Filtering by
- All Subjects: Agriculture
- Creators: School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Local organic gardening once experienced great popularity with Americans. At one time promoted and prominent, local gardens became obscure, old-fashioned, and outmoded. However, in the last few decades, for various reasons, local organic gardening has made some progress. This study seeks to assist high-density, low-income, inner-city Americans, who often do not have have easy or affordable access to fresh whole food by creating sustainable, resilient, local, urban gardens. However, this effort does not attempt to address the needs of entire populations of census tracts, rather one suburban home, one small apartment complex, or one small community garden. O ne solution to the problems associated with food insecurity is to put the creativity and responsibility into the hands of those who need the food, allow them to work within a self-sustaining garden, and decide what to do with any excess food. W ith the help of Greg Peterson, Phoenix’s own urban farmer, this project set out to create a system using Phoenix’s limited amount of rainfall to create a aquaponic gardening system which will be used in micro-communities such as multi-family complexes, middle schools, or high schools, in order to help grow food for these communities and alleviate some of the difficulties of finding fresh food in the desert.
In the Southwestern United States, climate change poses challenges to reliable water access due to droughts, wildfires, and urban development. Arizonan farmers are faced with unpredictable precipitation, muddled legal water rights, and outdated equipment to irrigate their land. Located in Northern Arizona, Verde Valley residents and stakeholders are challenging the way the Verde River water is managed through collaboration, partnerships, and technical changes to water infrastructure. Through interviews conducted with various stakeholders involved in the Verde River ditch irrigation system, ranging from water users to nonprofit organizations, this paper identifies sociotechnical tinkering as an important aspect of maintaining agricultural operations along the river amid political tensions, social relations, and climate change. Through interviews and analysis, this paper further contributes to the relatively new discourse on the concept of sociotechnical tinkering by proving its existence and its subsequent effectiveness in the Verde Valley. Using statements made by respondents, the paper argues that sociotechnical tinkering helps manage resources through political and social relations.
Most urban agriculture sites experience challenges related to sustainability, but in the Sonoran Desert, even more challenges arise as a result of a unique climate, soil conditions, intense storms, and water scarcity. The objective of this project was to obtain information on common barriers to urban agriculture in the Sonoran Desert, as well as ways to overcome these barriers that will be made public for the purpose of improving sustainability of similar agriculture projects. I used interviews with gardeners and farm staff as my primary research method to gain insight to these barriers and solutions, and I coded their responses relating to challenges according to frequency mentioned. Using my findings, I compiled a thorough list of recommendations that urban agriculture projects in the Sonoran Desert or in similar climatic areas can use to achieve greater success and sustainable outcomes.