On March 13 – the evening before the Luck Reunion music festival – Farm Aid was thrilled to once again be the beneficiary of the PotLuck 2019 dinner, hosted by the Austin Food & Wine Alliance on Willie Nelson’s ranch in Luck, Texas, just outside Austin.
Two hundred and fifty special guests gathered for signature cocktails created by Jessica Sanders of Drink.Well. (Austin) and a performance by singer-songwriter Ben Dickey, followed by a feast prepared by a roster of all-women guest chefs, including Misti Norris of Petra & the Beast (Dallas), Bonnie Savage of Olamaie (Austin), Anita Jaisinghani of Pondicheri (Houston and New York), Top Chef winner Kristen Kish of Arlo Grey (Austin) and Anne Ng of Bakery Lorraine (San Antonio and Austin). Host chef Ben Runkle of Salt & Time restaurant (Austin) guided eaters through the incredible menu sourced from Texas family farms.
One of the menu’s featured farmers, Carol Ann Sayle of East Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm, was present to talk about her farm and the peas she grew for the salad course! And lucky Farm Aid staffers got a private tour of her beautiful farm, which is at the heart of the East Austin community.
Carol Ann Sayle talks about her farm
Attendees also had the opportunity to bid on a number of signed Gibson guitars as well as other memorabilia and a collection of curated trips from our partner AmFund. Of course the evening wouldn’t have been complete without an intimate performance under the Texas stars by Willie Nelson himself, joined by his son Micah Nelson and special guest Steve Earle.
The benefit raised both awareness and funds for Farm Aid, as we do work to promote local and regional farm and food systems and address the current farm economy, which is pushing farmers across the country to the brink. The opportunity to connect with passionate family farm supporters and meet new people who love Willie, good food and now Farm Aid is crucial for our mission.
Check out photos from the event © Suzanne Cordeiro below.
