Guest Blog: Farm Aid 2008

Always on the lookout for something new in the locavore world, I was immediately drawn to an article in the Boston Globe the other day. "New England Reaps the Farm Aid Show," the headline read.

Skimming the first few paragraphs, I quickly learned a bit about Farm Aid, a twenty-three year old organization based in Somerville, MA, just minutes from my own home. The organization's mission is to keep small family farmers on their land, and by now, Farm Aid has granted almost $420,000 to groups in New England alone. As the younger sister of a locavore, my local-food radar immediately began to buzz and I quickly called Elspeth to tell her about what I had found.

Part of the money granted by Farm Aid is raised at the organization's annual Farm Aid benefit concert. This year, the concert will be sticking closer to home—held at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA, it will feature tasty local treats as well as concert headliners Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, and Kenny Chesney. In addition, an interactive "HOMEGROWN Village" will allow attending locavores to learn about the relationship between the food we eat and the people who grow it.

Find out more about Farm Aid by visiting www.FarmAid.org. For tickets to the Farm Aid Benefit Concert, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Guest blogger Anna Pierson writes from Boston, MA, where she often performs locavore research for her sister, Elspeth.