In late September I had the opportunity to attend Farm Aid 2023 in Indianapolis, IN. Most people know Farm Aid as Willie Nelson’s annual benefit concert, and it is a music festival of long lineage and legendary proportions. But attending this year as a RAFI employee gave me a “behind the scenes” look at the good work this organization is doing. And I met an amazing group of farmers and farm advocates to boot.
I’ve driven the interstates through Indiana several times when living in Wisconsin, and I hope I can be forgiven for thinking the entire state was earmarked for corn. But over these several days I met many inspiring and dedicated farmers, advocates, organizers, and food systems entrepreneurs working to feed their communities fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy. The pre-concert events included two farm tour options on Thursday, and a Friday Farmer Forum, where farmers and advocates could network, learn from one another, and trade stories from the field.
I took the urban farm tour, where we stopped first at Flanner House and Flanner Farms. The end of Reconstruction and later the Great Migration brought many Black families north to Indianapolis. Flanner House was founded 125 years ago, the brainchild of a Quaker activist who donated the land, and Booker T. Washington, who developed the organization. Current Executive Director Dr. Brandon Cosby established the farm in 2016, and not only does its onsite bodega sell produce to neighbors at affordable prices, the Farm anchors the community with a combination community center, bookstore, and performance space. Further, in a symbolic and literal embrace of the children in this community, the farm wraps completely around a playground for young ones to enjoy while visiting.
During lunch, we heard from Danielle Guerin of Soul Food Project Indy and Vivian Muhammed of Elephant Gardens. Soul Food Project is a CSA farm selling to 70+ members and producing thousands of pounds of fresh food in several lots in the city. Danielle grew up in Indianapolis, and has an entrepreneurship background. She has devoted herself to food systems work since she returned from a Peace Corps assignment in 2016. She is proud that all her employees are on the payroll with W2s and have access to a 401k, and she is also launching a 2,500-hour internship program. In addition to the Elephant Gardens production farm, Muhammed has created a food hub and network of producers in the region, as well as youth programs and a health and beauty bodega. She wants “to make healthy eating sexy” by making the connection between health and beauty in her business.
The next stop was Mad Farmers Collective, a two-acre site that featured high density plantings, tight crop rotations, precision irrigation, and no-till management. Farmers Amy and Matthew walked us through fields filled with lush greens and giant kale, and demonstrated use of the tilther, broad fork, and paper pot transplanter. Between farm tours, on the bus I chatted with farmers, farm advocates, and political leaders including Juanita Brent, the ranking member of the Ohio House Agriculture Committee. Rep. Brent travels with a selfie tripod and wears a bright yellow shirt with her name on it, saying “I believe in accountability.” She got into farming as a child in 4H and wants all kids to have access to humane farming, healthy food, and agricultural education. I took Indianapolis dinner recommendations from Virginia Pleasant of Northwest Indiana Food Council, whose organization has launched a new mothers’ food program with women farmers.
On Friday, the Farmers’ Forum brought together farmers, advocates, and policymakers for a rich daylong discussion. The morning held two panel sessions, one on food sovereignty and the other on diversification in Indiana Agriculture. The afternoon session was a deep dive into the Farm Bill from the farmer’s perspective, and included riveting testimony from a dozen farmers addressing land loss, succession, pollution, corporate consolidation and monopolistic behavior, environmental and wetlands protection, climate change, and ensuring farm viability into the future. Highlights included the forceful yet funny Lauren McAlester, meaningful stories from Denise Jamerson and her generational Black-owned farm in southern Indiana, and impressive contributions from Justin Soulet a Lousiiana fisher and Housa tribe member, USDA Undersecretary Gloria Montano Greene, and the electrifying Rainia Masri, a Lebanese former anti-war activist now working with the NC Environmental Justice Network.
Finally on Saturday, the big show for the public. I had brought woodworking and broom making supplies to the Homegrown Skills tent and ran a surprisingly popular booth. My partner and I grow broom corn (Sorghum bicolor) at our farm in Black Mountain, NC and make brooms for home use, gifts, and occasionally for sale. A couple years ago I had built a shave horse (an old-timey combination bench, sawhorse, and foot-operated vise) for making broom handles and other wooden crafts. Visitors to the booth tried their hand at the shave horse, and I gave a broom-making demonstration to a small but enthusiastic group at my afternoon workshop. One of the participants told me about the African-American wedding tradition of “jumping the broom.” This ritual calls back to the time when enslaved people, with humor and humility (and some agility), expressed hope for marriage under incredibly hard circumstances.
The Saturday concert brought 25,000 to Ruoff Music Center. I had purchased a lawn seat but by the time we packed up the broom booth there was not a seed packet’s worth of real estate left on the grass. Luckily we had access to the gazebo on the south end of the stage with other farmers and advocates and could enjoy the show from a comfortable distance. I chatted with new friends and relaxed in the nostalgia of familiar songs from old favorites.
Hearing Dave Matthews croon “Satellite” brought me back to high school when my sister and I saw his band at the Citadel in Charleston. John Mellencamp was grumpy as ever, growling like Tom Waits at his first concert in decades in his home state of Indiana. Neil Young still brings great energy and solid vocals, although he exited the stage after three songs to make way for a surprise guest. An unannounced Bob Dylan stole the show, croaking out “Maggie’s Farm” and a mesmerizing version of “Ballad of a Thin Man” in front of an outstanding band. Willie Nelson, flanked by his two musician sons, displayed generational continuity that made a hopeful end to the night. In a farming industry haunted by the questions: Who will farm in the future? How can we help them succeed? An arena full of voices sang, “Will the circle be unbroken.”