COLUMBUS, OHIO---The volcano that is Neil Young doing "Down By the River" was
erupting to the roar of a sold-out Farm Aid crowd. Accompanied by Crazy
Horse and Willie Nelson, the patron saint of American farming, the stage sagged
with a psychedelic constellation of rock stars and native American dancers fully
decked in ceremonial garb. Neil was totally in another world. Rock and roll
does not get better than this.
Before "Homegrown" and a seismic rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World,"
Young had a few words. "We need a Bill of Rights for the farmer," he said.
"Corporate agriculture is killing the family farm. Don't go to those big
stores. Stay away. Buy organic, direct from the farmer."
Now in its eighteenth year, Farm Aid has become a national institution,
working to save the family farm. Originating with the ageless Willie Nelson, and
with Young and John Mellencamp---"our little band of outlaws," says
Nelson---the annual day-long show has become a treasured icon of vibrant culture and
progressive politics for an age in desperate need.
It has not mellowed with age. As George W. Bush babbled on national
television, demanding billions more to "rebuild" Iraq, Mellencamp delivered a
blistering indictment of an administration defined by death and pillage. Why are we
spending all this money over there, he wondered, when our own farms are in such
tough shape here. Dressed in his signature blue jeans and a plain white
t-shirt, the Indiana-based Mellencamp mixed a ballad to peace and justice into a
strong set built around vintage rock classics.
No lasers, no gimmicks, no out-of-control egos, the show cruised through a
stellar line-up that balanced a hard-rocking Sheryl Crow with the ethereal
Emmylou Harris, who's lost none of her crystalline beauty through a quarter-century
of stardom. An acoustic set from Dave Mathews shone alongside a blast from
Hootie and the Blowfish.
But the meaning of this show is its message. At a packed 11am press
conference preceding the all-day marathon, Nelson anchored two tiers of high-powered
rock stars, farmers, activists and native spiritual leaders. Ohio Congressman
Ted Strickland delivered a moving tribute to his own upbringing on a family
farm (as did Crow). Cleveland Representative Dennis Kucinich, the progressive
Democratic candidate for president, attacked corporate agriculture with a
demand for anti-trust action. "Eighty percent of all the beef and sixty percent of
all the pork in this country is controlled by four corporations," he said.
"They are crushing the aspirations of the family farmer. This is a fight for
freedom."
Guided by a core staff of long-time executive director Carolyn Mugar and
Glenda Yoder, Ted Quaday and Mark Smith, Farm Aid has become the rock on which
American small farming relies. Over the weekend in central Ohio, the Farm Aid
team highlighted the tangible realities of the issues by helping to organize a
tour of local farms, where my kids and I bought some honey, took a hayride and
watched a sheep shearing. On the eve of the concert, Quaday helped coordinate
a three-hour outdoor gathering of farmers from around the nation, held at a
nearby environmental center. One after the other the farmers blasted the Bush
Administration's attempts to water down standards for organic food while
subsidizing the march of corporate agribusiness. "We don't want just the NAME
organic," says Young, "we want the reality."
A prime target for Farm Aid activism has been the nation's factory farms,
where cows, hogs, chickens and turkeys are crammed en masse under horrific
conditions, yielding massive pollution and poisonous drug-laden food. A long Ohio
campaign against the mega-polluter Buckeye Egg brought solidarity from the Ohio
Environmental Council and other eco-groups, accompanied by a blast from the
United Food and Commercial Workers Union against brutal working conditions at
Tyson Foods.
Corporate sponsorship did play a role with Silk Soymilk/WhiteWave and Horizon
Organics. The hugely successful soy dairy has recently been bought by Dean
Foods, but retains its commitment to organic produce and small farming. White
Wave founder and president Steve Demos presented a check to FarmAid at center
state. Both White Wave and Horizon distributed free organic products
throughout the show.
Fittingly, PBS will broadcast two hours of the show from 9-11pm EST, November
27 (check your local listings). As America digests its Thanksgiving dinner,
it might contemplate Willie Nelson's message that this is "more than a
struggle about farms, it's about the little guy v.s the big guy, about the family
farm vs. the factory farm, and about the community vs. the corporation."
Amidst all else it's doing, the Bush Administration is working hard to turn
over the last bit of farmer-owned agriculture to the mega-corporations. From
pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizer to genetically modified foods
and financial pillage, the American family farm is hanging on by a thread. As
times get harder and the nature of our food is even more under attack, Farm Aid
has become increasingly essential.
"The key to securing healthy food for tomorrow is to keep family farmers on
the land today," says Nelson. "It's about the very future of our country."
Harvey Wasserman and Willie Nelson at Farm Aid
For Further Information see
www.farmaid.org. For photos go to
www.farmaid.org/press .
Harvey Wasserman is senior editor of
www.freepress.org and co-author (with
Dan Juhl) of HARVESTING WIND ENERGY AS A CASH CROP: A GUIDE TO LOCALLY OWNED
WIND FARMING (
www.danmar.us).
