Aug. 14, 2015, Leamington, Ont. – Now in its third month of touring eastern North America, NatureFresh Farms’ #GreenInTheCity Tour is making a positive impact with its mobile greenhouse on both sides of the border.
After touring through New York, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the tour will be making stops in the company’s home region of Windsor-Tecumseh at Zehrs (today, Aug. 14), at the Kingsville Zehrs (tomorrow), and Sarnia Real Canadian Superstore (Sunday).
The Greenhouse Education Centre (GEC) has been touring since early May.
“The GEC gives the consumer a first hand, up close and personal experience with greenhouse vegetables,” said Chris Veillon, director of marketing.
“They get to not only see real vegetables growing but also learn how we grow with a non-soil based growing medium, how we use a pressurized irrigation system to feed the plants, and a learn why we use energy screens to protect the plants & their environment.”
LIVE BUMBLEBEE ECO-SYSTEM IS CREATING A BUZZ
Equipped with big screen TVs airing different videos about the GEC and how NatureFreshTM grows, one of the biggest attractions for kids is the live bumblebee eco-system NatureFresh has created as part of the mobile greenhouse.
In addition to learning about how greenhouse produce is grown, customers get to sample fresh tomatoes as part of each event.
Served raw and in prepared recipes, the NatureFresh Demo Station in the store is staffed by the company’s corporate chef, Henry Furtado.
He not only talks about how the recipe is made and its various nutritional benefits but also has been known to walk the store with interested consumers as a personal shopper. Furtado helps pair together the right accents to create flavorful recipes at home using fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers.
With the goal of educating people about the benefits of greenhouse grown produce, consumers are walking away from the Greenhouse Education Centre better informed to make savvy buying decisions going forward.
When leaving the store, many customers have made a point of coming back to the NatureFresh team to make sure they knew they had impacted their buying decisions in a positive manner.
The Greenhouse Education Centre has not only visited retail store locations but also visited major metropolitan city centre’s for community access and attended summer camps for kids. The GEC has also been featured on GlobalTV, The Weather Network, and CityTV’s “Breakfast Television” show in Toronto a few weeks ago
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The tour is scheduled to continue on well in to the fall visiting major cities and retailers across the mid-west.
To learn more about NatureFreshTM Farms, please visit www.naturefresh.ca
A CUSTOM-BUILT ATTRACTION
The Greenhouse Education Centre is a custom-built, 38-foot long mobile greenhouse attraction. It was designed and built by NatureFresh Farms’ sister company and greenhouse builder South Essex Fabricating, a company that has built more than 1,500 acres of greenhouses.
The GEC contains a variety of mature, live fruit bearing tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber plants.
Positioned as a living greenhouse on wheels, the GEC’s purpose is to educate consumers on how their produce is grown, from seed to cultivation.
Custom designed growing cassettes with a clear Lexan tray filled with recyclable coconut husks reveal the type of growing medium the plants are thriving in.
The mobile greenhouse is equipped with a unique heating, venting, and irrigation system that resembles what a greenhouse would be built with. Additionally, a live bumblebee eco-system is part of the display showing how bees pollinate live plants.
ABOUT NATUREFRESH FARMS
Family owned NatureFresh Farms has grown to become one of the largest independent greenhouse vegetable growers in Canada, as well as one of the largest greenhouse pepper growers in North America.
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