GROME

We have asked ourselves: How can we motivate the people around us for a more conscious consumption of food and, at the same time, strengthen their wellbeing at the workplace?

We have found: Blaming and dogmatic stereotype thinking are not the right way to counteract the pressing ecological crisis and the increasing alienation of people from one another, especially in urban areas and at work.

Our solution: We want to inspire and intrinsically motivate behavioural change through positive practical experience. To do this, we use the latest scientific findings and our experience on health and environmental psychology, agricultural sciences, data processing and current market research from university and work.

The implementation: Our platform provides companies with a collaborative, meaningful garden project for teams or interdisciplinary groups. Several GROME events with educational workshops to foster health as well as a better team culture take place on a field at our Urban Garden partners or the company’s raised garden beds during a season from April to November. Check out our explanatory video:

According to the basic principles of permaculture, Earth Care, People Care & Fair Share, and with a holistic personal development that creates lasting effects, we are ploughing up the working world:

• At GROME, we share fresh produce from the field, which has not been transported long distances, tastes much better as a result, and also contains more healthy contents.
• The innovative health promotion based on the GROME principle (see below) prevents anonymity and stress at the workplace and promotes people's health empowerment. In this way, we enable the full development of their self-healing potential.

Our goals in a nutshell:

• Educate people to become their own resilient health champions through shared, positive experiences and relatable advocacy
• Strengthen the field-to-fork approach on a societal level
• Establish a culture of local, seasonal, and solidarity-based food consumption

Our offer is aimed directly at companies. A season with GROME is a profitable investment, because ...

• satisfied employees are the most important resource in the office,
• Health is the prerequisite for long-term performance, motivation and innovation,
• Avoidance of high costs due to presentism, absenteeism and fluctuation increases competitiveness.

We address companies because we have identified serious problems in the average office work environment:

• 56% of workers feel their work environment is too rigid and lacks variety (Gallup Engagement Index, 2019).
• 92% of those under 45 are stressed at work: mostly due to excessive task load or poor working atmosphere (pronova BKK, 2016; the University of St. Gallen for Barmer, 2017).
• 700% increase in sick leaves due to burnout since 2004. The 115th German Medical Congress (2012) therefore demanded: the working world must once again adapt to people instead of primarily fulfilling profit expectations.
• 31% of employees do not have time for a restful break (1x >30min per day) and a balanced diet at work (pronova BKK, 2016).
• As a result, 14% of German employees have already mentally quit. This causes various direct and indirect costs of about €100 billion (Gallup Engagement Index, 2019).

There are scientific findings that show ways out of this:

• 59% of companies with high emotional commitment and motivation of their employees have lower turnover rates and higher output quality (Gallup Engagement Index, 2019).
• 37% average reduction in stress-associated sick leave possible through improved work atmosphere and prevention (the University of St. Gallen for Barmer, 2017).
• There is a significant relationship between enhancing well-being and personal growth (Sanchez-Alvarez et al., 2016).
• Spending time in nature has been shown to lower stress parameters such as cortisol and blood pressure (Soga et al., 2017).

Not to be ignored should be the nutritional problems on an individual level in our western society:
10 million tons of still edible, therefore avoidable, food waste come together in Germany every year. In the case of fruit and vegetables, up to 45% of the quantities purchased by private consumers are thrown away in their households.

The consequences of unhealthy diets are frightening:
From 2000 to 2019, the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes doubled. Added to this is a high assumed number of unreported cases. As a result, there are high costs for the health care system. In 2019, it amounted to approximately €3000 per patient. Also, obesity is one of the main causes of ischemic heart disease, which in turn is the leading cause of death in the EU, accounting for 550 000 deaths (12%) (Health at a Glance - OECD, 2020; Eurostat, 2020).

Our Vision:
We aim to strengthen people's mental and physical well-being through acomprehensive and long-term programme (6-8 months) while promoting an understanding and collaborative atmosphere in companies.
Central to this program is the development of mental, emotional and communicational skills on an individual as well as collective (team) level in conjunction with the garden as a meaningful tool and community project. To promote health holistically, our training integrates factors of resilience, team cohesion as well as closeness to nature.

