Triscuit-sponsored site taps urban gardening trend

There seems to be no end in sight to the urban gardening innovations. No sooner did we publish our story about the rooftop garden at London’s Thornton’s Budgens than we got word of Triscuit’s Home Farming effort, which aims to create 50 community-based home farms across the United States in 2010. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are interested in growing food in a backyard garden, according to a recent Triscuit survey, and three out of four of those surveyed prefer to eat foods with a few, simple ingredients. Toward that end, Kraft’s Triscuit brand recently teamed up with nonprofit group Urban Farming to launch what it calls a Home Farming movement, with a site that aims to provide a place where both beginners and seasoned gardeners can connect and get advice about growing food at home. Four million packages of Original and Reduced-Fat Triscuit crackers have been packed with cards including basil or dill seeds that are ready for planting; with the help of crop guides, a community forum and tips from master gardener Paul James, visitors to Triscuit’s new site can use those seeds to reap the rewards of home gardening. Triscuit and Urban Farming are also collaborating to create 50 community-based home farms across the U.S., starting with one in Los Angeles that launched in March; others are slated to appear in such cities as Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa, to name just a few. A full list of cities participating in the community-based program is available on the new Triscuit site, along with details about where people can volunteer or get started with their own community-based home farms. Both individual and community farms can be plotted on the site’s Google-based Live Map. There’s certainly no shortage of gardening advice sites out there; what’s interesting here is the big-brand involvement and the “seeding” of all those boxes of Triscuits. Not that it’s surprising, mind you, given the USD 167.5 billion-plus globally that’s at stake here. (Source: Husqvarna’s 2010 Global Garden Report.) Other food brands: time to find—and flaunt—your own green thumb…? Spotted by: Jim Stewart