How to make urban farming sustainable and profitable

In South and West Dallas, initiatives like Restorative Farms have turned vacant lots into hubs for fresh produce, job training, and sustainable practices such as hydroponics—helping combat food deserts and build local food networks.

More complex than small community gardens, urban farms can help tackle food insecurity and create jobs, especially in underserved areas. But systemic challenges, such as funding gaps and overcoming environmental and soil contamination, can make sustainability challenging.

A published by SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development shows that long-term collaborations known as research-practice partnerships are essential for forming resilient, equitable and sustainable urban food systems.

Such partnerships create structured frameworks for mutual benefit, allowing farms to gain access to evidence-based solutions and researchers to obtain valuable real-world insights that inform practice and policy, the study’s co-authors Marc Sager and noted in the journal Discover Cities. Sager is an assistant director of research at The Budd Center, a research center at Simmons, and Petrosino is a Simmons professor.

Urban farms can help tackle food insecurity and create jobs. But systemic challenges, like funding gaps and overcoming environmental and soil contamination, can make sustainability challenging.

Why research-practice partnerships are critical for urban farms

Research-practice partnerships are mutually agreed upon collaborations between evidence-based researchers and urban farms, along with other practitioners, that last for years and are designed to address practical issues and policy-related questions. 

The research highlights two successful case studies:

• A partnership between an urban farm and a college campus focused on regenerative farming practices and student engagement, tackling issues of food access and community resilience.
• Undergraduate students worked with a South Dallas farm to map food deserts and visualize disparities in transportation and income. These visualizations have since been used by the farm for grant applications and policy advocacy.

Creating a solid, lasting partnership is no easy feat, Sager said. 

“It takes time and effort build these relationships and earn their trust,” he said. “We must consider how to bring multiple practitioners to the table with researchers and ensure everyone's voice is heard.”

Sager has partnered with Joppy Momma’s Farm, an urban farm located in the historic town of Joppa, Texas, for many years. During the first two years of the partnership, he spent time building relationships and observing at the farm before determining the research he would pursue.

“Many urban farms are rooted in historically marginalized communities that have experienced long-standing neglect, redlining, and broken promises from institutions, including universities and researchers,” Sager said. “For them, actions speak louder than words. It’s important to show that you care.”

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. SBE2150505.  

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.