Now, we need your help:
With your support, we can bring conscious regional and seasonal food consumption as well as strong health skills to your company and your city. Together we can spread our concept in Germany and make a noticeable difference for our society and the environment!

If you are also convinced that there is a need for more satisfied, conscious people in our society who, driven by fun and energy, want to work on their own health and that of the planet, then please support us with your donation until we can walk on our own feet.

To realize our vision, we need to bring our project to the market. So it helps us immensely if you talk about us in your team, at work, with your fellow students at university or with your friends.

As a reward for your support and to help you better understand our concept, we would like to give you the opportunity to experience some individual elements from our concept for yourself as a thank you for your support.
All the details can be found in the reward description -->

Important note:
For all group events, the exact time depends on the status of the Corona Pandemic in late spring and summer (Events from June to September) and the number of registrations at each location. Details will be announced to the supporters individually.

With 5.000€ we can implement the next steps in our season planning and officially establish GROME as a secured sustainably founded startup (see more in funding goal 1). If we reach the 50.000€, we can further develop our GROME season at our current locations and open up new regions, including your city if you don't live in Münster, Duisburg, Essen, Berlin or Hamburg. (Please let us know your desired location).

Every EURO counts. Not only us and our programme, but also our partners who support us willingly to carry out the rewards together. Many of them are non-profit organisations, collectives or associations. With the revenue brought by you, these associations are in turn able to provide their city or neighborhood free environmental education, green oases and delicious organic vegetables from their SoLaWi productions. (Pinzessinnengarten Berlin: , Bonnekamphöhe Essen: , PlantAge eG: ).

To provide you with an exact line of investment for our next steps, on which you can locate your support, we listed them below:

Funding goal 1: 5000€

• Starting with Purpose - 3500€: We will become a Purpose GmbH. This means that GROME can never be sold and profits cannot be extracted from the company by anyone (not even by us founders). From the beginning, we not only want to create long-term value for our customers, but also to design our own organization to be suitable for sustainable decisions and participation in all areas. For this, the foundation of a company with tied assets (also called steward ownership or purpose GmbH - ) is the optimal way. However, since this is still a very new type of incorporation, there are less templates and higher legal and notary fees than for a "classic incorporation".
• Market entry - 1500€: We need outreach, marketing, and participation in (online) fairs to not only win the first customers, but also to generate enough attention to keep us in the market on the long run.

Fundingziel 2: 50000€

• Branding and communication materials - 5000€: In order to be able to appear and work professionally in the long term and to be able to offer our customers (i.e. the employees in the companies) as well as you supporters an optimal experience, we have to take care of an appealing and recognizable visual design of our appearance. For this to happen, we rely on the help of professional designers and illustrators. In addition, we would like to have a professionally produced explanatory video to make our mission and the practical implementation even more understandable and thus reach even more people.
• Workbook - 5000€: The workshops and seminars, as well as the retreats, follow a psychological red thread in addition to the vegetation periods. This is to be prepared in an appealing way and made available to all participants.
• Tools & Supplies - 5000€: For the transport of the raised beds we need a pallet jack (250€) and a two-axle trailer (2500€). For the events, tools, seating and cooking utensils are necessary as an initial investment.
• Field study - 5000€: In order to gain even more trust and to be able to prove that our program really does significantly improve the health of the employees and changes their awareness of sustainability, we are conducting a study in cooperation with the Chair of Work Psychology at the WWU Münster according to high scientific criteria. To realize the implementation of this evaluation study, financial resources are also needed for student assistants and data analysis tools.

Up to this point, we are still a UG, but if we make progress even beyond this amount, we will have enough money to make the capital contribution for the GmbH. The following will then be financed from these funds:

• Salary for Miloš - 25000€: Our co-founder Miloš (picture 4 in the gallery and right in the team photo) is a fellow citizen of Serbian origin and therefore has a difficult time maintaining his residence permit in the EU. We can't yet afford the income that the immigration authorities require. Together with you, however, we would come up with the necessary amount so that he could quit his full-time job and support the GROME project with all his strength.

Here you can find a graphic overview of our goals and a timeline for your orientation: