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Purpose <p>The term “urban agriculture” encompasses a wide range of systems, from home gardens to commercial forms and hybrid models such as microfarms. Urban microfarms are an emerging form of urban agriculture that differ markedly from other systems in terms of how they operate and the soil on which they are established. Despite their rapid development, little is known about their contribution to urban food production or the sanitary quality of their food products. Our study aimed to (i) evaluate the food production potential of urban microfarms in terms of both yields and sanitary quality (trace metal elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - PAHs) and (ii) assess the influence of soil contamination on vegetable yield and quality.</p> Materials and methods <p>Over two consecutive years, we monitored food production as well as vegetable and soil quality, in terms of concentrations of trace metal elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in seven urban microfarms.</p> Results and discussion <p>Average yields were relatively modest (1.4 ± 1.1&#xa0;kg m⁻² of fresh vegetables), with high variability across farms. Nevertheless, microfarms have the advantage of providing a wide variety of vegetables, with 28–54 species cultivated annually. Some cases of soil contamination and pollution appeared result from practices such as compost input and former use of phytosanitary products, or due to past industrial activities. However, concentrations of Pb, Cd and Hg in vegetables generally remained below European regulatory limits. We detected PAHs in both soils and vegetables, with higher concentrations in leafy and aromatic plants, suggesting a significant contribution from atmospheric deposition.</p> Conclusions <p>Despite some local soil pollution issues, the seven multifunctional microfarms exhibited good overall soil quality. Given their current level of development and food production, the contribution of microfarms to city-wide food security was modest quantitatively but was generally healthy. This study highlights the need for more robust assessment frameworks and context-specific thresholds to support safe and sustainable soil-based urban agriculture. Further studied disentangling contamination pathways could support better mitigation strategies for soil and vegetables contamination.</p>

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Carrots, cabbages, onions: can vegetables be grown safely and at scale in urban microfarm soils?

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月24日

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  • Sophie Joimel,
  • Baptiste Grard,
  • Claire-Sophie Haudin,
  • Nastaran Manouchehri ,
  • Christine Aubry,
  • Claire Chenu

摘要

Purpose

The term “urban agriculture” encompasses a wide range of systems, from home gardens to commercial forms and hybrid models such as microfarms. Urban microfarms are an emerging form of urban agriculture that differ markedly from other systems in terms of how they operate and the soil on which they are established. Despite their rapid development, little is known about their contribution to urban food production or the sanitary quality of their food products. Our study aimed to (i) evaluate the food production potential of urban microfarms in terms of both yields and sanitary quality (trace metal elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - PAHs) and (ii) assess the influence of soil contamination on vegetable yield and quality.

Materials and methods

Over two consecutive years, we monitored food production as well as vegetable and soil quality, in terms of concentrations of trace metal elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in seven urban microfarms.

Results and discussion

Average yields were relatively modest (1.4 ± 1.1 kg m⁻² of fresh vegetables), with high variability across farms. Nevertheless, microfarms have the advantage of providing a wide variety of vegetables, with 28–54 species cultivated annually. Some cases of soil contamination and pollution appeared result from practices such as compost input and former use of phytosanitary products, or due to past industrial activities. However, concentrations of Pb, Cd and Hg in vegetables generally remained below European regulatory limits. We detected PAHs in both soils and vegetables, with higher concentrations in leafy and aromatic plants, suggesting a significant contribution from atmospheric deposition.

Conclusions

Despite some local soil pollution issues, the seven multifunctional microfarms exhibited good overall soil quality. Given their current level of development and food production, the contribution of microfarms to city-wide food security was modest quantitatively but was generally healthy. This study highlights the need for more robust assessment frameworks and context-specific thresholds to support safe and sustainable soil-based urban agriculture. Further studied disentangling contamination pathways could support better mitigation strategies for soil and vegetables contamination.