The beginnings of Tessemae’s All Natural are rooted in one simple reality. Mothers will forever be looking for ways to get their kids to eat healthier.
As the mother of three wild boys my mother was in constant pantry protection mode trying to manage the soda, candy, and potato chip in take. And she’ll tell you that she won some and she lost some. But it was the day she brought home her homemade Lemon Garlic salad dressing recipe that the odds swung drastically in her favor. No longer was it a challenge to get us to eat the occasional greens, it was part of the regular routine.
Because of this upbringing we’ve always had aspirations of improving local food options, specifically as it applies to children. For the longest time we struggled with where to focus our energy.
There were school lunches, childhood obesity and diabetes to name a few. Each are noble causes deserving support, however as we began to dig deeper we found that each maintained a consistent theme. They all were most pronounced in underserved neighborhoods, more specifically, food deserts.
These are areas where it’s not necessarily a matter of individuals making bad food choices, it’s areas where there the choice is quite literally never there to begin with. Fresh produce doesn’t exist. Grocery stores are boarded up and fast food options exist at every corner. We were fortunate to grow up in an area where we never had to face this daily realiy. We want more people to enjoy the same.
And so Crop Circles was born. When most people hear the term, there are visions of aliens knocking down cornfields late at night, leaving mysterious shapes and symbols. Well, ours is just the opposite, we come in the middle of night and raise crops up leaving a clear message.
We travel to food deserts across the country and create pop-up farmer’s markets where we give away 30K pounds of fresh produce to neighborhood residents for free. There are no strings attached, simply show up. We give you a bag and fill it with enough fruits and vegetables to feed a family of four for roughly one week.
The goals are two-fold. First, and most importantly, that local residents enjoy an afternoon learning a bit more about the importance of eating fresh food, getting tips on how to prepare it, and even how to grow it, all the while being surrounded by live music, local celebrities, community leaders, and local vendors.
The second, longer term objective, is to bring more attention to the issue of food deserts overall and to showcase some of the community organizations and individuals focused on eliminating them everyday.
The unfortunate truth is that the majority of these non-profits and community leaders simply do not have the funds to raise enough awareness or buzz without outside help. Tessemae’s wants to create that platform allowing for more attention and support.
Greg Vetter
To date we have executed two successful events in Compton, California and Englewood, Chicago. Both were great successes drawing anywhere from two-thousand to three-thousand people. And we hope to re-create that with our final stop in Baltimore, Maryland.
Our goal is to make this the largest one yet and with the support of the Mayor’s office, we are confident we will get there.
We recognize that this event alone is not going to solve the issue but hopefully it serves as a sustainable means to heighten awareness of the problem.
Greg Vetter is the CEO of the Baltimore-based craft condiment company Tessemae’s All Natural. The next free food event will take place on Nov. 21 at the New Hope Academy, 900 Druid Hill Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21201 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.