Health and Wellness > Health Awareness & Advocacy

THE PEOPLE'S TREASURY

BBDO LOS ANGELES, Los Angeles / RON FINLEY PROJECT / 2023

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Overview

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Overview

Background:

Food injustice is one of America’s biggest problems. Every major city throughout the U.S. has a food desert—underserved communities where people have to travel on average 3 miles (4.9 km) to find fresh produce. But with fast food restaurants and liquor stores on every corner. And the lack of fresh food in people’s daily diet creates lower life expectancy, a higher percentage of diabetes rates and other chronic diseases, and a continuing cycle of poverty. Add the rise of inflation during 2022, and what was an already difficult situation became even worse.

Describe the Impact:

So far, the campaign has distributed the equivalent of over 1 million dollars in fresh produce. MasterClass joined the fight and made every bill into a 1-year free subscription voucher on the platform, so everyone could learn gardening from Ron Finley’s class. Schools and communities across the U.S. are using the bills as a starting point for their community gardens and saving money by growing their own fresh food.

Write a short summary of the ambient work.

To shift people’s perspective about the value of growing our own food, we created a global inflationary-hedge currency. Money printed with Ron’s face that grows fresh produce. With a true-to-life amount of dollars each bill can yield. Each bill grew a different type of vegetable, such as rainbow carrots, arugula, collard greens, and red cherry tomatoes. The more expensive the vegetables get, the more valuable the bills become. Those living in food deserts could apply to get their bills through a website. And to launch it, Ron Finley led a march, for the same 3 miles those communities must walk to find fresh vegetables. But this time, it was so no one had to march for food again. From the food desert of Anacostia to the Federal Reserve building in D.C., where money is printed.

Is there any cultural context that would help the jury understand how this work was perceived by people in the country where it ran?

Ron faced the city of Los Angeles 10 years ago when he got a warrant for growing food in the parkway, the piece of land between his house and the curbside. His fight changed the law in Los Angeles allowing everyone to grow food in front of their homes. Now the Gangsta Gardener needed a bigger act to show Americans there’s a way to fight the unfair food system and eat healthy. In America, there’s nothing illegal about marching and protesting. But breaking ground in the National Mall is a federal offense. So Ron had to challenge the rules again for a greater good: he planted his money with seeds in front of the Federal Reserve, where the U.S. dollar is printed.

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