Roundup: December 23, 2021

As we close out 2021, this is a big roundup full of research, news, commentary, and conversations on issues relevant to rural America. We are grateful for everyone who supported this emergent Project in 2021 and look forward to staying connected with you all in 2022. Stay healthy and safe, everyone.

Recent Publications

• Kristin Haltinner and Dilshani Sarathchandra (both Sociology and Anthropology, University of Idaho) published The Nature and Nuance of Climate Change Skepticism in the United States in Rural Sociology. This article analyzes 33 in-depth interviews with Idaho residents who self-identified as skeptical about anthropogenic climate change.

• Rachel Soper (Sociology, California State) published Workplace Preference among Farmworkers: Piece Rate, Pesticides, and the Perspective of Fruit and Vegetable Harvesters in Rural Sociology.

• Lingxi Chenyang (Indiana Law), Andrew Currie (Yale), Hannah Darrin (Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies), and Nathan Rosenberg (Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic) published Farming with Trees: Reforming U.S. Farm Policy to Expand Agroforestry and Mitigate Climate Change in Ecology Law Quarterly.

• Saru Jayaraman and Kathryn De Master have edited a collection of food system challenges—along with case studies of successful local advocacy and mobilization efforts—called Bite Back: People Taking In Corporate Food and Winning. Marion Nestle provides the forward.

• Jack Thompson (Politics and International Relations, Nottingham Trent University) published Watching Together: Local Media and Rural Civic Engagement in Rural Sociology.

• Stephan Dietrich, Bruno Martorano (both of Maastricht Graduate School of Governance), Valerio Giuffrida (Assessment and Monitoring Division of the United Nations World Food Programme), and Georg Schmerzeck (Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, University of Gothenburg) published COVID-19 Policy Responses, Mobility, and Food Prices in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

• Catherine M. H. Keske (Management of Complex Systems, School of Engineering, University of California-Merced), Parker Arnold, Jennifer E. Cross (both Sociology, Colorado State), and Christopher T. Bastian (Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming) published Does Conservation Ethic Include Intergenerational Bequest? A Random Utility Model Analysis of Conservation Easements and Agricultural Landowners in Rural Sociology.

• Junyu Lu (Community Resources and Development, Arizona State), Maria Carmen Lemos (Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan,), Vikram Koundinya (Human Ecology and UC Cooperative Extension, University of California, Davis), and Linda S. Prokopy (Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue) published Scaling Up Co-Produced Climate-Driven Decision Support Tools for Agriculture in Nature Sustainability.

• Christopher Adlam, Deniss J. Martinez (both Graduate Group in Ecology, University of California, Davis), Diana Almendariz (Strawberry Valley Rancheria Band of Pakan Yani Maidu), Ron W. Goode (North Fork Mono Tribe), and Beth Rose Middleton (Department of Native American Studies, University of California, Davis) published Keepers of the Flame: Supporting the Revitalization of Indigenous Cultural Burning in Society & Natural Resources.

• Jera E. Niewoehner-Green, Mary T. Rodriguez, and Summer R. McLain (all of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership, The Ohio State published The Gendered Spaces and Experiences of Female Faculty in Colleges of Agriculture in Rural Sociology.

• Aaron W. Thompson (Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue) and Rebecca Wadleigh (North Central Conservancy Trust) published Factors Motivating Forest Conservation Easement Adoption in Wisconsin’s Northwoods in Society & Natural Resources.

• Society & Natural Resources published Evaluating Conservation Easement and Land Records Data in Rapidly Growing Counties in the United States and the Implications for Environmental Governance. The authors are Anna Treado Overby, Mickey Lauia (both of Planning, Design and the Built Environment, Clemson), Caitlin S. Dyckman, Katherine Amidon, Daniel Crum (all three of City Planning and Real Estate Development, Clemson), Scott Ogletree (OPENSpace Research Centre, University of Edinburgh), Nakisha Fouch, Robert F. Baldwin (both of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson), and David L. White (Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Clemson).

• Christine da Rosa (Portland State) published a review of Rooted Resistance: Agrarian Myth in Modern America by Ross Singer (Communication, Saginaw Valley State), Stephanie H. Grey (Communication Studies, Louisiana State University), and Jeff Motter (Communication, University of Colorado Boulder).

Special Reports & Other Items of Interest

• The USDA ERS has released the 2021 edition of Rural America at a Glance. This year’s edition focuses on rural responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular attention to disparities in population and employment, infection rates, and broadband availability and adoption.

• The USDA ERS also published America’s Diverse Family Farms: 2021 Edition, which focuses on farm size and scale at a high level.

• The Afterschool Alliance published a new report on afterschool and summer learning in rural communities.

• Professor Jodi Lazare (Schulich Law) teamed up with Petroglyph Comics to turn her research on Canadian ag-gag legislation into an accessible comic.

News & Commentary

• Aallyah Wright recently published Rural Midwives Fill Gap as Hospitals Cut Childbirth Services. This post from The Rural Blog has more discussion on rural midwives.

• Aallyah Wright also published a piece on rural communities and infrastructure funding. More discussion on this question of whether rural areas will get their fair share of infrastructure money can be found in this post from Legal Ruralism.

• Ryan Evans summarizes a University of Nebraska study linking crop insurance premium subsidies to fewer, larger farms in this piece.

• In a piece examining where narratives surrounding abortion fall apart, Sarah Mullens explores the fictions and realities of life in West Virginia.

• Bobby Magill published this piece on the Supreme Court’s decision in the groundwater dispute Mississippi v. Tennessee for Bloomberg.

• Bill Lucia published a piece on the distribution of federal funds to rural health providers.

• Leah Douglas pushed Giant Pipeline in U.S. Midwest Tests Future of Carbon Capture on Reuters.

• NPR Weekend Edition ran a piece titled People Buy Cheap Land in the Rural West, then Live Unsheltered on Their Own Property.

• Lori Potter published this piece on the reemergence of native corn.

• NPR’s All Things Considered ran a piece title How a Meatpacking Plant Sent 2 Towns Down Very Different Economics Paths.

• Adam Parker published Wadmalaw Residents Found a Way to Preserve the Island’s Rural Character: Teamwork in The Post and Courier.

• NPR’s Weekend Edition ran a piece on climate change and clean drinking water.

Events & Recordings

• The Urban Institute hosted an event on Dec. 14th titled Reenvisioning Rural America: Supporting Asset-Based Rural Investment and Capacity Building. The recording is available here.