Celebrities and charities have long been linked–but until fairly recently it was rare for a celebrity’s involvement to extend beyond writing checks and/or flashing those pearly whites for the camera at gala events. The new breed of celebrity activist is much more hands-on–witness Brad Pitt and his efforts with the Make It Right Foundation, dedicated to rebuilding New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, or Ed Norton and his work with Crowdrise.
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Posts Tagged ‘food’
In the Spotlight: Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen
Creating Connections Through Gardening
From rooftops and back yards to community plots and small farms, individuals are taking food production into their own hands. Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study found, for instance, that more than four in ten Prosumers had started or were thinking about starting their own vegetable or fruit garden. As part of its Thrive video series, Whole Foods looks into some of these individuals’ lives and living spaces as they nourish themselves and others, along with their gardens. In this episode, a Mexican-American reconnects with her personal heritage in her Oakland, California backyard garden.
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New Consumer Sighting: Fresh Crop of Farmers Markets
New data out from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that more than 1,000 farmers markets have opened in the past year, up 17 percent from 2010.
The newly released 2011 National Farmers Market Directory shows a total of 7,175 farmers markets in the U.S. this summer, up from last year’s 6,132.
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Chickening Out?
In keeping with the New Consumers’ intertwining desires for self-sufficiency, more healthful food, and a deeper connection to the natural world, some 700,000 people in the U.K. are now raising chickens in their backyards—a rise of 80 percent in three years.
Not everything that clucks lays golden eggs, however, as more than one beleaguered backyard chicken farmer has discovered. Read one woman’s story here.
Image credit: Creative Commons/netzanette@flickr.com
New Consumer Sighting: Domino’s Tracker
When Euro RSCG Worldwide surveyed consumers in three markets (France, U.K., U.S.) as part of our Future of the Corporate Brand study, corporate transparency emerged as a topic of real concern. Seventy-four percent of the total sample said it’s important that businesses be “completely open and transparent,” and 82 percent said “businesses need to open a dialogue with their consumers.” Since 2009, Domino’s Pizza has emerged as something of a poster child for transparency. As the first move in its turnaround, the
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Smarter Shopping at Supermarkets
We know from our global studies that consumers are getting smarter, using new technologies and communications channels to find the best deals and team up with others to gain the advantage at retail. Looking at the U.S. sample in our New Consumer study, 74 percent of mainstream consumers and 87 percent of leading-edge Prosumers said they are smarter shoppers now compared with a few years ago. Sixty percent of the mainstream and 82 percent of Prosumers also admitted to being more demanding shoppers these days.
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| Tags: consumer empowerment, Deloitte, Euro RSCG, food, Retail, social media, thrift 
Post a Comment | in New Consumer, Prosumers, Shopping, Uncategorized, Value
Mindfulness Sighting: Gotham Greens
Founded in 2008 by Viraj Puri and Eric Haley, Gotham Greens has begun harvesting its first crops. The greenhouse is located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and will deliver more than 80 tons of premium produce to local chefs and retailers year-round.Visit their website to find out more about their operation and the philosophy behind it.
| Tags: food, Gotham Greens, mindful consumption, organic Post a Comment | in New Consumer, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values
Zero-Packaging Grocery Store to Open in Texas
Last fall, we wrote about London’s Unpackaged grocery store. Now the packaging-free concept has come to the United States, courtesy of a group of entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas. They’ve created the country’s first ever “package-free, zero waste grocery store.” Specializing in local and organic ingredients, In.gredients will replace unhealthy, overpackaged products with local, organic, and natural foods; the new store also hopes to foster a sense of community with cooking classes, gardening workshops, and art shows.
Check out the video below and read the full story on GOOD.
| Tags: conscious consumption, food, GOOD, In.gredients, mindful consumption, New Consumer, organic, packaging, simplicity movement, Sustainability, waste Post a Comment | 3 Comments | in Corporate/Brand Leadership, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Shopping, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Values
Farmville Gets Real
59 percent of global respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer survey–and two-thirds of leading-edge Prosumers–worry that people have become too disconnected from the natural world
A happy denizen of Wimpole Estate
Last month, we wrote about Triscuit’s Home Farming Day–an effort to get more Americans to discover “the simple joy of growing and sharing their own herbs and vegetables.” Now word comes from the U.K. of another tactic aimed at reconnecting people and agriculture. Inspired by the popularity of Facebook’s Farmville game (46 million players…and counting), England’s National Trust has turned over the administration of Wimpole Estate Farm in Cambridgeshire to online “farmers.”
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New Consumer Sighting: Rockaway Taco
As our world becomes increasingly artificial, people have begun to feel less “real.” Nearly six in ten respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study worry that we have become too disconnected from the natural world. Nature is seen as an embodiment of our ties to a more “authentic” past–and it has become a place of escape, somewhere to rejuvenate and relax. This longing for the real is one reason we’ve seen a surge in home vegetable and fruit gardens, in home cheesemaking and the revival of other hands-on crafts. It’s about eco-consciousness, but also a desire for self-sufficiency and connectedness to something inherently real.
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