Who could have saved me from my unhealthy eating habits?

Throughout grade school, I remember clamoring for every chicken finger, can of soda, and box of Cheez-Its I could find. I was notorious for arranging three- and four-person trades with my classmates to get my hands on as much junk food as possible.

Despite my mother’s best efforts, I would almost always barter my way out of eating the healthy, balanced meal she packed for me. When I didn’t have a brown-bag lunch, I would typically settle for one of my school’s “hot lunches” from restaurants like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s. I didn’t care about “eating healthy” because I didn’t think I needed to worry about it.

So many children—and adults—make eating choices that are detrimental to their health. Many studies reveal correlations between eating habits and academic performance, and healthy eating and injury prevention and recovery. Because of this gap in nutrition, it’s imperative for academic and health institutions to educate students, patients, and staff members on the importance of eating healthy in addition to offering nutritious meals and snacks. Unfortunately, due to ever-shrinking budgets, and the high cost of natural and organic foods, institutions like hospitals and schools have no leverage when it comes to buying food.

What does ProCureWorks do?

ProCureWorks, formally the California Ed-Med Collaborative (CEMC), is a joint initiative of School Food Focus and Health Care Without Harm, dedicated to transforming the food industry. This cross-sector collaboration currently engages with six California school districts (560 schools), and eight California health care systems (55 hospitals). By leveraging more than $100 million in purchasing power, ProCureWorks is able to aid hospitals and schools in sourcing healthy and sustainable foods.

Brunet-García’s role

When CEMC came to Brunet-García, it needed a new name, tagline, and brand that succinctly conveyed the importance of its work. It was important for ProCureWorks not only to articulate the organization’s commitment to providing healthy food products but also to speak about how the organization strives to maintain the health of the environment and the communities it serves. They source products only from local and regional farms and have them delivered fresh from farms to schools and hospitals.

After a thorough period of discovery, “ProCureWorks. A new recipe for human and environmental health” was born. 

Utilizing the new brand, we created a host of branded materials, for internal and external audiences, to help ensure an easy transition for the initiative.

“Through our discovery process, we realized the best way to communicate what ProCureWorks does is to tell the story of the products, how they are sourced, and how they impact the health and the economy of these communities,” said Senior Marketing Strategist Kathy Lacivita. “It was all about making it personal. This strategy helped to drive our creative execution.”

Additionally, Brunet-García created a set of materials to support various ProCureWorks product rollouts in both hospitals and schools. These materials included food guides, buttons, food flags, checklists, and two large-scale wall decal infographics. ProCureWorks makes these materials available to its network of institutions to create brand awareness, educate people about the products, and show the impact that eating healthy and sourcing local food have on the community.

“The development of the ProCureWorks’ brand was based on the ethos of its messaging—portraying a farm-fresh, artisanal, and authentic aesthetic with a caring and dedicated tone,” said Art Director Cassie Deogracia.

The new look

Two main elements of ProCureWorks’ initiatives and goals inspired the overall look of the brand: dedication to sourcing local and regional food manufacturers and a desire to bring healthy, fresh, and nutritious meals to hospitals and schools. The creative team looked to signs and packaging of small-scale farms and farmers’ markets to find recurring stylistic elements. From these resources, Deogracia and the team gained inspiration from the growing clean foods movement.

“The brand relies heavily on imagery, bright, natural colors, and clean lines and typography to reflect ProCureWorks’ dedication to providing healthy and local food,” Deogracia said. “The team wanted it to speak to a variety of audiences including teachers, students, hospital employees, hospital patients, and farmers. Therefore, we had to balance the design from feeling too sterile, or on the opposite end, too elementary.”

The result is an engaging, amiable, and lively look that reflects a modern take on the farm-to-table movement.

After a childhood of bad eating habits, I now prioritize eating well and living a healthy lifestyle. I know the toll poor nutrition has on one’s body; I carried this “food philosophy” well into my adult life. Through discipline and research, I was able to break my old habits, but it would have been much easier if I been educated about food and healthy eating choices at a young age. ProCureWorks is laying a foundation that could contribute to a new generation of healthy, happy people.