2014-07-17 IMBY

Jul 17 2014

17 July 2014 10:02PM

FarmOn! Hoedown Concert with Lukas Nelson & Tommy Stinson

by Dale Stewart

friendsofthefarmer.com

FarmOn! Hoedown Concert by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

Copake, N.Y. — The FarmOn! Hoedown concert is a stand-alone event for the first time ever, with the generous support of John Varvatos. This summer’s rock concert takes place at Club Helsinki Hudson and will serve Taste.NY.gov local libations and a farm-fresh menu. Music will be playing from 6 p.m. until midnight in support of the FarmOn! Foundation and the organization’s regional farming families. Join Lukas Nelson & POTR, which features the son of legendary singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), and Ruby Stinson, daughter of The Replacements’ star Tommy Stinson, who will perform with his daughter for a rock-filled evening to support the next generation who heed the calling of the land.

Friends of the Farmer will host THREE AMAZING celebrity chef and music fundraising events to support the local farming community and benefit the nonprofit FarmOn! Foundation. Held from July through September in the Hudson Valley, the events kick off with the FarmOn! Hoedown, featuring Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, where Nelson carries on his father Willie Nelson’s tradition of farm aid. Then, get your tickets to a “meet your farmer” dinner experience – the Hootenanny! – featuring a renowned celebrity chef and 100 family farms. And cap off the summer season with the 4th annual farm festival and the grand opening of FarmOn! Foundation’s first working farm. The organization has dedicated its resources to raising awareness of the importance of eating local; creating and funding educational youth programs, including their “local milk for public schools” initiative; and fostering entrepreneurial spirit with kids’ camps and community-based outreach efforts like #ABCSA, a “citified” CSA program with New York City’s ABC Kitchen.

“Farmers – we call (them) ‘starmers’ – are the real celebrities in food. We are bringing awareness to what people eat by meeting your farmer and having a conversation,” said Tessa Edick, founder of the FarmOn! Foundation. “We are standing up for our farming community and food choices (by) raising funds and awareness of farmers who work hard to feed us well and shifting how you think about the food you eat. This supports community, commerce and (encourages) the next generation to heed the calling to the land. If you ate today, thank a farmer.”

Tickets: Standing Room Only – $50, VIP – $75; helsinkihudson.com

About the FarmOn! Foundation

Created in 2011 as the philanthropic arm of Culinary Partnership, FarmOn! Foundation is the financial beneficiary of the Friends of the Farmer Festival. Tessa Edick, founder of both, has cultivated and nurtured a broad network of supporters and beneficiaries within New York. Located in the heart of the agricultural community of the Hudson Valley in Columbia County, N.Y., the organization strives to bring community awareness to food sources, reinvigorate a respect for farming to inspire youth and encourage careers in agriculture and help connect rural to urban marketplaces. By supporting succession on the farm and funding educational youth programs and experiences for the next generation of farmers, FarmOn! Foundation is working to preserve family farming in America.

For more information:

friendsofthefarmer.com

youtube.com/watch?v=qWpYrwpbrcw

farmonfoundation.org