http://blogs.mcall.com
by: John J. Moser
Farm Aid, the annual blockbuster fund-raising concert that for 27 years has raised money to support struggling farmers, announced today that its 2012 edition will be in Pennsylvania, it was just announced.
Farm Aid 2012 will be held Sept. 22 at Hersheypark Stadium, featuring Willie Nelson and fellow board Farm Aid members John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews — with Tim Reynolds — as well as Jack Johnson, ALO, Pegi Young & The Survivors, and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
Tickets will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. July 13 at www.livenation.com, www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, the GIANT Center Box Office, or by phone at 800-745-3000. Ticket prices range from $35.75 to $99.75. For venue information, visit www.hersheyparkstadium.com.
Tickets will be available to Farm Aid members July 10. To become a Farm Aid member, go to www.farmaid.org.
“We’ve built a strong family farm movement to grow our economy, ensure our health and protect our environment,” Willie Nelson, who is Farm Aid’s president, said in statement. “Farm Aid brings these Main Street values to transform the Wall Street-controlled farm and food system.
“The Farm Aid concert is our chance to shine a spotlight on the independent family farmers who are essential to the well-being of our country.”
In addition to music and food, the concert will feature the organization’s Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Concessions — family farm-identified, local and organic foods. Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village also will give concertgoers a chance to meet farmers, engage in hands-on food and farm activities and learn about the ways family farmers are enriching our soil, protecting our water and growing our economy, in addition to bringing us good food for good health.
“Our country faces pressing challenges, and none of them will be solved without family farmers,” said Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid. “The Farm Aid concert brings farmers and eaters together to grow the kind of agriculture that builds stronger communities and a healthier food system. This year, we look forward to celebrating the ingenuity of farmers from Pennsylvania and all across the United States.”
Farm Aid has a rich history in Pennsylvania. Farm Aid has long collaborated with and supported organizations and organizers in the state who are growing the Good Food Movement, including innovators at the forefront of the organic and the Buy Fresh Buy Local movements.
This is the second Farm Aid concert in Pennsylvania. It was held near Pittsburgh in Burgettstown in 2002. Farm Aid 2006 was held in Camden, N.J., in 2006.
For concert updates, follow Farm Aid on Twitter (@farmaid) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/farmaid), or go to www.farmaid.org/concert.
