Show your farmers market some love with veggie temporary tattoos

Do you always forget your farmers market grocery list at home? Or maybe you just want to show your favorite seasonal vegetable some love? Meet Kickstarter project Tater Tats, a veggie-themed temporary tattoo business by Jenna Weiler, a Michigan farmer and social entrepreneur.

So why vegetable body art? Weiler was inspired by an inside joke among the farmers at Groundswell Farm in West Michigan. They joked that they should get appropriately sized bean tattoos to remember the right size of the ripe legumes to make harvesting a cinch. Weiler explains further on NPR’s The Salt:

Rather then get a real bean tattoo, she decided that temporary vegetable tattoos could be a fun way to educate kids (and adults) about healthy, seasonal eating. Temporary body art could remind people of how beautiful vegetables are, and grouping them seasonally could help communicate what crops grow when, she says.

“Ideally these tats would be a fun way to make vegetables cool,” Weiler tells us by email. “So us food lovers can proclaim, ‘I’m proud to love eggplant!'”

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We get it: Even if eggplant parmesan is your favorite comfort food, you still might not want to get the fruit inked permanently. Thankfully, you can still show the nightshade family some temporary love with a $5 sheet of four Tater Tats, which will stay on the skin for up to three days. The packs are available in fall, summer, and spring seasonal sets.

Tater Tats founder Jenna Weiler, left, and kids show off their veggie-themed temporary tattoos. Kickstarter

And there’s a bonus for repping your favorite fruits and veggies: Shoppers are also supporting small farms. From the Kickstarter proposal page:

We give back 10% of profits to the farmers and food projects that inspire us. We also want to sell wholesale to farms, markets and other positive impact food organizations to help them raise funds by selling these seasonal tats to their customers.  Our giveback money for items purchased through this kickstarter will be split between Groundswell Farm and Full Hollow Farm.  We hope these funds will give the farms a little bonus money for seeds, equipment or marketing, helping to expand the reach of healthy sustainable farming.

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So what are you waiting for? Ditch the paper and turn your forearm — or, ya know, your toddler — into a living grocery list!