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Farm Aid Celebrates 25 Years of Keeping Family Farmers on the Land and Growing the Good Food Movement
09.22.2010 - CAMBRIDGE—On September 22, 1985, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil
Young organized the first Farm Aid concert to help family farmers stay on their
land. Twenty-five years later, with the added support of Dave Matthews, who
joined the Farm Aid board of directors in 2001, Farm Aid leaders say the
organization is going strong.
“We’ve come a long way from the farm crisis of the ‘80s, but we’re not done
yet—there are so many challenges still facing family farmers and the kind of
food system we want,” said Farm Aid President Willie Nelson. “Each and every one
of us can be part of this work. Today we honor the farmers, the advocates, the
activists and the eaters who have brought us this far. These are the people
growing hope. And I challenge everyone: ‘How can you grow hope?’”
The first Farm Aid concert, which took place in Champaign, Ill., and featured
more than 50 musical acts before a crowd of nearly 80,000, raised $9 million and
sparked a farm movement that continues to this day. To mark its official
anniversary today, Farm Aid published 25 milestones that represent major
accomplishments by the organization. These milestones, which range from the
passage of landmark legislation that kept thousands of family farmers on the
land to building a movement for good food from family farms, are representative
of the many victories family farmers and Farm Aid have accomplished in their
efforts to build a stronger food system centered on family farms.
According to Farm Aid organizers, the full impact of the past 25 years can be
seen in a broad-based, cultural shift that has given rise to what is known as
the Good Food Movement. The organization describes the Good Food Movement as the
growing demand for good food from family farms. The number of new and beginning
farmers on the land; the doubling of farmers’ markets in the last 10 years; the
demand for family farm food in restaurants, grocery stores, schools and other
institutions; and the organic garden on the lawn of the White House are just
some examples of the Good Food Movement at work.
Farm Aid Celebrates Official 25th Anniversary
“That first Farm Aid concert 25 years ago was a monumental success, but more
remarkable is the fact that each year the movement has grown, and our work is
more crucial than ever in an age of industrial agriculture that hurts our
farmers, our environment and our health,” said Farm Aid Executive Director
Carolyn Mugar. “The incredible momentum of this movement could not have occurred
without the vision, tenacity and commitment of Willie, John and Neil, who
understood back then that having family farmers on the land is necessary for the
health of our economy, our environment and our selves—in short, the well-being
of our country.”
The full list of Farm Aid’s 25 milestones can be viewed at
www.farmaid.org/25 .
Tickets for Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America are available at the Miller
Park box office, by phone at
(414) 902-4000 or online at www.tickets.com. To request advance media
credentials for Farm Aid, contact Maria Enie at menie@vancomm.com or (202)
248-5460.
Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of
agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil
Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds
to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose
family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who
contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $37 million to
support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food
Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture
and promote food from family farms.
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