Hee Haw! Farm Aid heads to New York

NEW YORK, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Farm Aid organizer John Mellencamp said taking the rock and country music concert to New York wasn't meant to be a publicity stunt.

"It was the mayor who invited us," the singer told the New York Daily News. "And nobody in America consumes more food than in New York City. We have a need to be here. We want to inform people about the food they're consuming. They should know that when you put a strawberry in your body, it's supposed to be the size of your thumb, not the size of your head."

Scheduled to perform at Sunday’s 10-hour concert on Randalls Island are Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Allman Brothers, Counting Crows and Merle Haggard.

"Some people might not think New York is the most obvious place for Farm Aid," New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said at a recent news conference. "But as a kid, we had a vegetable garden here. We grew melon, corn ... radishes."

The city boasts 76 farmers' markets, drawing from the state's 36,000 small growers, the News noted.