FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 28, 2023
CONTACT:
Brittany Vanderpool
202-248-5487
bvanderpool@vancomm.com
Farm Aid Co-Founder John Mellencamp to Join Farmers in D.C. March 7 in Support of Climate Resilience
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Farm Aid announced today that co-founder and board member John Mellencamp will join farmers, ranchers and farmworkers from across the country at the Rally for Resilience: Farmers for Climate Action in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 7. As Congress begins work on the 2023 Farm Bill, farmers across the country have a message for lawmakers: make climate change a policy priority.
Mellencamp will offer remarks and perform at the rally, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET at Freedom Plaza, where farmers will share personal stories of how the climate crisis affects their livelihoods and communities. They also will speak about their sustainable agricultural practices, which can help to mitigate climate change, including organic production, cover crops and rotational grazing. Speakers also will urge Congress to include critical support for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) producers in the upcoming Farm Bill.
“As a Farm Aid board member, I’ve been to Washington a few times to ask for farmer voices to be heard. I hope on March 7, members of Congress hear farmers and ranchers loud and clear,” said Mellencamp. “If we want a better world, it starts with us. Farmers know this. They have the tools and know-how to better our climate future, but they can’t do it alone. Policymakers — and all of us — need to support the solutions they can deliver.”
The March 7 Rally for Resilience is part of a three-day gathering beginning Monday, March 6, including the rally, cultural events, a demonstration of climate-friendly farming practices, and meetings of farmers, ranchers and farmworkers with their elected representatives. The gathering is organized by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), Farm Aid, HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance, Kiss the Ground, Food Animal Concerns Trust, and Family Farm Defenders, along with an alliance of food and farm organizations.
The event was first announced on the Farm Aid 2022 festival stage in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mellencamp’s immediate response was to declare, “I’m going to come to Washington, D.C.”
For more information about the Rally for Resilience, visit sustainableagriculture.net/farmers-for-climate-action-rally-forresilience. For more information about Farm Aid, visit farmaid.org.
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 $70 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.
— 30 —
