Wavy Gravy, real name Hugh Romney, was a counterculture personality and founder of the Hog Farm Collective, a mix of hippies, activists, and underdogs. They provided security and services at Woodstock and later started a new farm in New Mexico. Wavy Gravy became interested in Seva, an organization providing free eye care, and formed Camp Winnarainbow. The Hog Farm sponsors a yearly music concert called the Pig Nic, and profits from a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor in honor of Wavy Gravy went towards social programs.
The counterculture movement of the 1960s provided a number of memorable personalities, including a former cabaret and folk music promoter nicknamed Wavy Gravy. Wavy Gravy’s real name was Hugh Romney, and he was the founder of a joint performance group called the Hog Farm Collective. The group’s members were a mix of hippies, political activists, and mainstream society underdogs. If groups like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground were the more politically radical extensions of the counterculture, Hog Farm could be considered the comedian.
Originating on a ranch near Los Angeles, California, the Hog Farm got its name from an agreement between Romney and a local pig farmer. After the farmer suffered a stroke, the group was allowed to occupy his farmland in exchange for barbering, or feeding, 45 pigs. Life on the farm was idyllic enough, but Romney had other ambitions for politically active artists. One such idea required a temporary move to New York City. While living in New York, Hog Farm was approached by a man representing Woodstock Ventures, Inc. The promoters of the proposed Woodstock music festival wanted Romney and his crew to provide security and other services at Max Yasgur’s farm.
Despite numerous logistical problems at Woodstock, the farm members handled their assignments competently. Security guards routinely enforced the rules through polite requests, asking concert-goers to stop the illegal activities. Other members have provided rudimentary medical facilities and food outlets.
Hugh Romney became the unofficial master of ceremonies, entertaining crowds between musical acts. When food supplies ran dangerously low, it was Romney and other members of Hog Farm who creatively fed the masses. One of Wavy Gravy’s most infamous quotes from Woodstock is: “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000 people.”
Following the success of Woodstock, Hog Farm followed with plans to start a new farm in New Mexico. At another musical concert in Texas, legendary blues guitarist BB King gave Hugh Romney the nickname Wavy Gravy. The collective continued to thrive in both New Mexico and several ancillary locations in California. In the early 1970s, Wavy Gravy became interested in an organization called Seva, which provided free eye care and surgical procedures to indigent families. The partnership between Seva and Hog Farm continues into the 2000s.
Another offshoot of the organization formed Camp Winnarainbow, a children’s camp dedicated to the circus arts and other forms of artistic expression. Every year, the Hog Farm sponsors a large music concert and party called the Pig Nic. Several prominent alternative and folk rock bands headline this fundraising event, and many of the surviving members of the 1960s counterculture occasionally reunite. When ice cream makers Ben and Jerry created a flavor in honor of Wavy Gravy, much of the profit went towards social programs.
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