IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v32y2015i4p727-741.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban agriculture and the prospects for deep democracy

Author

Listed:
  • David McIvor
  • James Hale

Abstract

The interest in and enthusiasm for urban agriculture (UA) in urban communities, the non-profit sector, and governmental institutions has grown exponentially over the past decade. Part of the appeal of UA is its potential to improve the civic health of a community, advancing what some call food democracy. Yet despite the increasing presence of the language of civic agriculture or food democracy, UA organizations and practitioners often still focus on practical, shorter-term projects in an effort both to increase local involvement and to attract funding from groups focused on quantifiable deliverables. As such, it seems difficult to move beyond the rhetoric of food democracy towards significant forms of popular participation and deliberation within particular communities. In this paper we provide a theoretical framework—deep democracy—that helps to contextualize nascent attempts at civic agriculture or food democracy within a broader struggle for democratic practices and relationships. We argue that urban agriculture efforts are well positioned to help citizens cultivate lasting relationships across lines of difference and amidst significant power differentials—relationships that could form the basis of a community’s collective capacity to shape its future. We analyze the theory of deep democracy through recent experiences with UA in Denver, Colorado, and we identify ways in which UA can extend its reach and impact by focusing more consciously on its political or civic potential. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • David McIvor & James Hale, 2015. "Urban agriculture and the prospects for deep democracy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 727-741, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:4:p:727-741
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-015-9588-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10460-015-9588-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-015-9588-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alison Alkon & Teresa Mares, 2012. "Food sovereignty in US food movements: radical visions and neoliberal constraints," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(3), pages 347-359, September.
    2. Charles Levkoe, 2006. "Learning Democracy Through Food Justice Movements," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(1), pages 89-98, March.
    3. Patricia Allen, 2010. "Realizing justice in local food systems," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(2), pages 295-308.
    4. Catarina Passidomo, 2014. "Whose right to (farm) the city? Race and food justice activism in post-Katrina New Orleans," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(3), pages 385-396, September.
    5. Laura DeLind, 2002. "Place, work, and civic agriculture: Common fields for cultivation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 19(3), pages 217-224, September.
    6. Hale, James & Knapp, Corrine & Bardwell, Lisa & Buchenau, Michael & Marshall, Julie & Sancar, Fahriye & Litt, Jill S., 2011. "Connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics: Gaining insight through the community gardening experience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1853-1863, June.
    7. Patricia Allen & Julie Guthman, 2006. "From “old school” to “farm-to-school”: Neoliberalization from the ground up," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(4), pages 401-415, December.
    8. Joshua Sbicca, 2012. "Growing food justice by planting an anti-oppression foundation: opportunities and obstacles for a budding social movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(4), pages 455-466, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sofya Aptekar & Justin S. Myers, 2020. "The tale of two community gardens: green aesthetics versus food justice in the big apple," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 779-792, September.
    2. Litt, J.S. & Schmiege, S.J. & Hale, J.W. & Buchenau, M. & Sancar, F., 2015. "Exploring ecological, emotional and social levers of self-rated health for urban gardeners and non-gardeners: A path analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1-8.
    3. Martina Artmann & Katharina Sartison, 2018. "The Role of Urban Agriculture as a Nature-Based Solution: A Review for Developing a Systemic Assessment Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-32, June.
    4. Jana Spilková, 2017. "Producing space, cultivating community: the story of Prague´s new community gardens," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 887-897, December.
    5. Bastian Winkler & Anika Maier & Iris Lewandowski, 2019. "Urban Gardening in Germany: Cultivating a Sustainable Lifestyle for the Societal Transition to a Bioeconomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, February.
    6. David W. Olivier & Lindy Heinecken, 2017. "Beyond food security: women’s experiences of urban agriculture in Cape Town," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 743-755, September.
    7. Claire E Bach & Nathan McClintock, 2021. "Reclaiming the city one plot at a time? DIY garden projects, radical democracy, and the politics of spatial appropriation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(5), pages 859-878, August.
