Brandon TurbevilleNatural Blaze
September 20, 2016
The 31st Farm Aid benefit concert opened with a press conference made up of individuals from a number of different areas. Notably, the performers – Willie Nelson, Sturgill Simpson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Lukas Nelson, Jamey Johnson, John Mellencamp – joined farmers, activists, and Farm Aid representatives on stage to tell their stories and announce why the concert was being held and the types of projects and results the organization has seen in the past and hopes to see in the future.
The press conference began with words from Dorothy McAuliffe, the first lady of Virginia. When Willie Nelson was asked about the 31st hallmark of what should never have been necessary in the first place, Nelson characteristically responded with a short and chill line: “We’re glad to be anywhere thirty one times.”
John Mellencamp took the mic as well and stated that he is constantly surprised when he tells people he is off to go do the Farm Aid concert and is asked “You guys still doin’ that?” He says he always responds with a question: “You guys still eatin’?”
But it was Neil Young who stole the show at the conference. Young did not simply make a few comments and pass the mic, he addressed the corporate control over food and the recent merger between Bayer and Monsanto. He also sharply criticized Barack Obama.
