What is needed to fix rural economies?
The economy in rural America is suffering. People with all different political beliefs can agree on this statement.
There are very few high paying jobs in rural America. Most of the jobs are in some form of agriculture, and this sector of the economy is hurting. I think there is disagreement about why the rural economy is in such bad shape and how best to fix it.
Small, locally-owned farms have gone bankrupt and been replaced by huge corporate farms owned by out-of-town investors. Our young people are forced to leave our community to find better paying jobs in the city.
This statement from Farm Aid on Jan. 16, 2025, sums up the situation well: “The U.S. agricultural sector suffers from abnormally high levels of concentration, giving just a handful of corporations a virtual chokehold over food production and consumption. This has forced hundreds of thousands of independent family farmers off the land and damaged rural economies, public health and our environment.”
Efforts to restore fairness and competition in agriculture are long overdue and could transform the landscape of our food system for the benefit of all, not just a few.
I believe most people in rural America blame environmentalists and immigrants for their economic woes and aren’t seeing the bigger villain of corporate monopolists squeezing rural economies.
I would like to see both Democrats and Republicans work to fight corporate monopolies that destroyed the economies of rural America.
There is a plan that has been developed to do just that. It is called The Rural New Deal. It admittedly is a plan made by progressive Democrats, but I believe people of all political persuasions can work on most of the principles in this plan to restore the economy in rural America.
You can learn about it by looking on the website for The Rural Urban Bridge Initiative.
The key components include using anti-trust laws to break up monopolies that have a chokehold on rural America.
Incentivize local businesses to use local source materials. Support and encourage cooperatives, worker-owned and locally-owned businesses through training and easier access to capital, and restrict subsidies of chain stores.
Together, we can push our politicians to enact programs that give rural Americans economic opportunities while staying in their community.
Call Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and tell her we need to fight the monopolies that have a chokehold on rural America.
Daniel Meekof
Packwood
