Plant A Seed Day on March 20th is a New International Holiday to Inspire Millions of Families to Grow Real Food

BOULDER, Colo., Mar. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Big Green, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and its Founder and Chairman, Kimbal Musk, are introducing a new international holiday, Plant A Seed Day, to take place on the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, March 20, 2019. In partnership with the Seeds of Change™ brand, Growing Roots snacks, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Gordon Food Service, Local Crate, Hamama, and Seed Phytonutrients, Plant a Seed Day is a movement to mobilize kids, their families, and communities to take a single simple action - plant a seed to grow real food in their home or classroom.

Kids today are living a 24-hour entertainment, short-attention span, caffeinated, sugar-powered, fast food existence. This "give-it-to-me-now" mentality has seeped into our way of eating and contributed to a rise in childhood obesity, diabetes and other preventable, diet-related illnesses. American children are being fed processed, nutrient-poor food that leaves them starving and obese at the same time. Diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes are at an all-time high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 20 percent of youth ages two to 19 years old are obese. Plant a Seed Day is about reconnecting us to our roots, to real food, and to a path to a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.

The goal in 2019 is for one million people to take a purposeful action toward a healthier future by planting a seed on March 20th. NBCUniversal will highlight Plant A Seed Day with live planting events planned on the TODAY Show and Telemundo. Big Green is activating planting events across the seven metropolitan areas where they work, including over 550 schools reaching over 350,000 students. Celebrity activists such as Salma Hayek, Ian Somerhalder, Karlie Kloss, Zac Brown, Bob Weir, as well as celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Dan Barber, Jose Andres, and Maria Rodale are helping motivate their fans and followers with the goal of inspiring a million people to join them in planting a seed.

"Plant a Seed Day is a movement to remind us all of the power and impact of growing your own healthy food to enjoy," said Kimbal Musk, Founder and Chairman of Big Green. "Plant a Seed Day is a call-to-arms. It's a push for action. It's a drive to make a change in how we eat."

Unilever brand Growing Roots, maker of bold, organic snacks that do good, is donating $1 to Big Green for each social media post on March 20th that uses the hashtag #plantaseedday, up to $50,000. Seeds of Change™, the Mars Food organic seed and food brand, is contributing 200,000 packets of vegetable and herb seeds. Chipotle Mexican Grill is supporting Plant a Seed Day across all seven regions where Big Green works including Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, and Pittsburgh with in-restaurant fundraisers benefiting Big Green. Chipotle is also offering "Home Grown Chipotle" boxes for their fans to plant this spring, with proceeds benefiting Big Green food literacy in nearly 600 schools. The Home Grown Chipotle boxes feature seeds for six of its menu ingredients, cilantro, tomato, pinto beans, jalapeño, bell pepper, and onion and can be purchased online at http://www.store.chipotle.com starting on Plant a Seed Day, March 20. Gordon Food Service, a foodservice distributor and partner of Big Green Detroit, is distributing 10,000 seed packets through their 20 Detroit area Gordon Food Service Store locations and to their employees. Local Crate curates the best of the Upper Midwest and California growing regions through meal kits sold at Target and other retailers. Local Crate will be distributing seeds in meal kits to approximately 10,000 homes during the month of March. Seed Phytonutrients is helping fund Plant a Seed Day and will host a seed planting event at their headquarters in Doylestown, Pennsylvania to further elevate the mission of planting one million seeds.

For more information about Plant a Seed Day and to sign the pledge, visit http://www.plantaseedday.org.

About Big Green
Big Green was started in 2011 by The Kitchen restaurateurs Hugo Matheson and Kimbal Musk with the fundamental belief that every child should have the opportunity to play, learn, and grow in healthy communities. Big Green builds a healthier future for kids by connecting them to real food through a nationwide network of Learning Gardens and food literacy programs. Big Green seeks to reduce preventable diet-related health disparities and teach lifelong healthy habits by building a national school food culture that promotes youth wellness. Today there are Learning Gardens in over five hundred schools around the United States reaching 350,000 students every day. For more information, please visit http://biggreen.org or follow on Twitter and Instagram @BigGreen.

