to 52 days post-grafting to understand how leaf removal affects transplant quality, growth, and development. Plants with 90% LR had significant growth reduction at day 24 but at day 52, only had reduced stem diameter and height compared to 0% LR. Total flower count was the same for all treatments. Leaf removal during grafting may be a viable method for propagating high quality, grafted transplants.

Case studies from Cuba's Urban and Peri-Urban agriculture (UPA) revolution show that urban growing can fuel locally driven production of essential foods with minimal inputs, creating unprecedented opportunities for community food sovereignty. The fact that Cuba produces 60-70% of its vegetable needs on 25% of the land shows that the barriers that UPA faces are more sociopolitical than agronomic. As an agricultural hub with an abundance of rural land within close proximity of the city, the need for UPA in Burlington, VT may not be as readily apparent. When compared to nearby small vegetable growers through the lens of a typical agronomic analysis, UPA nearly always comes out at a disadvantage. Yet community gardens and urban growers are multiplying in the small city. Research suggests this boom is owed to numerous multi-functional benefits provided by community gardens, including the potential for UPA to allow communities who may otherwise have limited agency in food choice with an opportunity to access culturally preferenced produce. However, while extensive evidence identifies the social benefits of community gardens, these results remain disparate from the economic analyses that most often find their ways into the hands of decision makers. This research proposes a valuation metric called Crop Value Index (CVI), and uses it to evaluate which crops and management techniques best take advantage of limited urban space in Burlington community gardens. This tool ranks crops by their ability to save gardeners money or profit and by their perceived cultural value by the gardener, and combines the two to identify which crops are the most successful in producing overall value. Through demonstrating the high functionality of UPA in the production of certain crops, CVI contributes to findings that indicate that UPA may be better able to serve niche community food needs than commercial growers, while simultaneously providing urban growers with food security and creating food sovereignty and food justice.

To meet the rising food demands of communities in Accra,Ghana, urban agriculture has been popularized as a way to increase food security and improve nutrition (Donovan et al., 2012). Urban agriculture is defined as "the cultivation of crops at both the subsistence and commercial levels including the keeping of livestock in open spaces in urban areas (Adjaye, n.d.). In Accra, urban agriculture covers 1,091 hectares, employs over one thousand people, and supplies residents with 90% of its vegetables ("Accra Metropolitan", n.d.). Further, 60% of households in Accra participate in backyard farming ("Accra Metropolitan", n.d.). Although urban agriculture provides many benefits for communities in Accra, it has been linked to the creation of suitable habitats for Anopheles gambiae complex larvae. In Accra, a spatio-temporal distribution of An. gambiae complex larvae and larvae habitats has not been established. A larval study in two urban agriculture and two non-urban agriculture sites was conducted in the months of May, July, August, and September 2014. When combined together, 3,807 An. gambiae complex larvae were collected from the urban agriculture sites of Korle Bu and Opeibea over the period of the study. When combining the urban non-agriculture sites of Madina and Ashaiman, 2,484 An. gambiae complex larvae were collected over the same period. The results of this study in Accra show that Korle Bu, an urban agriculture site, was the most productive site, with 2,604 An. gambiae complex larvae collected for the months of May, July, August, and September. July was the most productive month for Korle Bu, with 1,653 An. gambiae complex larvae collected. Further investigations of An. gambiae complex larval habitats are necessary to better understand malaria transmission attributes unique to Accra, Ghana.

Detroit is just one example of a post-industrial city that has been struggling with the decline of the American industrial economy. In the past 100 years, Detroit city has gone from one of the largest and most promising cities in the world to a widely vacant, run down, and crippled metropolis. A shell of its former self, Detroit has become the poster child for all the problems that many North American cities experience, including: pollution, crime, urban sprawl, suburban flight and struggling education systems. Among others, these deterrents have driven Detroit residents from their homes and left the City largely abandoned. Since the mid 1950s the population has fallen from 1,900,000 to 713,000 in 2010. Enrolment in Detroit public schools has fallen from approximately 300,000 in 1966 to 52,000 in 2012. Today there are an estimated 40 square miles of vacant land and more still with abandoned buildings plaguing the landscape. This thesis asks the question of how best to utilize abandoned public schools as an asset for the neighbourhoods of Detroit. Once symbols of hope and prosperity these vacant schools located in the heart of many struggling neighbourhoods, now serve as a reminder of the disparity and blight that plagues Detroit. The adaptive reuse of abandoned schools as community driven educational centres, with a focus on urban agriculture, can lead the way towards self-sufficient neighbourhoods that allow residents to challenge the social and economic paradigm that is Detroit. The subject of this thesis concerns the transforming of burdens in a blighted city into the assets needed to improve the quality of life for distressed citizens. This thesis argues that this is possible by formulating an architectural response utilizing existing abandoned schools and vacant land to nurture a growing Urban Agriculture initiative that has the potential to play a role in the rebuilding of city neighbourhoods.

