Organic Valley Urges Concert Goers to Ask ‘Who’s Your Farmer?’ at Farm Aid 2011

Organic Valley Urges Concert Goers to Ask ‘Who’s Your Farmer?’ at Farm Aid 2011












La Farge, WI (PRWEB) August 11, 2011

Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative with 1,636 organic farmers nationwide, is proud to support and participate in the 26th annual Farm Aid 2011 concert held in Kansas City, Kansas, on Saturday, Aug. 13. For years Organic Valley has supported and shared in Farm Aid’s mission to keep farm families on their land.

“Our appreciation for Farm Aid and their caring support of family farmers grows each year,” said George Siemon, one of the founding farmers and C-E-I-E-I-O for Organic Valley. “As they celebrate their 26th year and CROPP, our 23rd, it is an honor to be so aligned in our shared mission to keep family farmers and their descendants on the land farming. As always, we’re encouraging concert goers and citizen eaters everywhere to ask ‘Who’s my farmer?’ and make the connection with the farmers who grow our food.”

Organic Valley farmers will be easily recognizable at the Farm Aid 2011 event in their “I’m Your Farmer” t-shirts. An Organic Valley/Organic Prairie booth will provide delicious chocolate milk samples and games for the whole family. Generation Organic (Gen-O) farmers will be on hand to meet concert goers.

Gen-O is what Organic Valley calls its young organic farmers, aged 16 to 35, who represent a new generation of sustainable agriculture leaders, and who believe in the power of organic agriculture to change the world. According to the USDA Census of Agriculture, America has lost approximately 4.5 million farms since 1935, and most of the 2.1 million farms that remain are operated by farmers with an average age of 57. In contrast, the average age of Organic Valley farmers is 44.

“It’s inspirational to be part of Gen-O and join other young farmers here at Farm Aid,” said 21-year-old Casey Knapp, a Gen-O farmer from upstate New York. “We’ve chosen organic farming as our career path. Our reasons and stories are diverse, but we all believe in the power of organic to change the world.”

Also attending Farm Aid 2011 is Daniel Rosmann and his wife, Ellen, Organic Prairie Gen-O farmers from Harlan, Iowa. Rosmann, along with his parents, runs Rosmann Family Farms where the family grows 100 percent of the organic grain and forage feed for their Red Angus beef cows and hogs. “I want to influence change and promote things that we shouldn’t have lost — family farms and small, vibrant rural communities,” said Rossmann. Farm Aid creates an accessible platform on which these rural issues can be supported by farmers and consumers alike.

Organic Valley: Independent and Farmer-Owned

Organic Valley is America’s largest cooperative of organic farmers and one of the nation’s leading organic brands. Organized in 1988, it represents 1,636 farmers in 34 states and three Canadian provinces, and achieved $ 619 million in 2010 sales. Focused on its founding mission of saving family farms through organic farming, Organic Valley produces a variety of organic foods, including organic milk, soy, cheese, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce and juice, which are sold in supermarkets, natural foods stores and food cooperatives nationwide. The same farmers who produce for Organic Valley also produce a full range of delicious organic meat under the Organic Prairie label. For further information, call 1-888-444-MILK or visit http://www.organicvalley.coop, http://www.organicprairie.coop and the cooperative’s farmer website, http://www.farmers.coop. Organic Valley is also on Twitter @OrganicValley and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/OrganicValley. For more information on Generation Organic, please visit http://www.organicvalley.coop/GenerationOrganic.

About Farm Aid

Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $ 39 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.

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0 Comments

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