By Douglas Bowers, Editor

ERS Rural America No. 171. June 2002

About this magazine

Rural America is a quarterly publication of the Economic Research Service that features articles covering a wide range of topics related to rural development as well as updates of rural social and economic trends.

In this report ...

Articles are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Contents, 183 kb

Foreword, 64 kb

Feature Articles

• Electric Market Restructuring: Issues for Rural America (402kb)—Deregulation can create new opportunities for rural America, but it may also introduce new costs. Rural areas are susceptible to changes in the industry that increase electricity costs because such areas are already expensive to serve, and the cooperatives that serve them tend to be small. This article discusses four electricity deregulation issues of importance to rural areas: transmission pricing and investment, retail competition, market power and mergers, and distributed generation. For more information, contact Constance Newman.

• Small Town Development in China: A 21st Century Challenge (730kb)—China is placing a high priority on urbanizing and raising the incomes of its huge rural population. The government is pursuing a strategy that seeks to channel rural people into small cities and towns rather than large cities. This strategy faces challenges in creating jobs for new residents and financing new town construction. Farms and businesses in rural America may increasingly compete and do business with their counterparts in rural China as trade between the two countries increases. For more information, contact Fred Gale.

• Economic Strain and Community Concerns in Three Meatpacking Communities (134kb)—Immigration is changing the face of rural America, and employment in the food processing industry is a major draw to the rural Midwest. This article compares perceptions of economic strain, community concerns, community services, and nutritional well-being between long-term community residents and Hispanic immigrants in three rural Nebraska meatpacking communities. Several patterns emerged. Long-term residents reporting greater personal economic strain also reported poorer nutrition and those reporting more concern with community issues (e.g., language barriers) also reported greater difficulty obtaining community services (e.g., food assistance, affordable housing). Immigrants reporting greater economic strain also reported more concern with community issues and poorer nutrition. For more information, contact Rochelle L. Dalla.

• Expenditures on Children by Rural Families (178kb)—Total expenses on a rural child in real terms have increased from 1960 to 2000. Food expenses have decreased, but health care and child care/education expenses have increased more. These trends highlight the importance of updating the expenditure base of USDA’s cost of raising a child series. For more information, contact Mark Lino.

• U.S. Economy in Recovery, Although Rural Areas Still Affected by Recession (227kb)—David A. Torgerson and Karen S. Hamrick

• Rural Employment Turned Down in 2001 As Unemployment Continued to Climb (76kb)—Lorin Kusmin

• Food and Fiber System Important Part of Economy (73kb)—William Edmondson

• Food and Agricultural Exports Increased in 2000 at a Greater Rate Than Imports, Reversing 5-Year Trend (79kb)—William Edmondson

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