The space on which the urban farm is produced has a history of its own that can be explored for evidence of neoliberal shaping and retooling. This thesis explores how the city and the farm are understood through the complex articulations of farmers and through the account of the specific historical and geographical context of the farm. The urban farm is a uniquely situated land use that can provide the spaces for contestation to the neoliberalization of the city and the United States food system. Through qualitative analysis, including a case study, interviews with farmers, participant observation, and archival data collection, this research examines the city and the farm from the perspective of the farmer to understand the degree to which these contestations are resisting neoliberalism. Furthermore, it suggests that scholars of neoliberalism and urban farming should more fully consider the hybridized nature in which urban farmers understand their work.

Urban agriculture has been a recognized component of functioning urban landscapes since the beginning of civilization. Starting in the 20th century, formally recognized urban agriculture movements emerged in the form of victory gardens during both World Wars, and then again in the late 1970s through the creation of community gardens as a facet of social activism (Hodgson, 3). By the year 2000, urban agriculture was predominantly sponsored by local, mission-driven organizations created to promote social equity and provide economic opportunity for members of their respective communities (Hodgson, 3). The ongoing decrease in urban populations in de-industrialized cities, coupled with alarming rates of obesity, obesity related disease, malnutrition and a burgeoning awareness of food insecurity in distressed urban areas has sparked a growing interest in existing urban agricultural movements and their potential to serve as engines for economic and social revitalization. I intend to explore the implications of the popular urban agriculture revival in distressed communities and the role of urban agriculture organizations in ongoing economic and social revitalization efforts. My research will focus on established urban agriculture organizations and their role in revitalization of distressed communities. Specifically, I will explore how urban agriculture organizations drive revitalization in distressed urban areas and how their impact on revitalization efforts are measured. Given the potential economic and social benefits of urban agriculture, it is important to look towards organizations utilizing successful models for implementation and how they are impacting broader revitalization efforts within their respective communities. As part of my research, I will evaluate three well-established urban agriculture organizations, with track records of success across 4 differing dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and systemic. The goal of my research is to identify and measure the impacts urban agriculture organizations in relation to a set of broader outcomes associated with revitalization efforts. / text

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone / The thesis focuses on the effects urban agriculture could have on a community and the nation. By examining current states of mental health, physical health, and societal health through the lenses of current obesity rates, driving, being outdoors, and the current agricultural system, a conclusion was formed that urban agriculture would promote overall health. Two Census tracts within Tucson, AZ, 37.01, and 21, were closely examined on the feasibility of implementing urban agriculture within their communities. The thesis resulted with the conclusion that further health studies in the tracts were necessary, but that areas with access to reclaimed water could begin implementing micro urban agriculture.

Rooftop gardens are an important tool within sustainable urban agriculture (UA) that can contribute towards food security. This paper explores the barriers, benefits and incentives of rooftop gardens which have documented environmental and social benefits, including use as a tool towards combating climate change and for creating community within cities. Significant barriers exist, with opportunities for mitigating such barriers and creating incentives for participation in rooftop UA including grant programs specifically designed to guide businesses through implementation of gardens on commercial buildings, rooftop restaurants for increasing tourism potential, change in policy for support of UA, awards for businesses who are leaders in using roof space for food production, innovations in design, and education and training. Rooftop UA has potential for growth in Vancouver, if impetus comes from various sectors, including government, non-profit organizations and the City of Vancouver, with specific emphasis on making rooftop UA exciting for business and profitable.

Detroit is just one example of a post-industrial city that has been struggling with the decline of the American industrial economy. In the past 100 years, Detroit city has gone from one of the largest and most promising cities in the world to a widely vacant, run down, and crippled metropolis. A shell of its former self, Detroit has become the poster child for all the problems that many North American cities experience, including: pollution, crime, urban sprawl, suburban flight and struggling education systems. Among others, these deterrents have driven Detroit residents from their homes and left the City largely abandoned. Since the mid 1950s the population has fallen from 1,900,000 to 713,000 in 2010. Enrolment in Detroit public schools has fallen from approximately 300,000 in 1966 to 52,000 in 2012. Today there are an estimated 40 square miles of vacant land and more still with abandoned buildings plaguing the landscape. This thesis asks the question of how best to utilize abandoned public schools as an asset for the neighbourhoods of Detroit. Once symbols of hope and prosperity these vacant schools located in the heart of many struggling neighbourhoods, now serve as a reminder of the disparity and blight that plagues Detroit. The adaptive reuse of abandoned schools as community driven educational centres, with a focus on urban agriculture, can lead the way towards self-sufficient neighbourhoods that allow residents to challenge the social and economic paradigm that is Detroit. The subject of this thesis concerns the transforming of burdens in a blighted city into the assets needed to improve the quality of life for distressed citizens. This thesis argues that this is possible by formulating an architectural response utilizing existing abandoned schools and vacant land to nurture a growing Urban Agriculture initiative that has the potential to play a role in the rebuilding of city neighbourhoods.