Farmers and fans flocked to Saratoga Springs for the 39th annual Farm Aid on Saturday.
The annual benefit concert highlights the struggles small farmers face from land equity to climate change.
Founded by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp in 1985 amid the “farm crisis,” the festival has toured throughout the country since.
At a kickoff press conference for Farm Aid’s second visit to SPAC, Dave Matthews took the stage with other board members and local farmers.
“We know how to do it, we know how to raise meat, we know how to raise vegetables in balance with nature. We know how to do it. We have the technology. We have the wisdom. But the thing that stops us is greed, and it is corporate farms, it’s corporate agriculture. What’s stopping us from being able to afford homes? It’s corporate greed. What stops us from being able to afford healthcare? It’s corporate greed. And it’s the fact that our politicians are joined with that corporate greed to serve it before it serves us. We need to serve our planet and we need to serve each other and connect to it, all of us. Thank you for being revolutionaries in a place where you should just be the most sought-after resource of human beings. Thank you,” said Matthews.
The gates opened soon after and the crowds began to rush in. Mary Joe and Mike Bawol were among the first. They drove from Michigan to spend the weekend.
“I’m for Neil, I love him,” said Mary Joe Bawol.
“Neil Young, Dave Matthews, we love music, we go to all kinds of concerts, you know, it’s good memories,” said Mike Bawol.
The festival also features locally grown produce — the couple says they’ve been to seven Farm Aids and the food is always memorable.
“Oh, the food’s fabulous. I know it sounds corny but last year the corn was the best,” said Mike Bawol.
“It was Mexican corn—prepared Mexican corn,” said Mary Joe Bawol
Bryan Struebig is manning the grill at the Patchwork Family Farms’ stand, flipping pork chops.
“We’ve got a lot of corporate farms out there, people that are stuck in contract farming and they just need all the help that they can get because they don’t have a voice. If they speak up then they’ll lose their pork or their birds or whatever it is that they’re growing. And then they lose the farm because everything is—all the risk is on them and the big corporate companies can take all the profits,” said Struebig.
Struebig is wearing a red shirt that reads “Stop Factory Farms” in white lettering. He says volunteering at Farm Aid is an easy to grow support for family-owned farms across the country.
“Pretty much every small hog farmer saw their entire market disappear. Basically, you’re stuck having to sell to four companies: Smithfield, JBS, Perdue, and Tyson. If you don’t sell to them, then you don’t have a place to be able to sell your pork. So we want to be able to stop the big CAFOs, that’s where they’ve got like 14,000 hogs in one barn. It’s not good for the hogs, it’s not good for the people, it creates a tremendous amount of waste, and it’s just not sustainable farming,” said Struebig.
Farm Aid’s signature Homegrown Village houses dozens of local and national organizations promoting organic farming practices and getting locals connected to their foodways.
First-generation farmer Reana Kim is running her third Farm Aid seed share program.
“So the theme this year is phytoremediation and we’re focused on soil cleaning. Because this area, Saratoga Springs, actually has a dark history of water and soil pollution from the Industrial Revolution. And so we’re focusing on plants that are great soil cleaners, so we have a mustard and we have a sunflower. When you plant those plants and you pull them out at the end of their cycle, they’re going to take up heavy metals and toxins and you’re going to pull those out of your soil and help make healthier soil,” said Kim.
Stephen Drain is one of many walking around proudly displaying a “farmer” badge. Co-director of the People’s Kitchen Community Garden in Philadelphia, he’s excited to have a space to raise awareness about food sovereignty and apartheid.
“Where I live in southwest Philly, a fifth of the people who live in the city live in food deserts. And so our farm, we’re interested in bringing quality produce to folks that they haven’t had access to and just get people back in touch with the land. So, being at Farm Aid has been really cool because I get to see farmers at all scales, of all ethnic backgrounds and different identity groups. And it’s been amazing to just see how many folks are coming out and to see the old-timer musicians still kind of kicking it and advocating for everybody’s rights,” said Drain.
Farm Aid was last held at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 2013 and drew more than 21,000 fans this year.
