What Liberal Elites Don’t Know About Rural Americans Can Hurt Us

Wendell Berry
The New York Review of Books strikes out, again
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For My Immigrant Family, the Library Opened New Doors

What libraries can do to reach more families like mine
Andrea Duarte-Alonso

A USDA Pilot Project Funds Vermont Farmers Who Practice Sustainable Grazing

"It’s a lot easier to participate in these kinds of programs when there’s money in the checkbook," says dairy farmer Guy Chioniere
Mario Reinaldo Machado

Science & Environment

Feral pig and a cow

Canadian ‘Super Pigs’ Threaten Minnesota. How Will the State Respond? 

Experts say once a feral swine population is established, it’s nearly impossible to remove.
Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
Compost piles at a garden

Don’t Let Your Food Waste Become Sewage Sludge

The solid waste industry is greenwashing food waste-to-sewer programs
Laura Orlando
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Native Life

Monica Cady moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula eight years ago.

The Black Snake Threatens Turtle Island

When I moved to the Great Lakes, I did not know a pipeline threatened my ancestral homeland
Monica Cady
A close-up photo of a manoomin (wild rice) plant

Five Native Groups Have Established Rights of Nature

"For Ho-Chunk, rights of nature has always been around.”
Craig M. Kauffman & Pamela L. Martin
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Barn Raisers

Finding Common Ground at a Montana Barn Raising

The former Montana House speaker and Missoula mayor reflects on working together across differences
Daniel Kemmis

Rural America Isn’t What You Think

From “Flyover Country” to “The Heartland,” public perceptions of rural America are based on political rhetoric rather than data
Bryce Oates
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Religion

Pigs on a truck on their way to a slaughterhouse

God and Hogs

The vertical integration of faith and death at Tyson Foods
Kristy Nabhan-Warren
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Barn Raiser
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Barn Raiser connects local and national perspectives through a network of writers and contributors who live in and care about rural and small town communities. By giving voice to shared concerns, and by reporting on local organizing strategies, Barn Raiser will leaven the commons with local connections.

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