Mother Denim Raises Awareness for Food Insecurity with New Apparel

Mother Denim's latest collaboration celebrates fresh food and the farmers who produce it.

The Los Angeles-based label has launched a capsule collection of farmer's market-inspired womenswear to raise awareness of the Farmlink Project, an initiative that connects farms with a surplus of produce to food banks. The brand's $20,000 commitment aims to help direct fresh food to families in need.

Featuring jeans, trousers, dresses, sweaters, T-shirts and tanks, the line retails for $28-$325 on Mother Denim's e-commerce site. A short-sleeved open-knit sweater features the word "Fresh" in green lettering, while a yellow tank top is emblazoned with the slogan, "Romaine Calm." Other pieces feature fruits and flowers in a spring color palette along with earthy greens and stripe motifs. Jeans come in sun-bleached blues with wide legs or all-over patterns, and the occasional pop of embroidery.

Billions of pounds of food go to waste annually in the U.S., according to the Farmlink Project, while 54 million people are suffering from food insecurity. Mother Denim's contribution will enable 400,000 pounds of produce to be delivered to families nationwide. The effort helps both people and planet—food dumped in landfills doesn't decompose naturally, and instead of returning nutrients to the soil, it releases ozone-busting methane gases. Donated food will prevent 1.36 million pounds of CO2 emissions.

"We’re fortunate to have an abundance of fresh produce available throughout the year and so many great farmer's markets in California," Mother Denim president and co-founder Lela Becker said. "In releasing a collection celebrating this bounty, we also want to recognize food inequality and lend our support to an organization taking the steps needed to reduce food waste and feed those in need.

"No one should have to go hungry when enough food is being produced to feed every single person on the planet nearly two times over," she said.

This isn't the brand's first food-inspired project. Last year, Mother Denim dropped its "Snacks!" collection of 100-percent-cotton denim staples with details like pretzel-shaped buttons, candy-colored rivets and back patches made from pineapple leaves.

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