Work
Growing Engagement & Connection with Health and Wellness Marketing
Case Study: Feed Our Future
SERVICES: Brand Strategy & Narrative | Creative, Content & Communications | Community Activation
Revitalized School Nutrition Across the Region
Many schools serve meals that barely meet nutritional standards. When the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH) team received funding to promote farm-to-school initiatives, they saw an opportunity to introduce healthier, locally sourced options for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
We were tasked to create a brand to support transforming school food culture. Not only would the brand need to engage school food service directors but also students, teachers, and parents. The result was Feed Our Future—an initiative to bring fresh, local foods to local school cafeterias.
Built a Strategic Foundation for Change
With our background in health and wellness marketing, our team recognized that Feed Our Future needed more than awareness—it required a strategy to overcome barriers like limited local food access, tight budgets, and low student awareness. Through research and speaking with cafeteria staff, we knew we needed to create demand alongside supply. Inspiring students to choose fresh foods became as crucial as educating food service directors on how to source and prepare those foods.
We developed a creative strategy that united diverse audiences. At its core, the initiative positioned each group—food service staff, parents, educators, students, and producers—as essential contributors to healthier school environments. Alongside this positioning, we delivered engaging tools to empower audiences, from educational programs and worksheets to promotional kits with posters, stickers, temporary tattoos and more.
Designed a Dynamic Brand Experience
To convey its mission, Feed Our Future needed a powerful identity. We reveled in the chance to create a vibrant brand that represented fresh, local food and its impact on students’ wellbeing. We wrote and designed the website to be a hub for fresh, local information, offering Harvest of the Month resources, recipes, videos, blogs, and downloadable kits for schools. Parents, educators, and food service directors could all easily access resources to participate and advocate for the farm-to-school movement.
The website also captures new leads via an online pledge form, ensuring sustained communication and engagement. When demand spiked outside of Ohio, we guided CCBH to expand the platform into an eCommerce site, allowing schools in the Midwest to purchase materials and become part of the movement.
Since developing the brand in 2016, we’ve adapted the logomark for use on diverse materials and created brand extensions for specific campaigns. Most notable (and fun!) were Harvest of the Month program characters that brought vegetables to life.
Achieving Lasting Impact
As of the 2023-2024 school year, 60 school districts in Northeast Ohio purchased local foods through Feed Our Future. These are the top achievements from the school year:
- $972,288.41 total spend on local foods
- 51% of sales were to producers designated as Minority-Owned, LGBT-Owned, Small Business Enterprise, Veteran-Owned, or Woman-Owned.
Starting in Northeast Ohio, the program gained traction and expanded to the Greater Cincinnati region. Increased interest from schools and public health organizations attracted state government support, leading to $90,000 in grant funding for further educational material distribution.
National recognition followed, positioning Feed Our Future as an authority on farm-to-school initiatives. Schools outside the grant funding radius seek out its resources while its reach and reputation continue to grow.
We continue to work closely with the Feed Our Future team to spread farm-to-school awareness and resources. By uniting schools, producers, and communities, Feed Our Future has created a ripple effect in reshaping school nutrition, proving that local food is not just a menu option—it’s a movement.
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