Helping Mother Nature Fighting Back in 2023
Comments by Neil Young at Farm Aid struck a chord with me.
Helpful, Helpful, Helpful, Helpful
It wasn’t long after I took my deep dive into my second career as a Good Food advocate that I came to a realization: We can (and will) advocate for a better, healthier, more sustainable and more humane food system that is fairer to farmers and workers, but nothing will accelerate change faster than rising consumer demand for products that are better for people and the planet.
So it touched a nerve when Neil Young — music star since the 1960s and co-founder of Farm Aid with fellow performers Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp in 1985 — made comments during the news conference preceding Farm Aid 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana Saturday that I believe echo that sentiment.
“It's really the people on the street that are going to make the difference,” Neil said. “The farmers are doing everything they can do. But without the people behind the farmers, it's not going to work.”
He continued, “People need to support the farmers and that’s not just a phrase. We need to think about the world and what we're doing in a natural way. Where is this food coming from? What can I do to get to it? How can I get there without hurting the planet? What things can I do today that help? What things can I leave off my list that are going to hurt something? And if we research this, we'll find that it's not that hard to figure out. So it's all in our hands. It's in the hands of the people of the world, to support the farmers, to support everyone who's working for a better tomorrow.”
Since you are reading something called Local Food Forum, I think Neil Young’s remarks probably ring true to you too. If your contribution to positive change is focused on your personal relationship with food, you are doing your part to build the foundation of that better food system.
But if you are a true believer — I’d bet a lot of you are — let’s have a ongoing conversation about what we can do, individually and as a community, to create a true Good Food movement that provides more and more opportunity for small and medium-sized farms to sell more of their food locally and produce it using sustainable practices that protect our vital soils, our waterways and human health.
For those of us with the means to do so, we can look for ways to better support small, local farms through our food purchases.
We can try to persuade (gently, of course) family and friends about why eating natural is important to them and generations ahead, and why the Standard American Diet (acronym SAD) is unhealthy for people and the planet. Often it is a matter of getting people to put a higher priority of what they put in their bodies, especially among those who can afford to do better.
We can press public officials to expand assistance programs that provide more access to healthy food for people who struggle to feed themselves and their kids, because for anyone to go hungry or eating cheap, unhealthy food in a country this rich is just criminal.
We must work toward solutions to enable more people who are financially stressed but don’t qualify for food assistance to buy better and healthier food to reverse the huge rise in diet-related diseases.
We can support programs that provide food education and experiences to our youngest eaters.
And there is so much more we can do, because it matters so much.
I call this newsletter and the complementary website I just launched Local Food Forum very purposely. When I launched 2-1/2 years ago, I hoped it would become a platform for discussion on how to make things better. I still do, and hopefully the greater flexibility provided by the website will encourage more conversation and thought-sharing.
So much progress has been made already. The USDA reported nearly 9,000 farmers markets around the nation in its latest available statistics, almost three times as many as there were 20 years ago and more than a four-fold increase over 30 years ago. Whole Foods Market and other natural chains have created a huge presence in the retail marketplace.
And it is almost impossible to find a conventional supermarket that doesn’t have a growing number of better-for-people, better-for-the-planet products on its shelves. Hopefully more and more of these stores are coming around to the values in which we believe, but at the very least, they are very good at reading the bottom line, and they know that sales of healthier, cleaner label, sustainable food produced humanely and fairly is growing faster than conventional foods.
Carpe diem, local food lovers.
Neil Young wasn’t the only one with powerful things to say at Saturday’s news conference. Here are some other takeaway quotes.
Jennifer Fahy, Farm Aid Communications Director
“Farmers in this state and across the country are using innovative and regenerative practices to decrease the impact of climate change, grow good food, and steward our soil and water….
“There is some good news about climate change and it's right here on this stage, in this room and all over this state. Farmers represent our best solutions for decreasing its impacts. And in Indiana we have met generational farmers who are carrying on a meaningful legacy, new and beginning farmers who are just starting up a legacy, and farmers who are reinvigorating sustainable practices from before the takeover by industrial agriculture. They're creating new markets that are increasing food access for their communities, and they're producing healthful food and good soil and water for all of us.”
Shorlette Ammons, Farm Aid Program Director
”We still stand with family farmers to challenge corporate power and industrial agriculture, and to advance equity in a farm and food system. As my friends in Iowa would say, family farms yes, factory farms no.”
John Mellencamp, native of Seymour, Indiana
“Nobody who lives here is going to be surprised that a lot of good things come from Indiana… In 1985, Willie [Nelson] called me up and Neil called me and we started Farm Aid. I don’t believe that anyone ever in our wildest dreams thought 38 years later we would still have the need to do Farm Aid…
“This world that we live in is going through change. It’s getting to the point where Mr. Nelson doesn't even recognize something things that are happening. I don't recognize some of the things that are happening. This planet is not going to die, the people on it are gonna die if we don't start taking care of ourselves more than we are…
“I hope you all have a great time, but don’t forget the reason we’re here.”
Dave Matthews
“The farmers here care about the planet, they care about the Earth, they care about the farmers, they care about what they're producing. And maybe they're figuring out a way to make a living doing that, and then figure it out and share it with their community… The conventional farming system has nothing to do with the planet. It has nothing to do with the community. It has everything to do with profit, it is only about money. And it is killing the planet.”
And more from Neil Young…
“We've spoken a lot to the farmers today, and we've heard from the farmers about how important it is that they do all the things they're doing, sustainability, or organic, permaculture, diversity of crops, or bringing back the Earth from the ground up. All of these things that everybody's working out, they're all great things, but they all pale in comparison to one thing. And that is the people. The people who go to the stores, people who are out there right now, the people who are all around us everywhere. We're all in this together.”
Check out the new Local Food Forum website and our article, published Sunday, about the Farm Aid concert, electrified by an unannounced set by music legend Bob Dylan.
Here’s are the Indiana farms that were honored at Farm Aid on Saturday. Click the button below to access the videos about the farms that were played at the news conference on Saturday.
Fischer Farms, St. Anthony
Hoosier Grassfed Beef, Attica
Legacy Taste of the Garden, Princeton
Living Prairie Farms, Wolcott
3 Flock Farm, Ellettsville
Sobremesa Farm, Bloomington
This Week’s Regional Farmers Market Schedule
Fired up to support local farmers? Here’s the easiest way — visit one (or more) of the regional farmers markets in this week’s schedule.
Thanks for the motivational words, Bob. Even in Madison, where much is made of our many farmers ' markets, few people eat locally. But there are hopeful signs.