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Non-Profit Shouts Out Creative Community Contributors
Most of the attention surrounding the Farm Aid non-profit is focused on its one-day festival, this year held on September 21 in Saratoga Springs, New York.
But for those of us who could come in a day early, there were a couple of major side events: a seven-hour-long Farmer Forum at the Saratoga Hilton (I'll be breaking down the excellent content soon), and the Farm Aid Eve celebration held at The Saratoga Winery, where the organization's annual Spirit of Farm Aid Awards were announced.
When I attended Farm Aid 2023 near Indianapolis, I arrived too late to attend the Farm Aid Eve event. I thus missed seeing Greg Gunthrop — a leader in pasture-raised livestock, a passionate family farmer advocate, and a friend of Local Food Forum — receive a Spirit of Farm Aid Award.
Due to a miscommunication, the 2024 event was sold out by the time I tried to buy a ticket. Luckily, a friend had an extra ticket, and I got to witness the awards ceremony after all.
I am a strong believer that the surest way to achieve a better food system is to instill good food values in our youngest eaters. So it was gratifying to see the Youthmarket program of GrowNYC — the non-profit that runs New York City's massive farmers market system — was a recipient of one of the Spirit of Farm Aid Awards.
Youthmarket champions (from left in the above photo) Gio Edwards, Bob Lewis and Tom Strumolo received their awards from Glenda Yoder, Farm Aid's associate director since 1990.
According to GrowNYC's website, "Youthmarket is a network of urban farm stands operated by neighborhood youth, in partnership with community based organizations, and designed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to underserved communities throughout New York City. Youthmarket purchases fresh produce from regional farmers through GrowNYC Wholesale and employs neighborhood youth to operate farm stands, providing them with valuable job experience and teaching them small business skills."
The program was the inspiration for the annual Youthmarket at the annual Farm Aid Festival's Homegrown Village, which made its debut at New York City's Randalls Island in 2007.
I greatly admire the success of GrowNYC, with its flagship market in Manhattan's Union Square drawing as many as 60,000 visitors for its year-round Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday openings.
I'm also a little wistful. I was born in New York City and grew up in the near-in suburb of Yonkers at a time when there was no such thing as a farmers market culture. I grew up with a love of food, but my first real acquaintance with farmers markets came in 1997, well into my Washington, D.C. residency, when one opened in the city's DuPont Circle. It would have been amazing to have experienced a GrowNYC in my younger days.
Companies that provide composting and recycling services for major events are, fortunately, becoming more common today. But until the married couple of Anne and Derek Bedarf created their Adaptive Collective organization in 2009, it was nearly impossible for organizations such as Farm Aid to provide those sustainability services for the throngs attending their events.
The Bedarfs connected with Farm Aid early on and have been heading up their composting and recycling program since. That service earned them another of the 2024 Spirit of Farm Aid Awarda.
Elizabeth Ryan of Breezy Hill Orchard in Staatsburg, New York grows apples and a wide variety of other fruit using sustainable practices, is a progressive activist, and was one of the founding farmers of New York City's Greenmarkets run by GrowNYC.
She has a longstanding tie to Farm Aid — she was one of the Farmer Heroes introduced at the opening ceremony of Farm Aid 2007 in New York City — that culminated in her receipt of a 2024 Spirit of Farm Aid Award.
Elizabeth was at the Festival the next day managing Breezy Hill Orchard's tent in the Homegrown Concessions area.
And yes, I bought some apple cider doughnuts to bring home for Barb and me.
The evening's two other awards were given to partners who have played key roles in planning and presenting the Farm Aid Festivals: John Huff, regional vice president and general manager of the Live Nation live entertainment company, and Carl Fiorentino, Legends Hospitality's Director of Purchasing for Live Nation.
Of course, it wouldn't have been a Farm Aid Eve without food with a New York flair.
Now, is it too early to start hoping that Farm Aid will bring its 40th anniversary festivities to Chicago next year? I don't think so! My first Farm Aid was the 30th anniversary in 2015 at the pavilion on Northerly Island, and it was a lifetime experience. And one thing's for sure, we know how to throw a Good Food party.
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