Diverse Neighborhoods, Food Access, and Urban Agriculture: a Case Study of Four Community Gardens in Salt Lake City

honors thesisCollege of Architecture + PlanningCity & Metropolitan PlanningSarah HinnersCommunity gardens have been shown to increase food security as well as develop social capital in an urban setting. Several socioeconomic factors (including age, education, annual household income, and more) have been demonstrated to substantially affect perceptions of benefits from participating in community gardens as well as actual participation levels in community gardens. As many individuals, either by choice or necessity, have chosen to eat food that is more sustainable, accessible, and healthy, this research explored different demographic and neighborhood factors that determined who participated in local community gardens and why. With the local food movement growing more and more popular in cities across the country-as a response to the debates around food security, the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and chemicals in agriculture, rising food prices, and the ecological costs of growing and transporting food-the different functions of community gardens have been increasingly examined. This research answered the following question, "What factors determine community garden participation in Salt Lake City?" The goal was to provide Wasatch Community Gardens with maps, survey results, and a summary that helped their organization, and also assisted local urban planners, in better understanding the current state of community gardening participation in Salt Lake City, Utah