Thesis advisor: Wen Fan / Urban and community agriculture projects have long been touted as harboring the cure for a range of social maladies, even as recent findings show that many such projects mainly benefit White, already economically secure people. Drawing on interviews from participants and staff members of a community farm, I examine how this farm fits into the overall narrative surrounding community agriculture, as well as the diverse motivations participants have for joining the farm and the impacts stemming from their involvement. Results show proximity and interest to be the most frequent motivations for initial involvement, while participants noted changes in eating habits and self-perceptions from their participation. Additionally, consistent with previous literature, I identify themes regarding participants' alignment with eco-habitus and issues of accessibility for certain populations. These findings open the door for further research on the interplay between motivation and impacts, and how that is influenced by farm operations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

This study identifies effective practices in the design of alternative education programs; and more specifically, programs that support the positive social engagement and healthy development of adolescents who have left the public education system and are labeled as marginalized or street involved. Effective practices were identified theoretically through a critic of current educational practices within the North-American public system and through the application of an integral systems theory framework of human development that identifies patterns of relationships between seemingly divergent perspectives in order to achieve the broadest breath of understanding through the inclusion of the truths held within each. A case study of a program that applied these practices within a community agricultural context was then analyzed to test their relevancy in the field. Through an analysis applying qualitative descriptive methodologies the following practices were identified as being effective in supporting positive engagement: 1) an experiential curriculum geared towards developing employable skills, 2) program activities that directly contributed to the local community, 3) the provision of a wage for program participants 4) adults facilitating the program trained in providing supportive caring relationships, 5) program peer groups being composed of youth and young adults of mixed ages and socio-economic backgrounds with marginalized youth being a minority, 6) a social co-operative organizational structure to administer the program. Limitations of the study were the small number of youth sampled as a result of the nature of the structure of the program in the case study. / Graduate