In this special episode of Against the Grain, we dig into our recently digitized archives to highlight Farm Aid’s awe-inspiring founder and president, Willie Nelson. You may remember that we discussed how the first Farm Aid concert came together in the first episode of the podcast, but in this episode, we highlight the range of work Willie has done for the family farm movement outside of the annual festival. Year-in and year-out, for forty years, Willie has shown up to work shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers and ranchers whenever they’ve needed him.
For this episode, we unearthed some archival audio of Willie joining a haylift in 1996, helping to distribute hay shipped by farmers in South Carolina to ranchers in Texas who, faced with a prolonged drought, couldn’t grow enough of their own hay for their cattle. Listen in as Willie greets the trucks, donated and driven by Teamsters Union drivers, and then goes out to Travis county ranches to distribute the hay. Willie may be in his 90s now, but he continues to stand alongside farmers fighting for a more just food and farm system.
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Against the Grain is the Farm Aid podcast, designed to bring the magic of Farm Aid’s annual festival to listeners year-round. Hear from farmers and artists, advocates and food experts, activists and policymakers – all of whom are working towards building a more just and equitable farm and food system.
We’ll take you all over the country, from Farm Aid’s backstage and HOMEGROWN Village, to rural and urban farms and farmers’ markets. There, you’ll meet the extraordinary members of the Farm Aid universe, fighting the industrial agriculture giants, holding the government accountable, and shifting the culture towards a food and farm model that is better for farmers, our soil, water and climate and for all of us.
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Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Margo Price host an annual festival to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. For nearly 40 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $80 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.
