from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our six JAFSCD Partners: |
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| The 2025 Spring Issue is Complete
A big thank you to our contributors, special-issue editorial team, reviewers, and volunteer editors for making this happen!
Our spring 2025 issue features a special section of articles in response to our call for papers on community-based circular food systems. See the wide range of papers that address this topic. But the issue also includes John Ikerd's column, commentaries, policy & practice briefs, a book review, Voices from the Grassroots essay, and a dozen open-call papers!
You can read or download any of the articles or the entire issue for free, as always. |
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New instrument measuring Agricultural Community Power developed by, for, and with U.S.-based urban growers.
Black- and Brown-led food justice organizations have expressed the need for an instrument that captures what is most important to them: information on how their programs impact land-based knowledge, spirituality, collective agency, resistance, and mental health. The health benefits and ecosystem services of Black agrarianism and urban agriculture extend beyond physical health. However, urban agriculture organizations have repeatedly shared that their funders often measure the success of their programming based on the amount of produce grown, changes in body mass index (BMI) of participants, and/or average fruit and vegetable consumption.
In a new JAFSCD article, Measuring community power: A scale to measure collective self-determination, Embodied Earth Care and Connection, and Ubuntu among urban farmers and gardeners, authors Ashley B. Gripper and Tori L. Cowger present initial findings from an exploratory factor analysis. This analysis aimed to measure community power among urban farmers, gardeners, and growers across the U.S. This concept of community power encompasses latent constructs such as collective agency, care and relationship-building, interdependence, and “Embodied Earth Care and Connection.” The Agricultural Community Power Scale (AgCPS) is deeply rooted in community-generated questions, knowledge, and wisdom, and likely has utility across different disciplines and fields, including public health, sociology, and psychology. Corresponding author Dr. Ashley B. Gripper can be contacted at abg66@drexel.edu.
KEY FINDINGS
The Agricultural Community Power Scale (AgCPS) is a 41-item instrument made up of five subdomains: Collective Self-determination, Embodied Earth Care and Connection, Body-Mind Community Care, Land-based Spiritual Wellbeing, and Ubuntu. The scale has internal consistency reliability of 0.93. The majority of urban growers who completed the survey reported good or excellent physical, mental, and spiritual health.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
The approach and methods used throughout this research process offer an alternative way of engaging in community-based and community-rooted research methods. It may serve as a guide for others on how to produce community-engaged scholarship, where qualitative research influences quantitative studies, using an environmental justice approach. In future research projects, researchers should consider utilizing their skills, knowledge, and technical expertise to develop tools that communities and grassroots groups have explicitly stated will be useful for them. It can lead to greater impact.
SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
Have you been searching for a more aligned way to evaluate your organization’s programming? A new study develops the Agricultural Community Power Scale (AgCPS), a tool for organizations to measure impacts of their programming. The instrument captures the following domains: collective self-determination, Embodied Earth Care and Connection, land-based spiritual wellbeing, BodyMind Community Care, and Ubuntu. @DrexelU @HarvardU #urbanag #communitygarden #Ubuntu #wellbeing #survey Read the full @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.142.022
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Photos above: Author Dr. Ashley Gripper (unmasked) and family and friends (masked) converting a vacant lot that was previously full of trash into a community garden. Photo by Wren Rene. |
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JAFSCD is benefiting greatly from a group of dedicated volunteer copyeditors who are helping with our large volume of papers. In this rotating section, we recognize and appreciate the folks who are sharing their time and expertise with JAFSCD and our authors. | |
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“I decided to volunteer as a copy editor for JAFSCD primarily because they gave me the opportunity. I knew I would learn a lot as a newbie researcher and learn a lot I did! I needed to get a better picture of how different styles of writing are viewed from an editor's and reviewer's perspective—especially when it comes to writing for a variety of readers like JAFSCD attracts. The process of copyediting is making me a better writer. I look forward to continuing my work with the wonderful team at JAFSCD.”
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—Natalie Minton, Research Associate at the University of Mississippi Community First Research Center for Wellbeing and Creative Achievement (UM CREW). Natalie has been volunteering with JAFSCD since Dec. 2024. |
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