Nathan McClintock

Graduate Student
MS 2004 (Crop Science/Sustainable Agriculture) North Carolina State University; BA 1996 (French) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Regional focus: Oakland (California); Bamako (Mali)

Located somewhere near the intersection of geography, agroecology, and planning, my research focuses on urban agriculture in the low-income "flatlands" of Oakland, California. I'm integrating mixed methods (community participation, soil sampling, GIS, interviews, and archival research) and social theory (political economy, urban political ecology, and environmental justice) to understand how flows of capital in and out of the city have created an uneven landscape of food access, urban gardens, and soil contamination. As part of this "applied political (agro)ecology", I’m working with community-based food justice organizations to inventory vacant and underutilized public land in Oakland and assess its potential to contribute to a more resilient and equitable food system.  Visit urbanfood.org more more details on the project. 

More broadly, I am interested in the dynamics giving rise to urban agriculture and the ways in which these dynamics shape urban environments and food systems, particularly in times of economic crisis. My larger long-term project is a comparative geography of urban agriculture both in the global South and post-industrial North, drawing on my current research and previous agricultural research/extension work in Mali, Senegal, Bangladesh, Nepal, Haiti, Mexico, and Brazil.  Overall, my goal is to conduct applied research that bridges the environmental and social sciences, innovates agricultural research/extension/education, and contributes to the development of a more sustainable food system. To stay grounded and keep my hands dirty, I've co-taught an urban agriculture course in the UC Berkeley Student Organic Garden.  I am also a member of the Oakland Food Policy Council.

Download CV.

Listen to an interview about my research on KALX 90.7 fm, and a North Gate Radio feature on the groundbreaking of City Slicker Farms' new market garden and release of the "Cultivating the Commons" report.

Selected publications

Journal Articles:

Why farm the city? Theorizing urban agriculture and multiple metabolic rifts. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society. (forthcoming)

“Soil fertility management and compost use in Senegal’s Peanut Basin.” International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 3(2):79-91. (2005, w/ Amadou Makhtar Diop)

Book Chapters:

From Industrial Garden to Food Desert: Demarcated Devalution in the Flatlands of Oakland, California. In Alison Alkon and Julian Agyeman (eds) The Food Justice Reader: Cultivating a Just Sustainability. (forthcoming)

Reports & Working Papers:

Cultivating the Commons: An Assessment of the Potential for Urban Agriculture on Oakland's Public Land in Oakland. City Slicker Farms / HOPE Collaborative / Food First, Oakland, CA. (2009, w/ Jenny Cooper)

From Industrial Garden to Food Desert: Unearthing the Root Structure of Urban Agriculture in Oakland, California. Berkeley: Institute for the Study of Social Change Working Paper No. 32. (2008)

Regenerative Agriculture for Haiti’s Central Plateau: A Sustainable Foundation for Food and Nutrition Security. Research conducted for Zanmi Lasante Paris / Partners in Health. (2004, cited in National Geographic article on Haiti's soil, September 2008). (French version)

Extension Bulletins:

“Compost Production and Use in Sustainable Farming Systems.” Center for Environmental Farming Systems Field Notes for Farmers No.1, NC Cooperative Extension Publication #AG-676-01W, Raleigh, NC. (2005)

Encyclopedia Entries/Book Sections:

"Agricultural Extension." In P. Robbins, D. Mulvaney, & J.G. Golson (eds) Green Society. Vol. 3: Green Food. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. (forthcoming 2009)

"Sustainable Agriculture" and "Biotechnology". In R.M. Juang & N. Morrissette (eds). Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. (2008)

“Senegalese Cooperatives.” In R. van Weenhuizen (ed.) Cities Farming for the Future: Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities. Ottawa/Leusden: IDRC/RUAF, pp. 141-143. (2006) 

“Hibiscus sabdariffa (L.)”. In G.J.H. Gruebben & L.O. Denton (eds.) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2: Vegetables. Waginengen, The Netherlands: PROTA Foundation, pp. 321-326. (2004, w/ E.M. El-Tahir)

Popular Media:

“Sustainable in Senegal”, The New Farm (13-story feature, June 2005 – July 2006)

“Roselle in Senegal and Mali”, LEISA Magazine for Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture 20(1): (2004) (French and Indonesian versions)

“Women in Senegalese Peri-Urban Agriculture: The case of Touba Peycouck” Urban Agriculture Magazine 12. (Portuguese version)

MS Thesis:
Production and Use of Compost and Vermicompost in Sustainable Farming Systems. Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University. (2004)

Websites of interest

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