About Mars Food
Mars Food is a fast-growing dinnertime food business, making tastier, healthier, easier meals that bring the world to the dinner table. Headquartered in London, Mars Food's portfolio of leading brands includes: UNCLE BEN'S®, DOLMIO®, SEEDS OF CHANGE™, MASTERFOODS®, MIRACOLI®, TASTY BITE®, SUZI WAN®, EBLY®, ROYCO®, KAN TONG®, ABU SIOUF®, RARIS®, and PAMESELLO®. Our purpose – Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow. – drives our business to be a leader in health & wellbeing and sustainability. Mars Food is a segment of Mars, Incorporated. For more information about SEEDS OF CHANGE™, please visit seedsofchange.com or follow @seedsofchange. #BeASeedOfChange

About Growing Roots
Growing Roots makes delicious plant-based organic snacks on a mission. Everyone deserves access to healthy fresh food – that's why Growing Roots donates 50% of all profits to urban agriculture organizations. Doing good can taste good too, as you'll find when you try our Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Coconut & Seed Bites or our Maple Bourbon Corn & Seed Bites. For more on Growing Roots, please visit: http://www.growingrootsfoods.com

About Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had nearly 2,500 restaurants as of December 31, 2018 in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants. With more than 70,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. Steve Ells, founder and executive chairman, first opened Chipotle with a single restaurant in Denver, Colorado in 1993. For more information or to place an order online, visit http://www.CHIPOTLE.COM.

About Gordon Food Service
Since 1897, we have delivered uncompromising quality and heartfelt service for our customers. We began as a simple butter-and-egg delivery service, and have grown to become the largest family business in the foodservice industry by upholding the same approach for 120 years—remaining passionately committed to the people we serve. Today, we serve foodservice operators in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States and coast-to-coast in Canada. We also operate more than 170 Gordon Food Service StoreⓇ locations in the U.S. By partnering with organizations from across industries—healthcare to education, independent and chain restaurants, and event planners—we help our customers create food experiences that people choose, enjoy, and remember. To learn more about Gordon Food Service, visit gfs.com.

About Hamama
Hamama offers a failproof way for anyone, anywhere to grow nutritious microgreens at home year-round. Just add water once, plant a Seed Quilt, and come back in a week to harvest delicious microgreens like broccoli, kale, arugula, cabbage, radish, and more! Based in San Francisco, California, Hamama is committed to making it easy for anyone to eat more fresh greens. The team at Hamama is honored to be a part of thousands of Americans' healthy eating routine. Learn more about Hamama at http://www.hamama.com.

About Local Crate
Local Crate delivers fresh, delicious, seasonal meal kits in partnership with award-winning chefs, local farmers, passionate makers, and forward-thinking retailers. Easy-to-make recipes and pre-portioned ingredients are sourced locally by growing region, reducing packaging, transportation, and food waste so Local Crate can reinvest 3.5x more of every consumer dollar into food ingredients and local farms. Good things come to those who Crate! For more information and the location of a store near you, please visit: http://www.localcrate.com.

About Seed Phytonutrients
Seed Phytonutrients, a natural hair, skin and body care line deeply rooted in sustainability and healthy living, was founded by Shane Wolf in April 2018 after years as a L'Oréal executive. Wolf channeled his passion and expertise for hair care and sustainability into creating Seed Phytonutrients and the first-ever, shower-safe paper bottle made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper which contains 60% less plastic than a traditional bottle. Based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, mere miles from some of their farm partners, Seed Phytonutrients creates non-synthetic, natural and effective products that support beauty, agriculture and sustainable business through promoting environmental sustainability, supporting organic farmers and preserving seed diversity. https://www.seedphytonutrients.com/

SOURCE Big Green

Related Links

http://plantaseedday.org