An Evening with Farm Aid in the Lone Star State

On October 8, Farm Aid traveled to Van Alstyne, Texas to bring our An Evening with Farm Aid event series to the Lone Star State for the second consecutive year. Thank you to our hosts and guests for the warm Texas welcome! Farm Aid is pleased to continue to celebrate good food, family farmers and great music with our community in Texas.

The event was held at the beautiful Rustic Grace Estate and kicked off with farm fresh cocktails and music from Austin band Jamestown Revival before moving to the field for a farm fresh dinner. Under a blanket of stars (and beside a herd of sweet Longhorn cattle), guests enjoyed an incredible meal sourced from local family farms and prepared by Chef Robert Lyford of Patina Green Home and Market.

Throughout the evening we celebrated the strength and resilience of the food and farm movement in Texas. The farmers who raised the delicious food for our meal were honored guests at our table and we were thrilled to share their stories with our attendees. We heard from Earl Davis, a longtime farmer from Van Alstyne who shared the farming history of the land on which we were dining and dancing. Farmer Michael Sam, an organic dairy farmer and cheesemaker, shared his story about diversifying his production practices and bottling his own milk and making his own cheese to keep his family dairy farm thriving into the next generation. Nelson Carter of Cartermere Farms, an organic produce, grassfed lamb and egg and honey producer, talked about the realities of growing his operation, producing quality, natural and organic food and stewarding the land.

Connecting our guests to the farmers who grow their food and sharing the appreciation for good food from family farmers is an important part of Farm Aid’s work and is the foundation for our An Evening with Farm Aid series. Many thanks to these farmers for their hard work each day to produce good food for us to enjoy!

After dinner, Matt Hamilton, a grass-fed cattle rancher and owner of Local Yocal butcher shop, kicked off the evening’s entertainment with a live auction that got people on their feet before moving into Rustic Grace Estate’s chapel for an intimate set of gorgeous harmonies from Laura and Lydia Rogers of The Secret Sisters. The Secret Sisters closed their set with a haunting acapella version of the classic “Tonight You Belong to Me”, accompanied by snapping and singing from the captivated audience.

Check out beautiful photos of the event from Troy Foster Photography, and much more on our Flickr page from Azure Photography and Andrew Welch.

Thank you to our event hosts, sponsors and guests for making this event another huge success. We are grateful for your generous support! See y’all next time!