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Buying food from farms that get economies of scale would probably be less carbon intensive per unit than individuals tending their own plots. Those farms could also ensure they minimize/offset their own carbon footprints.

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is the manual labor of tending a garden a high carbon intensity activity?

I don’t know tbh, but I think having lots of small individual plots you probably lose economies of scale. Especially if you’re growing in dense urban areas there’s probably more efficient use for the land. Although vertical farming could maybe offset this.

Mostly talking out of my ass. I’m sure there’s someone on here with the answers you seek.

Probably not, but spacing out housing enough so that every housing unit has land for its own garden to tend probably adds a lot of high carbon intensity transportation.

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