Who are you?
‘I see myself as a nomadic designer because I’ve had the opportunity to live and work in many corners of the world. I’ve also developed a strong faith in the power of grass roots initiatives and both these traits contributed to the launch of Groenten Zonder Grenzen.’
What brought you to GzG?
‘The same reason that keeps me coming back: to be surrounded by the reassuring presence of good people. In a world increasingly governed by money, divisions, and toxic habits, GZG feels like a precious and natural antidote.
What is your role at GzG?
‘I helped to get the GZG snowball rolling by giving her a logo, website, and a digital workspace to channel the positive energy that accumulated after we launched. My main role now is to make sure GZG keeps up with the times so that in a few decades we can still inspire each other with our planet-friendly walking sticks.’
What were the main things you took into account when doing the branding?
‘The look and feel are inspired by the organized chaos of the market where we pick up our leftovers. The logo is like a cargo stamp we can put on anything related to our project and the background of our website is taken from the wooden market tables. We deliberately chose to avoid targeting a specific audience as GZG is about bringing different walks of life together.’
What’s been your favorite part of the GZG journey over the past years?
‘One of the highlights was coming back after a year abroad and finding our volunteers still happily cooking and sharing meals as if we had never left. My favorite moment of every dinner is looking around at everyone chatting away and munching on healthy food that would have otherwise ended up in a garbage bin.’
How do you visualize the future of veganism?
‘My hope is that it will lose the remaining negative stereotypes so that the benefits can be felt on a more global level. If everyone ate vegan for just a few days a week, the positive impact on medical systems, deforestation, emission targets, and animal welfare, would be far greater than the costly technical solutions often being proposed.’
How does the future of GZG look like and what will you do to make this happen?
‘My vision for GZG is to fine-tune our strategy so it can be easily started by an enthusiastic group of volunteers in any part of the world. To do this I am currently working on a manual and set of digital tools that incorporate all the lessons/shortcuts we have learned over the last four years.’ If this speaks to anyone reading, than feel free to contact me, we will be more than happy to share 😊
