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Farm Aid Announces Extensive "We The Farmers" Campaign

Writer: Bob Benenson
Bob Benenson
Sep 25
2 min read

Program Was Detailed at the Farmer Forum Held a Day Before the Festival


The 'We the Farmers" slogan welcomed attendees at Farm Aid's Farmer Forum in Virginia Beach on Sept. 25, a prelude to the organization's big annual music festival the next day. Photo by Bob Benenson
The 'We the Farmers" slogan welcomed attendees at Farm Aid's Farmer Forum in Virginia Beach on Sept. 25, a prelude to the organization's big annual music festival the next day. Photo by Bob Benenson

Farm Aid, the non-profit advocate for family farmers and a better food system, used the phrase "We the Farmers" in its promotions for this 41st music and information program festival that takes place Saturday (September 26) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. But attendees to the organization's annual Farmer Forum on Friday learned that it is much more than a slogan.


Shorlette Ammons, Farm Aid's co-executive director and program director, unveiled a multi-year "We the Farmers" campaign aimed at expanding public support for their core constituency. The main platform for the effort is a new We the Farmers page on the Farm Aid website. The copy at the top of the page reads:


"Take a walk in farmers’ boots with our new We The Farmers campaign.

#WetheFarmers invites us all to stand with the people who grow our food and care for our land. By seeing ourselves as a reflection of some of our hardest workers — family farmers — we can use our collective power to create a stronger agriculture system for all. It’s joyful when we work together!"


The page is divided into four sections, each with a link to its own sub-page:


  • BUY: PUT YOUR FOOD DOLLARS WHERE YOUR VALUES ARE

  • CONNECT: KNOW YOUR FAMILY FARMER

  • STAND UP: SUPPORT FARMERS AND FARMWORKERS

  • VOTE: CHAMPION FARMERS IN OUR DEMOCRACY



Shorlette Ammons, Farm Aid's co-executive director, detailed the organization's new "We the Farmers" campaign at its Farmer Forum event on Sept. 25. Photo by Bob Benenson
Shorlette Ammons, Farm Aid's co-executive director, detailed the organization's new "We the Farmers" campaign at its Farmer Forum event on Sept. 25. Photo by Bob Benenson

Shorlette amplified on the messaging during her opening of the Farmer Forum.


We see 'We the Farmers' as a powerful representation of how we can see each other and ourselves in the lives and the lived experience of some of our most hardest workers, and that's America's family farmers. And that also includes our farm workers...


We're gonna push forward this campaign called We the Farmers. We're gonna encourage people to vote like farmers, vote like rural people, country people. 
Let's look out for the least of these, those mostly on the margins who get invisibleized over and over again.


There is no justice without the inclusion of the people who grow our food and steward our land. Period. 
So their story is not separate from ours. It's one human story that exists beyond borders. Everybody belongs.


It's about humanity. 
It's about our shared experience.


Shorlette interspersed a call and response with the attendees, asking them to repeat "We the Farmers" during passages of her statement.


Local Food Forum is attending Farm Aid 2026 and will have a lot of new stories to tell over the coming days and weeks. We will also provide more detail about how to best utilize the We the Farmers page.




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