Press Releases | September 6, 2017

Farm Aid to Host Homegrown Prosperity Meeting Celebrating the Good Food That Connects Us All

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 6, 2017

FARM AID CONTACT:
Brittany Vanderpool
202-248-5487
bvanderpool@vancomm.com

**Advisory**

Farm Aid to Host Homegrown Prosperity Meeting Celebrating the Good Food That Connects Us All

Forum Will Focus on the Importance of Food in Connecting People and Growing Strong Communities by Highlighting Groundbreaking Community Leaders

PITTSBURGH — Farm Aid announced today that it will host a public forum to celebrate the great promise of food to connect people and grow strong communities, and highlight the farmers and community leaders who are leading this groundbreaking work. The meeting will take place Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at the Kaufmann Center in Pittsburgh.

In Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, rural and urban citizens are showing a way forward by building food systems that revitalize economies, create meaningful jobs and refortify the fabric of their communities.

Homegrown Prosperity will gather community leaders, local, state and federal policymakers, farmers and others to elevate the role of public institutions such as land grant universities, state and municipal governments and the Appalachian Regional Commission in supporting these efforts. At the end of the event, audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions to all panelists. Food will be provided.

WHAT: Homegrown Prosperity: Hope Grows Here.

WHEN: Thursday, September 14, 5 – 9 p.m.

WHERE: Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at the Kaufmann Center, 1825 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

WHO:

  • Raqueeb Bey, Black Urban Gardeners (BUGS), Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op and Grow Pittsburgh
  • John Fetterman, Braddock Mayor
  • Earl Gohl, Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chair
  • Sky Harman, Harmony Farm
  • Maureen Hogan, District Director, Penn State Extension of Allegheny County, Assistant Director, Penn State Center Pittsburgh
  • Dawn Plummer, Director, Pittsburgh Food Policy Council and Penn State Extension of Allegheny County
  • Russell C. Redding, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture
  • Leslie Schaller, Director of Programs, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet)

RSVP: Please RSVP at www.farmaid.org/concert/homegrownprosperity.

Farm Aid 2017, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, at KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown, Pa., will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, as well as Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson, The Avett Brothers, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Jamey Johnson, Margo Price, Blackberry Smoke, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Valerie June, Insects vs Robots and Blackwood Quartet.

For event updates, follow Farm Aid on Twitter (@FarmAid), Facebook (facebook.com/farmaid) and Instagram (instagram.com/farmaid), and visit farmaid.org/concert. Festivalgoers are encouraged to use the hashtags

#FarmAid2017 and #Road2FarmAid to join the conversation on social media around this year’s show.

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 30 years, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $50 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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**Editors’ and Producers’ Note: Advance credentials are required for all media to attend Farm Aid 2017. Please visit www.farmaid.org/media by Friday, Sept. 8, to apply.**

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