Farm Aid Didn't Sell Out!
I woke up Sunday morning thinking I was going to go to the Farm Aid concert and feed, but I went to Serious Eats world headquarters instead and cleaned my desk. I wanted to see what kind of local, family, farm-oriented food they had, and I really wanted to see the Allman Brothers Band, who I hadn't seen since the Watkins Glen rock festival in 1973.
But Kim Severson went and reported that Alice Waters took offense at the corporate nature of the food sponsors. Companies like Horizon Organic and Clif Bar apparently paid sponsorship fees to be able to sell their products at Farm Aid.
What is Alice's remedy for all this Farm Aid–sanctioned corporate food?
"Basically they just tried to have relatively real food there, but it was the same stuff you see everywhere,” she said. As a result, Ms. Waters is urging organizers to hold Farm Aid in San Francisco, where she would turn her favorite food organization, Slow Food, loose.
"If Slow Food could do the concessions, we could really have people out there cooking delicious food,” she said.
I love Alice Waters and truly appreciate her passion and zeal for all the right food causes, but I'm not sure she understands that these sponsors paid to showcase their wares at Farm Aid (this was confirmed by Farm Aid), and that money went to support family farms. Also, Slow Food purveyors probably wouldn't be able to afford the sponsorship fees.
Also, there are plenty of Slow Food purveyors in New York City that would gladly set up shop alongside the corporate sponsors. How about some Breezy Hill Orchard produce or a porchetta sandwich from Flying Pigs Farm, or some Martin's Pretzels?
Note to Farm Aid organizers: You don't have to go to San Francisco to rustle up some righteous food from some good folks at Farm Aid.
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2 Comments:
I live in the Bay Area and, until recently, was a member of a Slow Food convivium here. I respect the work Ms. Waters does with her Edible Schoolyard and in promoting small local producers of quality foodstuffs. Yet I disagree strongly with her stand on this particular issue.
I'm sorry, ma'am, but it is not necessary either to come to San Francisco or to involve Slow Food in order to meet the goals of Farm Aid. As much as I love it I must admit that currently the Bay Area's most common export in food culture is arrogance. Contrary to the publicly espoused opinions of Ms. Waters and others, we in the Bay Area are not the end-all be-all of the food world. Yes, we are blessed with an almost enviable array of fantastic producers who respect not only their consumers but especially their products. But we are not the only place. Nor are we the only source of all-things-good in American food culture.
That aside, Mr. Levine is correct in pointing out that Ms. Waters seems to have missed the point of Farm Aid: helping small farmers. When you as the owner of a business see the black ink ever increasingly replaced by the red you are not too particular about who refills your black pen. Yes, in a perfect world Farm Aid would be able to meet their goals of helping family farmers through the help of the "appropriate" large companies.
Wait...no, that's not right. Because, you see, in a perfect world there would be no need for family farmers to receive any help at all. They'd be able to do what they love (producing quality produce and meat and avoiding the corporate monoculture of our agriculture) without having to lose sleep wondering whether they might make it through this season if only they can get another mortgage and maybe leave their machines back to the bank.
So please cut these people some slack. They are, I'm sure, doing quite the best that they can considering the general apathy in our society towards small farms. When other more "acceptable" companies and organizations step up to the plate and offer their support (financial and otherwise) to Farm Aid then I'm sure that their help will be accepted gladly.
Maybe the vaunted Slow Food would care to throw out the first pitch by contributing the proceeds of even one of the many over $100 a plate benefit dinners which they throw on their own behalf every year...
VMBrasseur at 10:04PM on 09/11/07
Your post must have hit a big ol' button for me, since after I posted the comment above I still felt the need to continue my rant elsewhere.
This must've been building up for a while...
VMBrasseur at 11:41PM on 09/11/07