How Farmer-Led Research Is Strengthening a Community Food Initiative in Southwest Ohio
In the Riverview neighborhood of Hamilton, Ohio, Hamilton Urban Garden Systems (HUGS) has spent a decade improving food and nutrition security for residents in this food desert.
HUGS has been working to ensure that every man, woman and child in Hamilton and surrounding communities have access to fresh produce, nutritional and gardening information, as well as the skills and tools to grow their own food. Now, through a partnership with the From The Ground Up (FTGUp) project, that work is also helping advance farmer-led research into conservation practices that can strengthen their efforts.
Michelle Merrett, board chair of Hamilton Urban Garden Systems (HUGS), is one of the farmers participating in FTGUp, a collaborative research initiative led by farmers and supported by researchers from The Ohio State University, Central State University, University of Missouri, Lincoln University, and nonprofit partner Solutions from the Land. The project places producers at the center of agricultural research, asking practical questions about what works, what doesn’t, and why, under real-world growing conditions. For HUGS, the connection between research and community impact is direct.
Growing food and knowledge in a food desert
Founded in 2012 by Alfred Hall and Patty Burbacher, HUGS operates a 1.8-acre community garden. Since its founding, HUGS has donated thousands of pounds of fresh, organically grown produce each year to families, food pantries, community meal centers, and food rescue organizations throughout Hamilton.
“We produce anywhere from 2,500 pounds to a little over 3,000 pounds of food in our most productive years,” Merrett said. “We try to coordinate with the food pantries and see what types of food people in the community request often. Mostly tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, okra. We try to grow what we know people request and will consume.”
Beyond food distribution, education is central to the HUGS mission. Volunteers work to teach community members how to eat healthy and grow their own food as food costs rise and household budgets tighten. “Our purpose here is to educate the community about eating healthy, learning how to grow their own food and distributing fresh produce in this area because we’re actually located in a food desert,” Merrett said.
From The Ground Up: Research designed by farmers
That same practical mindset is what connects HUGS to the FTGUp project. FTGUp is a farmer-led research initiative working across Ohio and Missouri to evaluate conservation practices such as cover crops and diversified rotations. While experimental research has shown these practices can improve soil health, resilience to extreme weather, and long-term productivity, adoption has remained low due to uncertainty about costs, management challenges, and inconsistent results.
FTGUp addresses those concerns by supporting farmers as they design and run their own on-farm research trials, tracking agronomic, economic, and environmental outcomes under working conditions.
Merrett is part of a Southwest Ohio research team studying how winter cover crops influence weeds, soil health, vegetable yields, and food quality. The study includes six participating farms, ranging from small garden plots to three-quarters of an acre, all managed organically.
“So all the farms that are part of this program are using the same fertilizer, growing the same types of vegetables. And then we’re going to compare and see who’s grew a lot better, what they did versus you know, what we do here. And if one of the programs in Dayton is producing more, then we can get tips from them as to what they did differently from us.”
The research tracks vegetable yields, cover crop biomass, canopy cover, weed pressure, soil health indicators, and economic impacts, while also accounting for differences in soil type, weather, and management decisions.
Research that strengthens community impact
For HUGS, the value of this research goes far beyond data collection. “I hope to be more efficient in what we’re growing and to increase our production,” Merrett said. “With the information that comes from this project, we can be a better community garden and have more food to distribute to people in the community.”
That potential of turning conservation research into tangible gains in food access is at the heart of FTGUp’s work. Grounding research in farmers’ real needs and conditions will help generate insights that farmers trust and can actually use. At HUGS, those insights could mean healthier soils, fewer weeds, better water management, and more consistent yields. All of these translate directly into more fresh produce for Hamilton families.
Just as importantly, the partnership reinforces HUGS’ role as both a food producer and a learning hub. The knowledge gained through FTGUp can be shared with volunteers, gardeners, and community members, helping more people understand how conservation practices support resilient local food systems.
By Joseph Opoku Gakpo and Lauren Spirk
