National Farm-City Week runs November 20–26, 2026, ending on Thanksgiving Day, when the food on most tables traces back to a farm. It honors the ties between rural growers and city shoppers.
The Week Ending on Thanksgiving
Every year, the seven days leading up to and including Thanksgiving Day. A 2009 proclamation fixed it as “the week ending on Thanksgiving Day of each year.”
Two men started it in 1955. Presidents still proclaim it, but local farm groups and county extension offices run the events.
Older proclamations named exact dates instead. Kennedy’s 1962 week, November 16 to 22, closed on that year’s Thanksgiving.
A Conversation on a Train
In 1955, Vermont businessman Charles Dana Bennett met Merle Tucker of Kiwanis International on a train from Chicago to Washington, D.C.
Farm income was falling while costs and taxes rose. They also worried about farming’s poor image and a widening gap between farm and city people.
Kiwanis coordinated a National Farm-City Committee until 1988, when the American Farm Bureau Federation took over.
Eisenhower proclaimed the week for November 20 to 26 in 1959. He asked the Department of Agriculture and land-grant colleges to help, along with the Extension Service.
Kennedy’s proclamation praised a single farm worker’s output: enough “food and fiber for himself and twenty-six others.” He called it “the greatest farm efficiency ever known to man.”
His text also pointed the other way. Farmers, it said, rely more and more on city workers to build the machines and tools that modern farming needs.
Why Farm and City Need Each Other
NC State Extension states the goal plainly: understanding between farmers and the people who live in cities.
Obama’s 2009 proclamation called agriculture “our Nation’s first industry” and credited Native Americans as its pioneers. It also praised farmers markets and community gardens for linking towns to nearby farms.
Earlier presidents had bigger plans. Eisenhower asked for public meetings and pageants, and for radio and TV features on the bond between farm and city.
He gave a reason, too. Farm and factory output, his 1959 text said, had given Americans the highest standard of living of any people.
Farms have grown larger as their number shrank. The average one now covers 463 acres, up 5% from five years earlier.
Fewer farms remain today. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1.9 million, 7% fewer than in 2017.
Most are still family businesses. Family-owned and operated farms made up 95% of all farms and 84% of farmland.
Farmland covers 880 million acres, or 39% of all U.S. land. The average producer is 58.1 years old.
Local banquets carry the tradition, often with awards for farm volunteers. In 2023, Franklin County, North Carolina, held its Farm-City luncheon at Mitchell Farms in Bunn.
Ways to Mark the Week
- Trace one Thanksgiving dish back to the farms that grew it, then share what you learn at the table.
- Attend a Farm-City banquet or luncheon hosted by your county extension office.
- Shop a farmers market or join a community garden, both singled out in the 2009 proclamation.
- Invite a farmer to speak to a city classroom, or take students on a farm visit.
- Thank the young people in 4-H who keep farm traditions going, and ask them what they’re raising this year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is National Farm-City Week set by law?
No. It continues through presidential proclamations and local organizers rather than a statute.
Does the week always end on Thanksgiving?
Yes. Thanksgiving is its final day, so the start shifts as the holiday does.
What else did Kennedy’s 1962 proclamation mark?
A centennial for USDA and for land-grant colleges.
Sources
- NC State Extension – What Is Farm-City Week? (2023)
- The White House (archived) – Presidential Proclamation, National Farm-City Week (2009)
- The American Presidency Project – Proclamation 3495, National Farm-City Week, 1962
- The American Presidency Project – Proclamation 3324, National Farm-City Week, 1959
- USDA NASS – 2022 Census of Agriculture release (2024)