A comparison of metal concentrations in vegetables from urban community gardens and groceries in response to community research.

Farmers in urban community gardens (UCGs) grow a variety of vegetables to have access to nutritious food that may be scarce, to enjoy the benefits of nature, and as political resistance to numerous forms of environmental injustice. These injustices are many and include food deserts, contamination, lack of green spaces, and loss of connection to land. To subvert these injustices, many community farmers choose to grow their own produce rather than to purchase produce from grocery stores. As part of an ongoing study on contamination in UCGs, partnering farmers asked our research team to analyze the concentrations of metal contamination in vegetables grown in UCGs in the Seattle, Washington Metropolitan area and compare the concentrations of metals in produce from grocery stores they regularly visited. Using a combination of field sampling and surveying, we collected commonly grown vegetable samples from multiple UCGs and groceries that participants in our study frequented. We analyzed vegetables for heavy metals to determine if and which vegetables contained high concentrations of metals, and if vegetables from UCGs or from groceries had higher levels of heavy metals. Although metal concentrations frequently exceeded health guidelines in vegetables collected from both UCGs and groceries, the concentrations of metals in UCGs were generally higher than in vegetables collected from groceries. We also found that cadmium and lead pose the most risk to communities, which may exacerbate health risks for certain populations, given that there are already many governmental warnings about overconsumption of cadmium and lead in food.