By Staff
Bob Dylan suggested Farm Aid with an offhand remark 20 years ago while playing at Live Aid in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.
Maybe, Dylan said, "a little bit" of funds raised to relieve famine in Africa could stay home to ease the struggle of American farmers.
Nelson and co-founders John Mellencamp and Neil Young marked two decades of Farm Aid Sept. 18 in Tinley Park, Ill., the state where the first benefit concert occurred on Sept. 22, 1985, in Champaign.
The first Farm Aid, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers backing Dylan, was also notable for John Fogerty's first solo appearance and sets by the unlikely convergence of Van Halen, Johnny Cash and Lou Reed.
This year's lineup included Los Lonely Boys, Wilco, Emmylou Harris, John Mayer and Buddy Guy. The 1990 show featured Guns n' Roses and Michigan's Iggy Pop.
Farm Aid has given away some $17 million through the years - mostly in small grants to community groups whose work benefits family farms.
Farm Aid also steps in during emergencies, including a $30,000 donation Sept. 1 to growers devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
There are 400,000 fewer family farms than when Farm Aid launched in 1985.
Growing consumer demand for organic foods is another opportunity on which small farmers can capitalize.
It's fortunate that Farm Aid founders committed their activism for the long haul because the need doesn't seem in danger of vanishing any time soon.