    8. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Pingyang Liu & Paul Gilchrist & Becky Taylor & Neil Ravenscroft, 2017. "The spaces and times of community farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 363-375, June.
    10. Lydia Zepeda & Anna Reznickova, 2017. "Innovative millennial snails: the story of Slow Food University of Wisconsin," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 167-178, March.
    11. Leslie Gray & Laureen Elgert & Antoinette WinklerPrins, 2020. "Theorizing urban agriculture: north–south convergence," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 869-883, September.
    12. Michael Carolan & James Hale, 2016. "“Growing” communities with urban agriculture: Generating value above and below ground," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 530-545, July.
    13. Nicole Rogge & Insa Theesfeld & Carola Strassner, 2018. "Social Sustainability through Social Interaction—A National Survey on Community Gardens in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Lya Cynthia Porto Oliveira & Emmanuel Raufflet & Mário Aquino Alves, 2022. "Urban agriculture in São Paulo: an analysis from the sociology of public action," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(6), pages 1537-1552, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Melissa N. Poulsen, 2017. "Cultivating citizenship, equity, and social inclusion? Putting civic agriculture into practice through urban farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 135-148, March.
    3. Catherine Brinkley & Gwyneth M. Manser & Sasha Pesci, 2021. "Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 911-927, December.
    4. Yuki Kato & Laura McKinney, 2015. "Bringing food desert residents to an alternative food market: a semi-experimental study of impediments to food access," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 215-227, June.
    5. Nathan McClintock & Michael Simpson, 2018. "Stacking functions: identifying motivational frames guiding urban agriculture organizations and businesses in the United States and Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 19-39, March.
    6. Helen Coulson & Paul Milbourne, 2021. "Food justice for all?: searching for the ‘justice multiple’ in UK food movements," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 43-58, February.
    7. Kelly J. Hodgins & Evan D. G. Fraser, 2018. ""We are a business, not a social service agency." Barriers to widening access for low-income shoppers in alternative food market spaces," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 149-162, March.
    8. Carrie Furman & Carla Roncoli & Donald Nelson & Gerrit Hoogenboom, 2014. "Growing food, growing a movement: climate adaptation and civic agriculture in the southeastern United States," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(1), pages 69-82, March.
    9. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Lesli Hoey & Allison Sponseller, 2018. "“It’s hard to be strategic when your hair is on fire”: alternative food movement leaders’ motivation and capacity to act," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 595-609, September.
    11. Joshua Sbicca, 2015. "Food labor, economic inequality, and the imperfect politics of process in the alternative food movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 675-687, December.
    12. Diego Thompson, 2021. "Building and transforming collective agency and collective identity to address Latinx farmworkers’ needs and challenges in rural Vermont," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 129-143, February.
    13. Lydia Zepeda & Anna Reznickova, 2017. "Innovative millennial snails: the story of Slow Food University of Wisconsin," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 167-178, March.
    14. Maarten Crivits & Charlotte Prové & Thomas Block & Joost Dessein, 2016. "Four Perspectives of Sustainability Applied to the Local Food Strategy of Ghent (Belgium): Need for a Cycle of Democratic Participation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, January.
    15. Alana Siegner & Jennifer Sowerwine & Charisma Acey, 2018. "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," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-27, August.
    16. Sarah Riggs Stapleton, 2019. "Parent activists versus the corporation: a fight for school food sovereignty," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 805-817, December.
    17. Litt, J.S. & Schmiege, S.J. & Hale, J.W. & Buchenau, M. & Sancar, F., 2015. "Exploring ecological, emotional and social levers of self-rated health for urban gardeners and non-gardeners: A path analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Matthew M. Mars & Hope Jensen Schau, 2017. "Institutional entrepreneurship and the negotiation and blending of multiple logics in the Southern Arizona local food system," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 407-422, June.
    19. Jonathan K. London & Bethany B. Cutts & Kirsten Schwarz & Li Schmidt & Mary L. Cadenasso, 2021. "Unearthing the entangled roots of urban agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 205-220, February.
    20. Helen Scharber & Anita Dancs, 2016. "Do locavores have a dilemma? Economic discourse and the local food critique," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 121-133, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:4:p:727-741. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.