Absolutely incredible! That’s what I’m thinking as I’m leaving Sioux Falls and the Midwest Rural Assembly to return to a long-planned vacation with my ever-so-patient spouse. Before I go offline for the rest of the week, here are a few reflections. The crowd was amazing. Over 150 people came from 13 states and Washington, D.C. [...]
Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category
The Midwest Rural Assembly or What I Did During (Part of) My Summer Vacation
Posted in Agriculture, Broadband, Civic Engagement, Economic Development, Health Care, Rural Media on August 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Farm and Food File: Take free trade-please
Posted in Agriculture, Economic Development, Economic Justice, tagged Economy, Fair Trade on June 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
By Alan Guebert When the international trade portion of your resume is as thin as Ron Kirk’s – you do remember that Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, is now U.S. Trade Representative, don’t you – likely you’d stress personal ideals over professional accomplishments when talking about your new job. Kirk did just that in [...]
Health Care Reform in Rural America: What’s food got to do with it?
Posted in Agriculture, Economic Development, Health Care, tagged Food Policy, Heath Care, HHS on May 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I got a call on a Thursday afternoon from the White House Office of Public Liaison inviting me to a roundtable discussion on rural health care reform at the Executive Office Building the following Monday. Conference calls were not an option, so recalling my friend and colleague Dee Davis’ admonition: “When the White House calls, [...]
Farm and Food File: Big biz and the Big U
Posted in Agriculture, tagged Farm & Food File on May 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
By Alan Guebert When David Chicoine explains his new, part-time job—one of eleven members of the board of directors at seed giant Monsanto Co.—it all sounds very smart, very modern, very… good. “Big companies like Monsanto,” related Chicoine in an April 21 telephone interview, “have contacts anywhere they find talent. Their only interest is high [...]
Farm and Food File: How to hide 8 million acres in plain sight
Posted in Agriculture on April 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
By Alan Guebert American farmers and global food makers have had more than a decade to get comfortable with wild, year-to-year swings in crop acres brought by decoupled, “freedom to farm” ag policies, an 800 percent boom in biofuel production and an increasingly hungry export market for American meat and grain. Still, the 2009 Prospective [...]
Rural Broadband and the Stimulus Package: Digital Inclusion is Hardly a ‘Cyberbridge to Nowhere’
Posted in Agriculture, Broadband, Communication Rights, Digital Divide, Economic Development, Education, FCC, Health Care, Internet for Everyone, Media Justice, Rural Media on February 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today, Rural America is home to about 60 million of the Nation’s population. Collectively, Rural America comprises over 2,000 counties, and accounts for 80 percent of the Nation’s land. In every day terms this means its home to approximately 1 of every 5 U.S. residents. Over the past week, rural broadband has become a key [...]
Rural/Urban
Posted in Agriculture, Guest Voices on September 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
By Kathy Hiltsley I live in an urban area. I grew up in a small suburb outside of Minneapolis, MN in Richfield. My experience with rural areas growing up were the times we went to my mom’s sister’s homes in Stanley, Minot and Steele, North Dakota and the times we would go to my father’s parent’s [...]
