Apr 27, 2009 09:00 ET
Ovation TV and Gardenburger® Join Forces for Unique Promotional Partnership Titled “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at The Hudson Guild”
Gardenburger and Artist, Fritz Haeg Will Be Featured in a Series of Interstitials on Ovation TV Showcasing Progress of an Edible Garden at the Hudson Guild in Manhattan
LOS ANGELES, CA and NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – April 27, 2009) – Ovation TV, the only television channel dedicated to the arts and contemporary culture, and Gardenburger®, makers of the original “veggie burger,” are sponsoring “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at The Hudson Guild,” an edible, urban garden by Fritz Haeg, artist and author of “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn.” A series of interstitials featuring the various stages of the garden, from planting to harvest, will air on Ovation TV and be sponsored by Gardenburger. Ovation TV will also create a microsite on its own OvationTV.com site with Gardenburger information, links, and unique offers. Gardenburger’s media agency partner Starcom worked with Ovation TV and its cultural agency ForYourArt to develop this collaborative project.
“Gardenburger makes for an ideal partner because they saw the broader creative possibilities in working with Ovation TV,” said Deborah Cuffaro, VP of Ad Sales, Ovation TV. “By being open communicators and collaborators with Gardenburger and Starcom, we were able to highlight Gardenburger’s commitment to community gardens and real food in a unique television experience.”
Ovation TV and Gardenburger will co-sponsor an edible garden that will be planted in the unused triangle of land at the entry to the Hudson Guild at Chelsea Eliot House on 26th Street at Tenth Avenue. This garden will feature crops and natural vegetation that were growing on Manhattan 400 years ago, when the native Lenape people lived on the island — foods that will now benefit the Chelsea Guild in their efforts to educate and provide for children in their community.
Ovation TV will film the opening ground breaking, planting, irrigation, care and harvesting for a series of interstitials to air on the channel through September 2009. In addition, OvationTV.com will host a microsite at www.ovationtv.com/programs/gardenburger/ featuring more information about the garden, tips from Gardenburger on how to create your own edible garden, and unique Gardenburger offers.
“In just a quarter century, Gardenburger has helped change the way people eat,” said Peter Brennan, Senior Brand Manager, Gardenburger. “Today, we remain committed to providing real, good food from this good Earth — both in our veggie burgers that people find at their stores and in our community-based initiatives. We’re excited to be partnering with Ovation TV and Fritz Haeg to make The Hudson Guild’s edible garden a reality.”
Fritz Haeg, the artist/gardener/educator/architect who created “Edible Estates,” developed the idea as an ongoing project designed to replace suburban lawns in the United States and England with highly productive domestic edible landscapes. These functional art-farms challenge preconceptions about land use and subvert what Haeg refers to as “the toxic uniformity” of suburbia.
The Mannahatta Project will serve as landscape ecology consultants, The New York Restoration Project (NYRP) will act as producer of the project and the project is presented by Friends of the Highline. NYRP will set up a permanent system for the maintenance, management and oversight of the garden in partnership with Hudson Guild.
Further Background: Chelsea Elliot Houses are part of a large complex of public housing towers owned and managed by the New York Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Hudson Guild is based in Chelsea Elliot House and was founded in 1895 to build community in Chelsea and beyond through a broad range of programs and services. New York Restoration Project (NYRP) is a nonprofit founded by Bette Midler in 1995 to partner with individuals, community-based groups, and public agencies to reclaim, restore, and develop under-resourced parks, community gardens, and open space in New York City, primarily in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Eric Sanderson is a landscape ecologist based in New York City and founder of The Mannahatta Project.
About Gardenburger
Gardenburger® is the original veggie burger made with real, natural ingredients including a variety of vegetables and whole grains. At Gardenburger, we believe that people need a balanced diet to live a healthy lifestyle. That’s why we cultivate great tasting foods that meet a diverse array of nutritional needs. Our product line includes a variety of veggie patties, including The Original, Veggie Medley®, Black Bean Chipotle, Sun-Dried Tomato Basil and Portabella. Gardenburger products can be found in the frozen food or natural food sections of grocery stores and in natural food stores nationwide. For more information, visit the Gardenburger web site at www.gardenburger.com.
About Ovation TV: Ovation TV is the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture. The network creates and curates one-of-a-kind programming about all the art people enjoy most, from the popular to the avant-garde and everything in between. The channel reaches a national audience of 30 million-plus households through carriage on DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and on cable and telco systems in major markets across the country. Ovation TV’s programming is also available on video on demand (in both standard and high definition). Ovation TV’s popular website (http://www.OvationTV.com) is a dynamic experience, featuring information about local and national happenings in the art world, as well as a vibrant community of artists who have downloaded over 60,000 pieces of original art.
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS:
For video on “Seeds of Inspiration: Gardenburger at the Hudson Guild,” see: http://community.ovationtv.com/_Gardenburger-Seeds-of-Inspiration/video/616798/16878.html
