NatureFresh Farms Mobile Greenhouse Pushes Past Heat

By Kate Walz July 2017

NatureFresh Farms mobile greenhouse tour (#GreenInTheCity) is continuing across the Midwest despite the heat.

The mobile greenhouse, which has done almost 50 events since mid-April, teaches consumers how greenhouse vegetables are grown.

“The mobile greenhouse has not only been a conversation starter but a difference maker in how we connect with our customers,” Ray Wowryk, director of business development of the Leamington, Ontario, greenhouse company, said in a news release.

The Greenhouse Education Center (GEC) is a 38-foot mobile unit equipped with fruit bearing plants and a live bumblebee eco-system.

“We care about the future of fresh and all that it entails; we need to collectively increase fresh produce consumption,” Wowryk said in the release. “NatureFresh can help do that with the GEC and by getting front and center with consumers, we share our story to help inform them of the value of greenhouse vegetables.” Knowing who grows what you buy is important, understanding how it’s grown is just as important if not more.”

Five college students are serving as brand ambassadors at each event, conducting event day operations and interacting with retail partners. The group has varied backgrounds including agribusiness, environmental science, marketing and biology.

“We are able to immediately impact consumers purchasing decisions at store level with the knowledge we share about how we grow greenhouse vegetables,” said Cole Burkholder, a third-year environmental science major from Ohio State University. “The look on people’s faces when we explain the greenhouse growing process and they see the live plants with real fruit, it’s priceless. You kind of see that ‘a-ha’ moment in their eyes. We’ve even had customers show us their shopping carts when leaving to show us the tomatoes or bell peppers they have purchased because of our conversation.”

This is the third mobile greenhouse tour, which has completed more than 200 events since its inception, including events at retail stores, summer camps, schools and community fairs. The 2017 tour will end Nov. 12 at the Royal Agriculture Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario.