Every Friday, the whole team at Widgets & Stone gathers for an hour and a half of talking about projects, plans and priorities. And at these meetings, we always talk with our mouths full, because Paul always whips up some of his favorite Italian dishes to keep us at the table. To say the least, we believe that food brings people together, and the reward of eating goes way beyond bodily nourishment.

So when the Benwood Foundation asked us to help with their launch of Gaining Ground, it spoke to an issue that is close to our hearts (and not just because it is close to our stomachs). Gaining Ground is a three-year project that will enhance and promote the benefits of local food in Chattanooga and the region surrounding, bringing up to $1.65m to increase demand for, supply of, production of, and consumption of local food.

The food scene in Chattanooga has already been changing, in recent years. We have super markets – the Main Street Farmers' Market and Chattanooga Market – and a growing number of channels for locally farmed and produced meats, vegetables, cheese, charcuterie and chocolate to come into the city.

But food in Chattanooga still faces many challenges. The perception that local food will always be too expensive. That it is unrealistic to believe elementary school lunches will ever include local fare, or low income households will ever be able to afford healthy options. That politics will always favor big agriculture while ignoring the infrastructure that helps small farms and producers. These things, we hear, are not going to change.

We don’t buy that this so-called realism defines the future of food in our city. We believe we define it, when we work together as Chattanoogans for local food.

Gaining Ground wants to increase the number and capacity of local growers and producers, increase access to healthy and locally grown food including in schools, institutions and retail outlets, and increase awareness of importance of buying locally grown and produced food.

So when they came to us with a name and a tagline, we knew that there was much more we could do to help them speak to the many audiences they need to touch. All of the Foodies stand ready – farmers, organic food lovers, even some restaurants and distribution outlets – but these are the "choir" to which Gaining Ground will be preaching. What about the public sector, including the City, Hamilton County Department of Education, and more? Or the legislators and policymakers who shape how food infrastructure is supported locally?

And what about the public – people of every shape, color, income level and education? We believe that this audience, the public, is the most important of all. So we believed strongly from the beginning that any communications tools we give Gaining Ground must help them grow from the bottom up. Gaining Ground's best chance of effecting real change is if it communicates support and unifying focus for a vibrant, diverse and sustainable food economy in our region.

We started with questions:

How can we help build a strong grassroots element into this initiative?
What topics are people ignoring, or even avoiding, about health/food?
How can we help connect the dots, graphically and verbally?
And how can we help Gaining Ground reach people who do not even realize that there is a problem?

The logo is based on the typeface “Gotham”, designed in 2000 by American type designers Tobias Frere-Jones and Jesse Ragan. Its design was inspired by the direct and plainspoken typography often found in vernacular signage of the 30s and 40s. It's simple, honest, and frank – a typographic version of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”.

Gotham’s “G” has been altered for the logotype, to imply an arrow. While it reads clearly as a “G” (and so doesn't effect legibility), the rotating arrow implies cycles, motion, and growth, ideals that are implicit to the mission and values of Gaining Ground.

The overall visual reference is that of a stamp or a screenprint. Both are direct printing processes that imply handcraft and functionality.

We also provided Gaining Ground with a 10-second answer to "Who are you?"

Gaining Ground enhances and promotes the benefits of local food in Chattanooga. By building strong connections in our food system, supporting partners from farm to table, informing policymakers and inspiring the public – we help bring better food to all.

And with a longer "statement of good", unpacking what they do.

We are helping create and develop a sustainable, vibrant, cohesive and distinctively Chattanoogan foodscape through grants, coordinated efforts and public awareness. Commissioned by the Benwood Foundation to help increase production and consumption of local food, we are helping our region view food in new ways. For the good of people, place and planet.

Grassroots change is inherently social. It is typically principled; typically tribe-forming. Even though we do not live in a single-variable world, grassroots changes are often built around singleness of heart and action. Short-term objectives drive toward expansive, kingdom-building vision.

We believe that Gaining Ground is positioned to serve as a bridge between what the public wants, at the street-level, and strong distribution channels. Too often, distribution and infrastructure are what keep food cultures from changing. Chattanooga is going to have to use established methods and models to produce innovative methods and models, and it will take time to change. Now is the time to start, because the old way is going to have to power the new.

The closer Gaining Ground stays to the ground – to grassroots – the better chance they have to bring real change, and real good to Chattanooga. We're excited to see what's next, and so pleased that they are using Widgets' design and articulation to get there!

Creative Direction: Paul Rustand; Art Direction / Strategy: Matt Greenwell; Design: D.J. Trischler, Beth Joseph, Grant Dotson.
Communication Strategy and Writing: Caleb Ludwick.