Roundup: August 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
In Testing and Expanding the Concept of Traditional and Contemporary Localism in Rural Local Food Systems with Ozark Wild Harvesters, published in Rural Sociology, Sarah Hultine Massengale (Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis) and Mary Hendrickson (Applied Social Sciences, University of Missouri) argue that building sustainable food systems in rural areas may take many forms, including both regular market transactions and informal non-market interactions. The article draws on narrative research with wild harvesters in the Ozark Highlands to highlight how people engage with local food systems in their communities.
Henna Asikainen (independent artist) and Ruth McAreavey (Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, UK) published ‘We Are Here Our Hearts Are There’: Rurality, Belonging And Walking Together in Sociologia Ruralis exploring the barriers refugees face in so-called “New Immigration Destinations,” rural spaces with little contemporary experience of immigration. From the dual perspectives of an art practitioner and a sociologist, their work draws on participatory projects undertaken with diverse migrants groups to explore notions of identity creation.
Annals of the American Association of Geographers published Trustees of (Public) Reservations? U.S. Land Trusts and Neoliberalism as Bricolage by Levi Van Sant (Integrative Studies, George Mason University) exploring the limitations of criticisms that dismiss land trusts as institutions of neoliberal environmental governance. The article argues that more rigorous analysis can refine conceptions of neoliberalism and consider how land trusts express the contradictions of decentralized land-use planning under capitalism.
News & Commentary
A recent KFF Health News article citing a report from the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service explored why rural Americans between the ages of 25-54 are much more likely to die young than their urban counterparts. In 2019, the natural-cause mortality rate for rural working-age adults was 43 percent higher than their urban counterparts.
An article in NPR highlighted a new program based out of an Atlanta medical school that provides training for participants interested in serving as doulas in rural southwest Georgia. The program hopes to fill a gap in care caused by maternity care deserts and address the state’s high rates of maternal mortality which especially affect Black Americans.
STAT reported on efforts by local county and state fairs to minimize the risk of disease spreading in dairy barns due to heightened concerns of bird flu. The anxiety is heightened by the H5N1 virus’ ability to spread rapidly through residual droplets of raw milk on the equipment that is used on multiple cows.
The Washington Post published an article highlighting the one-person newsroom that published key details of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in western Pennsylvania. Owner and sole full-time reporter of the Beaver Countian John Paul Vranesevich noted the importance of being local when establishing contact with and gaining the trust of sources.
Events & Recordings
The Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network hosts monthly Zoom webinars highlighting all facets of college education and improving access to higher education. A virtual panel on August 20, 2024, features rural and small-town college students from Caltech, The Ohio State University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University sharing their experience transitioning from their home communities to a large university environment. Register for the hourlong event here.
Appalachian Voices announced a second round of Community Strong sessions scheduled for Southwest Virginia communities beginning in August and continuing through September as part of a three-year effort to foster community-driven initiatives that bring together residents, business owners, and local government officials to prioritize the most important projects related to flood-control and other resiliency efforts. For more information and the schedule, check out the link here.
Anyone looking for some inspiration for midlife reinvention might appreciate this video of a former pet donkey named Diesel who went missing five years ago while hiking with his human family and was recently spotted alongside a herd of wild elk roaming northern California. More details about Diesel’s story are available here.
