Roundup: March 18, 2025
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
Shardul Tiwari (Political Science and School of the Environment, University of Toronto), Zoē Ketola (Public Policy & Administration, University of Delaware), Chelsea Schelly, and Eric Boyer-Cole (both Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University) explore the public health implications of the region’s exceptionally high electricity prices and increasing service disruption in Energy Service Security for Public Health Resilience: Perception and Concerns in Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan published by Rural Sociology.
Regional Studies published For Growth or Equity: A Taxonomy of ‘Bidenomics’ Place-based Policies and Implications for US Regional Inequality by Grete Gansauer (Earth Sciences, Montana State University). The article identifies 33 place-based policies in recent US legislation designed to stimulate regional economies and estimates the implications for long-run regional inequalities in light of the programs’ focus on growth over social equity.
In The ‘Second Amendment of Food’: Some Reflections on American Liberalism published by Fordham Urban Law Journal, Mathilde Cohen (UConn Law) and Amy J. Cohen (Temple Law) consider how the example of the State of Maine’s amendment constitutionalizing a right to food positions a human rights issue as one of personal liberty and highlights a version of liberalism that centers “freedom” over redistributive egalitarianism.
News & Commentary
An article in The Conversation discussed the predicament facing many Appalachian residents following another round of destructive floodings earlier this spring: Despite the increasing likelihood of future extreme weather, many have little choice but to rebuild in risky locations due to the region’s housing crisis.
The Daily Yonder reported on the Trump administration’s effect on rural education research, noting that the recent shuttering of over 170 contracts within the Department of Education leaves the future of the field itself uncertain. The article noted that unlike K-12, research into rural higher education is still in its early stages.
A local news station in Charleston, South Carolina, reported on efforts to expand internet and technology access across rural communities. A special coalition plans to launch a pilot trial for a Digital Navigator program later this year which will connect experts, already placed in their home communities, with K-12 students and their families.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog explored the consequences of the freeze to federal grants and loans on the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program. Despite existing contracts, farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses may be responsible for millions of dollars for improvements already purchased or installed.
Recordings & Events
The Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy announced Shaping the Future of Food, a virtual event series introducing the advocacy group and sharing work from their current projects ranging from corporate climate disclosure to preventing deforestation. On March 20, 2025, IATP will host a conversation about the development of a tool to track corporate reporting and compliance with climate regulations. Register here.
This spring, the 2024-2025 Great Plains Student Storyteller in Residence, Kaitlyn Richards, is taking over the regular Great Plains Anywhere podcast and is hosting Pride in the Plains, a podcast dedicated to amplifying queer voices across the often-overlooked Great Plains region. The first episode in this unfolding series features an interview with historian and artist Autumn Langemeier about finding a queer identity a small, rural town.
