Roundup: February 9, 2024
A regular feature of our growing online journal, The Rural Review, these roundup posts collect notable recent research, analysis, and related rural news and commentary. Feel free to send suggestions for future collections to us here. And, more details on other opportunities to contribute to the Rural Review can be found here.
Recent Publications
A study in Current Issues in Tourism, The Role of Festival Volunteers in Supporting Rural Community Development: A Psychological Ownership Perspective, explored how volunteers function as significant workforce assets and sources of human capital in rural communities. SoJung Lee, Linda Niehm (both Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University), Jichul Jang (Hospitality Management, Kansas State University), and MiRan Kim (Hospitality Business, Michigan State University) sampled hundreds of volunteers from rural festivals across Iowa, Michigan, and Kansas and identified factors that significantly influenced community involvement and support. They suggest that rural festival organizers might find collaboration with community developers an important avenue for attracting and motivating volunteers.
A team of researchers from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands published What is Culturally Appropriate Food Consumption? A Systematic Literature Review Exploring Six Conceptual Themes and Their Implications for Sustainable Food System Transformation in Agriculture and Human Values. In their study, Jonas House, Sigrid Wertheim‑Heck (both Environmental Policy Group), Anke Brons (Public Administration and Policy Group), and Hilje van der Horst (Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles Group) define what cultural appropriateness means when conceptualized in research literature related to food consumption. The article then considers how cultural appropriateness might be understood and applied in relation to efforts to address food system sustainability.
Another look at food systems, Queen of the Fields in Wartime: What Can Ukrainian Corn Tell Us About the Resilience of the Global Food System? was published in The Journal of Peasant Studies. Natalia Mamonova (Ruralis Institute for Rural and Regional Research, Norway), Susanne Wengle (Political Science, University of Notre Dame), and Vitalii Dankevych (Law, Public Administration and National Security, Polissia National University, Ukraine) consider how Russia’s war in Ukraine demonstrates that military challenges to Western hegemony can significantly disrupt corporate power in the contemporary food regime, revealing how a neoliberal agricultural model is highly sensitive to external shocks not only on a field level, but also on a national and global level.
News & Commentary
EducationNC recently published an editorial by Shelley White, the president of a North Carolina community college, highlighting the importance of community colleges to rural communities especially in times of economic downturns. As mill closures cause entire communities to lose a vital source of income and culture, the “Rural Response” of colleges serving these communities has an outsized impact on their futures.
An article published by the American Bar Association highlighted the University of Nebraska’s Children’s Justice Attorney Education Fellowship Program as a tool for preventing legal deserts in rural communities, especially regarding child welfare and youth justice. The article notes that the program has trained attorneys in over half of Nebraska counties, most of which have fewer than 50 attorneys.
A recent article in Kansas News Service reported on high levels of fertilizer found in drinking water from rural Kansas wells not subject to the same federal standards set for public water sources, raising concerns about deleterious health effects. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported that despite concerted efforts to reduce nitrate contamination in the state’s drinking water and rivers, results have been negligible.
Inside Climate News published an article covering the dangers of extreme heat combined with chronically polluted air pose for California farmworkers. Despite working in a state with some of the strictest heat standards in the nation, farmworkers remain vulnerable to heat-related fatalities for a variety of reasons, including the inherent dangers of heat, pollution, and lack of enforcement of the Cal/OSHA standards.
Events & Recordings
A new podcast from North Country Public Radio, If All Else Fails, explores the trend of far-right extremism taking root in rural communities nationwide. Reporters Emily Russell and Zach Hirsch investigate extremist groups and militia movements in northern New York State, why they’re drawing support from mainstream voters and local law enforcement, and the implications of their widening appeal in a 6-part series. All episodes are available now.
The Farmer’s Inside Track podcast recently spoke with agricultural economist Chiko Chiobvu about how the Russia-Ukraine conflict offers an opportunity to witness the impact an international event has on the rest of the world. Their conversation illuminates the economics behind the agricultural sector, what makes the sector unique, and why understanding market dynamics can help anticipate impacts closer to home.
