Well, this is a seriously disturbing trend. A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that the fattest U.S. states in 1991 were as thin as the leanest states in 2009. Today our thinnest state has a 19.1% obesity rate among adults, while our fattest, Mississippi has an obesity rate of 33.8%. Yikes.

Among the causes of this epidemic, outlined on TreeHugger, are suburban development, sedentary lifestyles, the economy, and farm policy:

Because current market incentives, imposed by the government, encourage factory production of protein and mass production of high fructose corn syrup, we have (surprise) super-cheap, mass-produced chicken, pork, beef, and sweet treats.

Hopefully we’ll start to recognize this horrific trend and come together on ways to get our fat asses back on the right track.

(Illustration by Tavis Coburn)

For whatever reason, the first thing that popped in my head when I saw this design work was a Steve Martin quote from The Jerk:

I’m gonna buy you a diamond so big it’s gonna make you puke.

Of course this identity design for Johnson’s Backyard Garden has nothing to do with buying diamonds. And “puke” probably isn’t the best word to use when you’re talking about the healthy and delicious foods you’d get from an organic vegetable farm. But every once in a while you see someone’s work that’s so impressive, it makes you just a little sick to your stomach.

If JBG’s goal was to compete at farmers markets, all they would have needed is a nice typeface to stand out among the sea of Papyrus. But instead, they were lucky enough to have Austin’s Ryan Rhodes on the job, who clearly went above and beyond. The identity he created would stand out anywhere, even on a blog dedicated to identity design.

I made the lettering using pieces of wood that had been inked and printed. So I tried to do some illustrations or beets and carrots and making the letters JBG with those pieces. It felt right. It reminded me of plotted farm land, or crop circles, or quilts. It was very elementary to a degree, a back to basics, building block exercise for me.

This kind of creative exploration and thorough artistry should be every designer’s goal with every project: Give ‘em something so amazing it’ll make them puke.

More images below…

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Nasty water makes for effective marketing. Donations to UNICEF’s Tap Project help provide untainted water to those in need.

(via Denver Egotist)

Nice reuse of old tins for this kitchen herb garden. You can file this under “green design that’s not saving the world, but is still pretty cool.”

These are some pretty sexy looking conceptual illustrations for Infinite Harvest, a Colorado based organic farming venture. With ambitious plans that include vertical farming techniques and renewable energy sources, Denver design studio Legwork helped create a futuristic vision of sustainable urban agriculture.

(via)

Want to cut down on oil? You might want to start with the way you drink water. According to these ads from a 2008 Brita water filter campaign,

Last year 16 million gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water bottles.

More recent figures suggest that bottled water wastes 50 million BARRELS of oil a year. I’m not sure which number is more accurate, but either way, you should really think about ditching the bottled water.

Sun Chips compostable bag

“The best advertising is a result of the best stories.” - Paddy Harrington

Jamie Oliver: Teach every child about food

To follow our previous post on seasonal foods, here’s chef Jamie Oliver’s inspirational TED talk on fighting obesity with food education. Good stuff.

Update: Check out the great new show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution!

Here’s another really cool infographic for GOOD Magazine, showing which fruits and veggies are seasonal in your area at any given time. In Colorado, it looks like I’ll be eating a lot of greens, potatoes and peaches this spring. The sunshine here is the best, but right now I gotta admit that I’m a little jealous of Washington’s food selection.

The graphic was done by Portland’s Always With Honor, who does a ton of great illustration work. Check ‘em out.

The Story of Bottled Water

Annie Leonard, maker of the fantastic Story of Stuff video, is back to take on the bottled water industry. Gotta love the simple animation style in these.