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Farm Aid Announces Plans to Mark 25th Anniversary
03.16.2010 - SOMERVILLE, Mass. “Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America” is the theme of the
quarter-century anniversary of Farm Aid, the nonprofit organization led by board
members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. Farm Aid’s
mission is to keep family farmers on the land and to create a family
farm-centered food system in America.
Farm Aid representatives say planning for the 25th anniversary concert and the
events leading up to it is in the works. Concert events will celebrate the
contribution the organization has made to supporting family farmers and showcase
the positive, sustainable future that family farmers are growing through their
hard work every day. All across the country, family farmers are rebuilding local
and regional food systems and re-energizing the economy.
“In 1985, we started out to save the family farmer. Now it looks like the family
farmer is going to save us,” said Farm Aid president Willie Nelson. “As our
nation continues to endure an historic economic downturn, America’s family
farmers offer us much hope.”
The economic and employment crisis that so many Americans face today mirrors
what family farmers faced during the mid-1980s, when they found themselves
threatened with foreclosures, bankruptcy, and eviction from the farm. Hundreds
of thousands of farms were lost. In response, the first Farm Aid concert was
held in 1985, and since then, the organization has been a relentless champion
for family farmers. Through the dedicated hard work of its board of directors,
the support of many thousands of donors, and the nearly four hundred artists who
have generously donated their time and performances, Farm Aid is now the longest
running benefit concert series in America.
For updates about “Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America”, including the concert
location, date, musical lineup and promotional events, visit www.farmaid.org and
follow Farm Aid at www.twitter.com/farmaid.
For 25 years, Farm Aid has worked 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 farmed food. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $36
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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