FMC Goes to Farm Aid
Posted On: October 17, 2018
By Liz Comiskey, FMC Membership & Operations Director | liz@farmersmarketcoalition.org
When the famous people talk about farmers markets, people listen.
The Farmers Market Coalition was invited to participate in Farm Aid’s 33rd annual festival last month to share the power of farmers markets, and to feature posters from our National Farmers Market Poster Contests. I had the pleasure of representing FMC at the event, and also the opportunity to speak with dozens of attendees from across the state of Connecticut and the country about the work we do and why farmers market are so important to our communities.
The audience was made up of consumers, long time advocates for farms, and farmers, and, of course, connoisseurs of good music. The FMC booth attracted lots of attention with our popular I ‘Heart’ Farmers Market tattoos and vibrant posters, which led to coveted ‘a-ha moments’ as attendees made the connection between shopping at their local market, supporting their local farmers, and building community equity.
When the demonstrations in Homegrown Village came to end, FMC enjoyed the amazing performers, and was especially delighted by Neil Young’s emphasis on stopping at farmers markets to support local farmers. He consistently shared this message after every song, and had the entire audience shouting their commitment to “STOP” at a farmers market every time they drive by one to “buy something good” from a local farmer. Pretty cool call to action, eh? You can see him preaching for farmers markets toward the end of each video below:
FMC had a great time and hope to make attending Farm Aid an annual event! More pictures from our time at the event are below!
