CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Farm Aid
announced today that Grammy-nominated artist Margo Price and lifelong humanitarian and
advocate for family farmers Annie
Nelson have joined its Board of Directors.
Via unanimous vote, Price and Nelson will work alongside
founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John
Mellencamp, artist board member Dave
Matthews, and six industry professionals and family farm
supporters.
Price and Nelson join a committed board that has steered Farm
Aid for 35 years, hosting a unique annual festival to galvanize
support for family farmers, organizing against corporate
consolidation, deploying funds and resources to strengthen farm
families facing ongoing challenges, and nurturing a cultural
movement that values the people who bring good food to our tables.
Farm Aid stays true to its founding values and traditions; for
example, Farm Aid President Willie
Nelson signs every grant check distributed by the
organization to its nonprofit partners, and the organization keeps
its ear to the ground, listening to a group of farmers from diverse
backgrounds who care for the soil and water.
Price grew up in Illinois on
her family farm before she witnessed its loss in the Farm Crisis
that inspired the first Farm Aid concert. Price has been a staunch
advocate for Farm Aid's mission long before her first performance
at Farm Aid 2016 in Bristow,
Virginia. She has not missed a Farm Aid festival since, and
this past year, she joined Dave
Matthews to announce Farm Aid 2020 on Good Morning America.
Price is the second artist to be added to Farm Aid's Board of
Directors after its original founding, following Dave Matthews' appointment in 2001.
"It is always a thrill to perform alongside
my heroes on the Farm Aid stage, and it is one of the
greatest honors of my life to become a member of the Farm Aid
board," said Price. "It's been a dream of mine to help family
farmers and communities across America ever since my family lost
their farm in the fall of 1984 — a year before the first Farm Aid
concert. I hope to use my voice to shine light on the issues of
climate change, our health and the health of our soil and water,
and most importantly, food justice."
Annie Nelson — who met husband
Willie Nelson shortly after the
first Farm Aid concert in 1985 — has served an integral role in the
annual Farm Aid music and food festival. She has worked for decades
to stand up for family farm agriculture and create opportunities
for local, independent farmers, and she is an activist on many
issues that positively impact America's family farmers.
"I am honored to join Willie and the other members on Farm Aid's
Board of Directors," said Nelson. "I've witnessed the incredible
strength and resilience of America's family farmers through my
involvement in Farm Aid, and I am eager to continue to help our
family farm system thrive through this new role."
For more information on Farm Aid's Board of Directors, visit:
farmaid.org/about-us/board-and-staff/.
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 and Dave Matthews
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 more than 35 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the
artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised
more than $60 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.
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SOURCE Farm Aid