For farmers breaking away from conventional agriculture, the Kentucky farmer-poet was a powerful example of someone who combined faith with a commitment to the environment.
Articles on Rural America
Displaying 1 - 20 of 65 articles
Rural places have long built and expanded prisons to tap federal funds during hard times.
Class-war rhetoric from Democratic candidates jams working-class voters into a prefabricated progressive agenda, an expert on rural and working-class communities argues.
It is far easier and cheaper to keep someone housed in a mobile home park than to build a new subsidized unit for them.
State lawmakers are trying to shield tracks from nuisance lawsuits − but the larger threat may be rising land values and redevelopment pressures.
1 in 5 students in the US are living in rural areas.
In the past, farmers have balanced their political beliefs against market logic. How much pressure can farmers endure?
Across the US, heirs’ property laws hamstring families that want to build housing or leverage their land for loans. One Alabama project shows how policy reform and savvy design can build a way forward.
A few important dynamics are making it easier for young people to launch businesses in rural towns – especially food businesses.
The federal government spent $100 billion on these benefits, which are still sometimes called food stamps, in 2024.
The latest floods exposed the deep vulnerability of many mountain communities in eastern Kentucky, where land ownership patterns and other barriers to recovery can leave residents with few options.
The study shows rates for smoking, obesity and chronic conditions such as heart disease are comparatively higher in rural areas, leading to shorter life expectancy.
The USDA oversees food production and much more. However, it has little direct power to reduce food prices – a centerpiece of President Trump’s campaign.
Many small towns rely on one major industry and can face long-term existential shocks if that industry fails. Biden’s attempt to reposition rural economies for the future missed a crucial factor.
US election coverage often portrays rural America as entirely white and conservative. This narrow view obscures the issues that matter to other voters.
Rural white people have long held disproportionate power in US politics. But polls suggest their commitments to the American political system are eroding.
It’s part of a decadeslong trend.
With more than 2 million migrant workers finding food processing jobs in rural America, their struggle to find adequate health care remains elusive.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is just one of many artists from Appalachia who are probing the crisis in their work, while taking pains to ensure that it doesn’t define the region and its people.
Even if you don’t live near farm country, you’ve got a stake in the upcoming farm bill – including what kind of farms your tax dollars support.
Top contributors
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Executive Director, Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University
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Professor and Neustadt Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
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Professor of Economics, Colorado State University
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Director of the Southern Rural Development Center & Professor of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University
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Professor of Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Co-director of the Bioeconomy Institute; Director C-CHANGE, Iowa State University
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Assistant Professor of History, University of Oregon
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Project Director, RTC: Rural, University of Montana
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Economic Development Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
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Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Penn State
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Professor of Environmental Science & Policy, University of North Dakota
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Director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center; Assistant Professor of Law, Drake University
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Professor of Educational Administration, Michigan State University
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Professor of Anthropology, The College of Wooster
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Director, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement in the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
