The first and most important step in creating a social media campaign for a client is listening. Only by listening can we fully understand the individual's or organization's operations, strategy, and goals. So, I listened, I observed, and I even volunteered for couple of hours to get a feel for how my first client organization operates and how things are run. Here’s what I learned:
For the uninitiated, F.A.R.M. Cafe is a wildly successful pay-what-you-can restaurant in Boone, North Carolina that is part of the One World Everybody Eats movement. Their goal is to eliminate food insecurity in the High Country of North Carolina. This month, F.A.R.M. is launching it’s newest project, F.A.R.M. Full Circle. The project is a food recovery program that creates value-added meals from food that has passed it's sell-by date or would otherwise be thrown away by local grocery stores and farms.
In short, they aim to “Reduce waste. Feed people”.
In this way, they are actively contributing to a closed-loop local food system. A notable goal, if that's not enough, is to divert one ton of food headed for the landfill in their first year of operation. They want to increase accessibility to fresh produce (which is normally more expensive than less nutritious processed foods) and thus reduce food insecurity. Their work is even good for the environment, by reducing methane emissions from food waste rotting in a landfill. F.A.R.M. Full Circle will use the Food Rescue App, which “helps connect fresh usable excess food with hunger relief organizations who serve America's food insecure population.”
I've only given a brief overview of their goals. So, check out their Facebook page to learn more about how this organization is creating sustainable solutions to many issues surrounding food.
Also, the hand pictured above(and below) is that of a small scale, ecological farmer from Mountainwise Farm that donates to F.A.R.M. Full Circle. Check out their beautiful site, you'll be glad you did.
I've heard of these types of pay-as-you-go restaurants before, but I had no idea we had one in Boone! I really like the idea and it seems like it could be helpful for people who don't have a lot of money, especially because the food at this place is actually healthy - that's a real issue for a lot of people who can't afford to buy fresh, healthy ingredients. This sounds like a really neat place!