I have been in the branding and advertising industry since 1986. I have worked on some amazing accounts over the years and there are dozens of awards with my name on them in a storage closet.
Throughout my career I always aspired to work with an clients, products and projects I could believe in. This meant turning down and even resigning work on occasion. After 26 years, I decided to use my branding abilities to inspire, engage and inform people about something I had become very passionate about: access to real food that is healthy for both people and the planet.
As an mother and avid gardener, I was (and am) aware of the huge issues of eroding food security for my children's generation (GMOs, loss of topsoil, reduction in nutritional value of crops etc). At the same time I wanted to continue my volunteer work in the DTES and find positive ways to help people here become more self-sufficient. But I also needed to support my family.
These passions and needs gave birth to Strathcona 1890 Urban Seed Collections and the Urban Seed Project.
I created collections of high-quality, non-GMO seeds focussing almost entirely on heirlooms. The idea was to create collections of seeds for people living in small, urban spaces. To simplify gardening and redirect many people's perceptions of gardening away from simply being a difficult chore, I created collections of seeds for a variety of needs and wants. Someone with little knowledge of gardening can buy a Shade Collection if they have a shady garden, a Salad Sampler if they want to grow a variety of veggies, the Urban Apothecary if they want to spice their food up (or only have a kitchen window sill to grow on) or maybe the Edible Flowers collection if they want to dress up their meals and create a pretty space. I even created a Junior Farmer and a Kids Starter Seeds to give parents and easy way to get their kids engaged. (not that is it too hard to get kids to play in the dirt.) As well, every collection has little extras like recipes or projects and, of course, germination tips & tricks. To make them unique in the market place I put them in tins and wrapped them all with beautifully designed and illustrated labels with a quirky off-beat tag for each collection. People loved them. I was getting them into stores but I needed to start building a consumer market. How was I going to inspire people to grow a little of their own food, especially with only a $2,000 annual media budget?
My truck may be rusty, but when it comes to marketing, I'm not.
I have always tried to get clients to be bold and dare to be different. I also happen to believe in outdoor advertising (much harder to ignore). But a single transit shelter ad would cost close to $900 for one month. It just so happened that I had my old pick-up truck that had not been driven in six years, parked in the weeds in my back alley. It was in pretty good shape for a truck that old and when I came across the trailer for the movie Truck Farm I was struck by how cool it would be to grow a small space demonstration garden from my own seeds in the back of my truck. 45 minutes later I had applied for a Neighbourhood Green Grant to cover some of the costs to turn it into a Truck Farm. A few weeks later I found out I got the grant and the real work began.
Like I said, the truck had not been driven in 6 years. This meant a six year old battery, six year old fluids, including gas and rubber parts that don't really like to sit around doing nothing. According to a few people I have horseshoes up my behind when it comes to the truck (they used a more colourful term). We put in a new battery and the old girl started on one turn. I drove it to Aircare, and it passed the first time. The rubber parts needed to be replaced but the automotive students at VCC got it done for a fraction of the going rate. So I got some garden variety soil and started some plants for the truck. I then came up with decals in the Strathcona 1890 branding and hit the streets.
Like I said, the truck had not been driven in 6 years. This meant a six year old battery, six year old fluids, including gas and rubber parts that don't really like to sit around doing nothing. According to a few people I have horseshoes up my behind when it comes to the truck (they used a more colourful term). We put in a new battery and the old girl started on one turn. I drove it to Aircare, and it passed the first time. The rubber parts needed to be replaced but the automotive students at VCC got it done for a fraction of the going rate. So I got some garden variety soil and started some plants for the truck. I then came up with decals in the Strathcona 1890 branding and hit the streets.
It has been a whirlwind year. I am able to take my Truck Farm to schools, daycares and community centres to engage, and educate kids. I have various programs where they can learn about growing including my favourite: Growing With Lego. (My philosophy is a heathy version of the one that inspired candy cigarettes - start them young.) The Truck Farm is now requested for events and exhibits regularly. It has been in the PNE and Science World as well as numerous neighbourhood events and markets. It has had fairly major media coverage, not just in Vancouver, but throughout BC and across Canada.
