Talk to us about the origin of Broccoli City and BC Fest. What is your guys’ mission and goal?

Brandon McEachern: “Broccoli City was a t-shirt line at first. I moved to L.A. around ’08. I was working on Melrose and I saw this t-shirt with the Versace logo and a bandana on it. Turns out it was the Crooks and Castles t-shirt. I was like, ‘Damn. That’s fly!’ So I ended up meeting the founder of Crooks and Castles. Eventually I started the Broccoli City t-shirt line.

With the Broccoli City Festival, I had this idea that we need some positive things going on in our community. We need to be healthier, we need more awareness. In 2010, I did this block party out in Los Angeles. That festival had Dom Kennedy, I even had Kendrick at that joint. These cats were nobodies at the time and I knew after seeing the Kendricks and the Doms from just being in L.A., that they would be somebody one they were picked up, and obviously that happened with Kendrick for sure.

So I questioned, ‘Yo, can we mix this stuff up?’ We just kept it funky. We had the music performances and then we’re also going to have healthy vendors. And that’s how it all started. I tried to do it again, but I didn’t have the finances to do it like that. We also do it on Earth Day, but we never mention that part because some people get turned off by the eco-friendly terms, so we just named it after the company.”

Where did the actual name “Broccoli City” come from?

Brandon McEachern: Broccoli City comes from Greensboro, North Carolina, because that’s where I’m from. I use to come up and visit New York or D.C. as a youngster, people on the train and whatever would be like, ‘Yo, where you from?’ And I hear, ‘Yeah I’m from Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens,’ But I would just be like, ‘Yo, I’m from Greensboro.’ The girls would laugh like, ‘You’re mad corny.’ I use to spit back in the day too and I use to say, ‘I’m young and I’m witty. I’m from Broccoli City.’ So the green, as in Greensboro, like broccoli, and the borough is the ‘City’. Broccoli City.

What drove you and your team to focus so closely on promoting environmental awareness and healthy living?

Brandon McEachern: When I was first starting out, I was working at MTV  and I noticed my white peers were riding around on bikes, looking healthy, and wild cheerful. They’re like your mom and dad’s age, but they’re super hyper.

But then I would go get my hair cut in South Central, the Crenshaw District. So I would go over there and it seemed like every hood had: liquor store, liquor store, liquor store, McDonald’s, liquor store, liquor store, liquor store, McDonald’s. I go back to Santa Monica and I see: juice shop, juice shop, salad bar, salad bar, Wells Fargo.

Then I started thinking, ‘What would happen if my people would wake up in the morning and they had the option to get a salad or a health juice versus a quarter pounder with cheese?’ People like to tell us we’re all on the same playing field and we’re not. So I said, ‘How can I sell my people this message without being preachy?’

So that’s what Broccoli City Fest is in a sense. It’s about what YOU can do about it.

In what ways do you incorporate hip-hop to help deliver your message?

Brandon McEachern: I think I’m a pretty cool dude, so I would wonder, ‘What’s the best way of doing that [environmental preaching] without losing my cool?’ I wanted to touch those people. At the end of the day, they’re our uncles, they’re our brothers, our cousins. I never wanted to come off preachy, so I figured the best way to get out that message and grab people’s attention is through music. Everybody loves music.