Following PFAS Up the Food Chain

Hannah Norman, KFF Health News
‘Forever chemicals’ are commonly found in freshwater fish, but most states don't warn residents
Read →

A Wandering Spirit, A Driftless Heart

Remembering the life and novels of David Rhodes one year after his death

Madeline Island Moves Toward Zero Waste

How residents on a remote Wisconsin island turn trash to treasure

Native Life

Tribes Take the Lead on Regenerative Agriculture

Ioway, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Quapaw share their traditional practices with both Native and nonnative farmers to improve the soil and water for everyone
Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media
See all →

Food & Agriculture

Sign that reads, "Lake Region Concerned Citizens"

‘What We’re Up Against’: North Dakota Towns Stand Up to Farm Bureau for Clean Water

Pelican Township gets dragged into a national campaign to upend local zoning rules.
Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Sign that says, "For Sale 5+ Acre Mini Farms"

Not Every Farmer Wants to “Get Big or Get Out”

As land ownership continues to consolidate into fewer and wealthier hands, some small farmers vow to stay in place

Could Raw Milk Reinvent the Future of Dairy?

Through small-scale production, farmers can make more money and their customers can get better milk
See all →
Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign up to receive regular updates on topics of interest to people in rural communities and small towns.

mail

History

The 19th Century Haunting that Made This Small Tennessee Town Famous

Historian sheds new light on the dark tale of the Bell Witch

Jim Hightower Confronts the 1980s Farm Crisis

"It's the same old story—Reagan helps the rich, and Lord help the rest of us."

The Great Spirit (Why I am a Pagan)

Zitkála-Šá, born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in 1876, embraces the religion of her ancestors
See all →

Politics & Policy

Why America Needs a Rural New Deal

Two political strategists make the case for a political revival

As Rural Hospitals Disappear, Air Ambulances Struggle to Fill the Gap

Air ambulances are now a lifeline for many rural communities. But there is no guarantee they'll stick around.

Lieutenant Governor, Farmer and Unapologetic Progressive

"Its important to meet people where they are," says David Zuckerman, who ran on both the Democratic Party and Vermont Progressive Party tickets
See all →

Culture

Rage Against the Outrage Machine

The virtue of seeing the other in their many dimensions

How the ’70s Counterculture Shaped My Ozark Childhood

Going back-to-the-land meant confronting my family's, and our nation's, fraught racial history

Why the Health of Rural Communities Depends on Universal Broadband

Telehealth could save lives and reduce costs for underserved rural households.
See all →

Religion

Pigs on a truck on their way to a slaughterhouse

God and Hogs

The vertical integration of faith and death at Tyson Foods
hands clasped in prayer over an open book

The Battle Over Religion in Public Schools

How school prayer, intelligent design, and Bible classes faded from the conservative agenda.
a red rural church in the background with fields of crops in the foreground

The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor in Rural America

Reflections of a Lutheran pastor in Dunn County, Wisconsin
See all →