Urban Agriculture as Revolution - City Farmer's Urban Agriculture

260 Pages·2010·3.66 MB·English

Urban Agriculture as Revolution:
An Action Research and Social Movement Analysis of Food Production in
Alameda County, California

By

KRISTIN ARFI REYNOLDS
B.S. (Colorado State University, Fort Collins) 2000
B.A. (Colorado State University, Fort Collins) 2000
M.S. (University of California, Davis) 2005

DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in

Geography

in the

OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

of the

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

DAVIS

Approved:

Dean MacCannell
(Chair)

Gail Feenstra

Mark Francis

Committee in Charge

2010

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Copyright

©

Kristin Arfi Reynolds

2010
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DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to my grandfathers. To the memory of Joseph Arfi, Sicilian farmer
and New York City grocer; and to Robert G. Reynolds, whose admiration of both his
students and his grandchildren have always inspired me to continue my educational
endeavors. Each of their legacies is present in this work.
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ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS

Many people have provided advice, assistance, and support to me during the many phases
of this process. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with the members of
my advising committee who provided me with much guidance and support throughout
this process. Dean MacCannell, who served as chair of my dissertation committee, has
long inspired me to challenge myself, and provided invaluable advice about how to
conduct socially relevant research with integrity. This work would have been far less
compelling without his guidance. Gail Feenstra’s expertise, enthusiasm and support for
agrifood systems work, as well as her constructive criticism at several key stages of
research planning and writing, were also essential to this process. Mark Francis provided
important perspectives on urban gardening and conceptualization of the research
findings, and graciously agreed to coordinate my qualifying exam. Isao Fujimoto, Julie
Sze, and Marita Cantwell were also part of my examination committee. Thanks to each of
them for their advice, which was helpful to me as I thought through the many aspects of
urban agriculture from both practical and political perspectives. I am also grateful for
Carrie Armstrong-Ruport in the Geography Graduate Group, for her support over the past
four years.

The University of California Small Farm Program and its dedicated staff members
provided financial and logistical support, without which this research would not have
been possible. The field research was hosted by the Program, where I was employed
through the majority of my graduate student career. This research was also funded
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through the Program as part of a USDA grant. In addition to funding and hosting the field
research, Program staff members were enormously supportive of my efforts over the
three years of research and analysis. I am grateful to each of the SFP directors with whom
I was able to work during my time with the Program: current Director Shermain
Hardesty, past Interim Director Marita Cantwell, and past Director Desmond Jolly. They,
along with the Small Farm Program advisors, (Richard Molinar, Mark Gaskell, Ramiro
Lobo, Manuel Jimenez, Benny Fouché), and other Small Farm Workgroup members
shared their valuable time and perspectives on many aspects of urban agriculture. SFP
staff members Linda Vieira, Birgit Hempel, and Brenda Dawson were also extremely
generous and patiently provided me with needed support and assistance.

More broadly, I extend my thanks to the individuals and organizations in Alameda
County that offered assistance and inspiration throughout this work. These include all of
the key informants whose work motivated this research, whose names I cannot mention
here, but whose ideas and passions are the fabric of this dissertation. I hope that this work
can be of use to them at some level in their various agrifood system efforts. Thanks also
to Lucrecia Farfan-Ramirez, director of Cooperative Extension Alameda County, for
making documents accessible and for reviewing sections of this dissertation, and to Justin
Watkins, and Kira Pascoe, also at UCCE Alameda. I am grateful to Ed Duarte of the
Alameda County Department of Agriculture for his assistance identifying agricultural
operations; Ryan Boynton for his GIS mapping expertise and expediency; and to Navina
Khanna; Grey Kolevzon; Hank Herrera; Temra Costa; and Gail Myers with Farms to
Grow for providing important advice and input as to how to make this research more
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relevant to local stakeholders. Thanks, too, to Nathan McClintock for discussing
theoretical aspects of urban agriculture, and to Damian Parr, for discussing action
research over the past several years, and for reviewing sections of this dissertation.

Finally, am forever grateful to my parents, Terrie Arfi and Bob Reynolds, who have
supported me in immeasurable ways throughout all of my years of education, and to my
partner, Michael Barnes, who has always encouraged me to stay true to myself.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ABSTRACT

This dissertation examines characteristics of urban agriculture as a social movement
using Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area as a study context. The
overarching goals of this study were: a) to add to the theoretical understanding of urban
agriculture in the Global North; b) to assess urban agriculture practitioners’ interest in
receiving technical assistance from University of California Cooperative Extension,
(UCCE); c) to assess the possibilities for, and take steps toward, expanding UCCE
assistance for a diversity of urban agriculture practioners. The study was conducted using
an action research framework. Distinct characteristics of action research are: its attention
to process; its dedication to motivating social change through research; and its emphasis
on the interplay between theory and social action.

Field research consisting of intensive interviews and site visits explored: social and
geographic characteristics of 52 urban agriculture operations (farms, ranches, and
gardens); challenges experienced by practioners; and types of assistance that would better
enable operations to realize their goals. This information was analyzed using descriptive
statistics and various social theories. GIS maps were created with site location and U.S.
Census data. This enabled further geographic and demographic analysis. An additional
data set consisted of UCCE agricultural advisors’ perspectives on urban agriculture. This
information was collected through participant observation from within the University of
California Small Farm Program and Small Farm Workgroup, both of which are part of
California’s extension system.

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