"Farms Not Factories" Tote from Shepard Fairey

Since the beginning, Farm Aid has stood against corporate consolidation and in fierce support of US family farmers. We collaborated with renowned artist Shepard Fairey this year to develop a beautiful piece that celebrates Farm Aid's 40th anniversary — now available as a tote bag, made with 100% organic American cotton. Meet our cotton growers here.

Artist statement:

To celebrate Farm Aid's 40 years of fighting for family farms, I created this art to remind people that Farm Aid provides a voice for people who don't have the kind of resources that corporate agriculture does. Farm Aid was founded in 1985 by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp as a concert to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on the land. It continues to operate the music festival to keep that mission alive with the next Farm Aid concert taking place on September 20th in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

With this piece, "Farms Not Factories," I wanted to tell the story of independent farmers working on their land, as opposed to the big corporate farms that have a huge amount of land and workers. I incorporated historical images of various rallies from Farm Aid organizers over the years, as well as some newspaper clippings from the archives within the ripped collage layers of the illustration. Independent farming is a solitary endeavor, which I showcase with the lone farmhouse situated on the vast landscape, but with Farm Aid, farmers can work together for their interests rather than be overrun by big corporations. Please take a moment to read more about Farm Aid and support this effort by purchasing this print! 
— Shepard