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Genevieve Fischer

Professor Tabitha Clark

ENGW 3307: Advanced Writing in the Sciences

May 15, 2020

Annotated Bibliography Draft 3

Grafius, D.R., Edmondson, J.L., Norton, B.A. et al. (2020). Estimating food production in an

urban landscape. Scientific Reports 10, 5141 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62126-4

In this peer reviewed article, researcher’s assess potential agricultural production in the

United Kingdom and compare this with current outputs. They arrive at these figures through the

use of “own-grown crop yield data with garden and allotment aerial surveys and urban fruit tree

occurrence” (Grafius, 2020 p.1). They provide a range of estimations regarding what percentage

of the population could be supplied with fresh produce through these methods. The conservative

models predict they could supply the urban population with fruit and vegetables for about 30

days per year, while optimistic models predict that urban agriculture techniques could supply

over half of the annual demand (Grafius, 2020).

While this article is very interesting and the methodology is compelling, it’s important to

recognize that all the data is UK specific and cannot be extrapolated to a global or US setting.

This source seems both reliable and current. It was published in a very reputable journal,

Scientific Reports, just a few months ago (Grafius, 2020). Even though this is a peer reviewed

article, the language in this source is accessible to a technical reader and not riddled with

advanced jargon. There are many useful figures in this publication and it could be used to double

check or support the older data in sources below.

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Palmer, L. (2018). Urban agriculture growth in US cities. Nature Sustainability 1, 5–7.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-017-0014-8

In the United States, urban agriculture is a growing category of food production. The new

interest in this method stems from urbanization, innovation and a need to feed a growing

population (Palmer, 2018). In this case study, Palmer asserts that, “the growth of farms and

community gardens improves the ability of community members to cope with social and

environmental change” (Palmer, 2018 p.1). This case study, by Lisa Palmer, unpacks methods to

make this new form of agriculture sustainable. She uses the example of an abandoned lot in

Washington D.C. that has been turned into a successful urban farm by Kate Tully, an agricultural

ecologist at the University of Maryland (Palmer, 2018). Through this case, Palmer discusses the

pros and cons of urban farming and how gardens may act as nodes for both environmental and

social connectivity.

This article is still reliable and current but it is slightly less formal than other articles. It is

perfectly suited to the technical audience and will help bring anecdotal evidence into my

research. The author, Lisa Palmer, is a journalist and senior fellow at the National Socio—

Environmental Synthesis Center and her work centers on climate change, the environment, and

sustainable business. She has written for publications such as Slate, Scientific American, and The

Guardian. This article relies heavily on ethos and the credibility of Palmer as a respected

journalist in the field.

Pearson, L. J., Pearson, L., & Pearson, C. J. (2010). Sustainable urban agriculture: stocktake and

opportunities. International journal of agricultural sustainability, 8(1-2), 7-19.

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This report provides research on sustainable urban agriculture and how it relates to the

three categories of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Early in the report, it is

proposed that urban agriculture exists in three scales micro, meso and macro (Pearson, 2010).

They are then broken down into a figure that gives examples and stakeholders for each. The

paper has many useful figures analyzing the three dimensions of sustainability and how they

relate to urban agriculture.

The report echoes other voices in this discourse community; it brings attention to legal,

social and economic barriers and potential opportunities of sustainable agriculture. It then

provides a framework for how future research in this field should be directed. Pearson denotes

that research should center on finding principles of sustainable agriculture that could help policy

makers create more resilient cities. Secondly, research should demonstrate innovative

institutional techniques such as differential land taxes to support sustainable urban agriculture

(Pearson, 2010).

This source is very reliable; it was published in the International Journal of Agricultural

Sustainability. However, the source is already ten years old which could affect the reliability of

the figures. This source could be very useful for hard figures but they should be double checked

against a newer publication, such as the Grafius peer reviewed article cited above. While this

appears to be more suited to an expert audience; the language is accessible to a lower level

professional in this field as well.

Russo, A., Cirella, G.T. (2019). Edible urbanism 5.0. Palgrave Communications 5, 163

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0377-8

Russo’s scholarly article on edible urbanism begins by explaining that urban areas are
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increasingly feeling the effects of climate change and resource scarcity. (Russo 2019). These

new challenges coupled with a growing urban population has forced researchers to develop new

agricultural methods. He continues on to demonstrate how “edible urbanism” (Russo, 2019, p.2),

which experts agree is not an official term, can be implemented in existing city infrastructure to

help provide locally sourced produce to residents. Later in the scholarly article he dissects

unsustainable urban agriculture practices and gives international examples of successful edible

cities.

This article is both reliable and current. Russo does not provide any of his own research,

but rather combines and presents other relevant works. This meta-analysis has the ability to

provide me with other useful, credible sources. This article contains the most jargon of all my

sources, and thus will require the most explanation if used for a technical audience. There are

also strong supporting figures and photographs scattered throughout this article that could be

very useful for my own research. Palgrave Communications is a highly respected and reputable

open access, online journal for research in the humanities and social sciences.

Zezza, A., & Tasciotti, L. (2010). Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical

evidence from a sample of developing countries. Food policy, 35(4), 265-273.

This scholarly article addresses the importance of urban agriculture for developing

countries and how urban agriculture may help address urban food insecurity problems. The

article continues on to explain how trends of urbanization, poverty, and population in developing

regions will lead to increased food insecurity worldwide (Zezza, 2010). It will likely be

important to include methods and data about the potential of urban agriculture in both developed

and developing countries.

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This article is the only one on this list that focuses on developing countries. The

researcher uses a dataset to bring together proportionate and representative household survey

data for 15 developing countries around the world (Zezza 2010). This scholarly article attempts

to analyze the importance of urban agriculture for the urban poor and food insecure. This article

is already ten years old so any data pulled from this research should be double checked with a

more recent publication. This article can be easily understood by a technical audience as it is

straightforward and not full of jargon or complex figures.