Farm Aid is 40 Years Old Today!
This week I want to share a part of my journey that led me to both teaching and eventually starting a farm. The photo above was taken 10 years ago in Chicago at Farm Aid’s 30th anniversary. It’s the same image I used when I wrote a guest blog for Farm Aid’s website (linked here). Now, remarkably, Farm Aid’s is celebrating their 40th anniversary.
Farm Aid is a nonprofit founded in 1985 by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp to keep family farmers on the land. Each year it hosts a music festival that raises funds for its farmer hotline, grants, advocacy, and local food programs that connect eaters directly with family farms.
I went to my first Farm Aid concert in 2007 at Randall’s Island in New York (Farm Aid 22), with my family and a devoted group of friends who would return year after year for more than a decade. At first, we went for the music. Each show featured Willie, Neil, John, and Dave Matthews. But the more I went, the more I learned how important it was to support farmers—especially those growing food organically.
Over time, my family became more involved with the organization. Part of that was because my mother, then in remission from breast cancer, kept a garden and taught us the value of eating organic food. And my father, a consummate music fan, valued music as a source of joy and connection and wanted us to support the mission of the organization. But sadly, on Sept 12, 2012—just three months after my daughter Julia was born and 8 days before Farm Aid 2012 at Hershey Park she passed away. Before she died she explicitly said we had to go to Hershey Park for the show, no matter our grief…we did.
From then on, Farm Aid was a pilgrimage—something that shaped me deeply, a cause I could feel rattling through my bones. It was a movement to give people a clearer view of our food system and a vision for a healthier way of eating and farming. At the conference there were booths, exhibits, and presentations, but my favorite moment was always the press conference, when the artists stood side by side with farmers to share their hopes for the future of food.
During that time period, my family joined Farm Aid’s Development Advisory Board. That gave me the chance to meet staff and learn about the organization from the inside. I was captivated by their passion and commitment to building a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. I learned how they organized the concerts, but what moved me most was their work on the Farmer Hotline—where staff connected struggling farmers with crisis support and professional help. They shared stories of heartbreaking calls, especially from the 1980s farm crisis.
Farm Aid’s commitment over four decades is remarkable. They didn’t just create a concert; they built an enduring movement. They were advocates, problem-solvers, and storytellers long before “influencer” was a word. And they transformed my life.
In the fall of 2015, just after Farm Aid’s 30th anniversary, I began my first long-term teaching assignment. I knew I wanted to be part of a mission-driven profession and so I left my professional science career. I also declared that one day I would start a farm. It took another seven years, but today, DeFeo Family Farm exists in part because of that spark.
I am missing Farm Aid 40 this year but my heart and thoughts are with them. While I am no longer actively involved with the organization, I would like to support them on their 40th anniversary. If you are able and interested and would like to support Farm Aid, please follow this link: donate. They are amazing people trying to do the impossible: to bring back family farms.
