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‘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
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
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A Wandering Spirit, A Driftless Heart
Remembering the life and novels of David Rhodes one year after his death
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Madeline Island Moves Toward Zero Waste
How residents on a remote Wisconsin island turn trash to treasure
Native Life
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Haudenosaunee Address of Thanksgiving to the Natural World (Ganö:nyök)
A traditional prayer of communal gratitude
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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
Food & Agriculture
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‘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
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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
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Could Raw Milk Reinvent the Future of Dairy?
Through small-scale production, farmers can make more money and their customers can get better milk
History
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The 19th Century Haunting that Made This Small Tennessee Town Famous
Historian sheds new light on the dark tale of the Bell Witch
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Jim Hightower Confronts the 1980s Farm Crisis
"It's the same old story—Reagan helps the rich, and Lord help the rest of us."
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The Great Spirit (Why I am a Pagan)
Zitkála-Šá, born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in 1876, embraces the religion of her ancestors
Barn Raisers
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What Liberal Elites Don’t Know About Rural Americans Can Hurt Us
The New York Review of Books strikes out, again
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Jon Council: An Appalachian Carpenter Organizing Across Political Divides
“Everyone needs to be able to turn on the tap and have clean water in their home”
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Welcome to Barn Raiser: Your independent source for rural and small town news
A letter from the editors
Politics & Policy
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Why America Needs a Rural New Deal
Two political strategists make the case for a political revival
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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.
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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
Science & Environment
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Citizen-Scientist Coalition Works to Protect Native Mussels on the St. Croix River
The river’s future, however, remains uncertain under a Supreme Court-gutted Clean Water Act
Cari Shane, photography by Caroline Yang
Culture
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Rage Against the Outrage Machine
The virtue of seeing the other in their many dimensions
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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
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Why the Health of Rural Communities Depends on Universal Broadband
Telehealth could save lives and reduce costs for underserved rural households.
Religion
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The Battle Over Religion in Public Schools
How school prayer, intelligent design, and Bible classes faded from the conservative agenda.
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The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor in Rural America
Reflections of a Lutheran pastor in Dunn County, Wisconsin