In Women We Trust

Can Yourself -- Grow Money, Grow Friends

This post is part of the Green Mom Carnival on Food Preservation hosted by Abbie at The Farmer's Daughter beginning July 17th. 

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If you could get $2000 for every $20 you invest, would you do it? That's what food preservation does; it takes time and energy, but not much money to get tons to eat that you KNOW is free of pesticides.

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It also provides a summer of "entertainment" depending on what kind of gardener you are and hours of bonding time with your family and friends as you plant, harvest, can, eat and share the bounty.

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The dollar estimate came from my 90-year-old neighbor's city lot garden where they harvest, tomatoes, corn, raspberries, onions, grapes, apples, beans, beets, carrots, strawberries, blueberries, pumpkins, zuchinni, squash, and fan dance sized rhubarb. 

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I asked them to tabulate their pantry at the end of the season. A trip to the store then gave me the value if I had purchased the same volumn of food. (The original $20 was seed money.) 

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Some people think it's a lot of work. I think it's a lot of play and encourage everyone to start by growing an Italian garden of zukes, tomatoes, onions, parsley, oregano, rosemary and put in a strawberry rhubarb plant for me... That will be enough to get you canning and cooking. 

Don't Cross this Green Advertising line with Mom's

It's the "guilt" line according to a focus group conducted by Shelton Group.

Concerned Moms are most motivated by their kids, but there’s a line that marketers should NOT cross. That would be the Line of Guilt. Positive messaging about future generations worked really well. Guilt messaging – such as “you’d better change your ways today or else your kids and grandkids will pay the price” — really fell flat. It insulted them. A representative comment to one such ad: “I’ve bent over for my kids… How dare they tell me I haven’t done enough?”

What else can you do to ring the green bell of action? Concerned Moms liked "facts delivered directly" -- regular people giving real tips are what registered the best. Protecting the jobs/family and future generations also resonated well as long as it didn't cross the guilt line. 

The best part, the green market rose 41% from 2004 to 2009. Does that mean that more people want to buy green products or that more green products are simply more available to buy. Go here for the full article.

This all is terrific news for Wal Mart who announced their push for buying local and organic food. That's something that everyone can live with.