AgClips
Recent AgClips
‘Meatless Mondays’ get cut from high school menus
Camarillo Acorn | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Food NewsThey called it “Meatless Mondays.” But the all-vegetarian lunch menu offered once a week at Oxnard Union High School District campuses since 2015 was never a big hit with students, officials said.“Vegetarian Day was the lowest participation day” among students eating in OUSHD cafeterias, Stephanie Gillenberg, nutrition services director, told school board members at a recent meeting.Now, “Meatless Mondays,” which this past school year was offered on Fridays, is out.School board members decided June 26 to eliminate the no-meat menu for the next school year as part of cost-saving measures aim
Senate panel votes to keep top USDA Rural Development Job
Agriculture.com | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Federal NewsThe Senate Appropriations Committee approved unanimously a USDA-FDA funding bill that rejects President Trump’s proposals to slash spending on rural development, crop insurance, and food stamps. In the first major congressional disagreement with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the $145 billion funding bill overrides his recent elimination of the slot for an undersecretary in charge of rural economic development — and directs the administration to fill the job.
Keep strong safety net for agriculture and rural communities
Independent Review | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture, Federal, Rural NewsAs commodity prices remain low and rural economies struggle, farmers and rural citizens need a strong safety net to stay afloat until conditions improve.However, the budget proposals from the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives do not address that need. The House Budget Committee recently released its 2018 budget proposal, which called for a $10 billion cut in programs under the control of the House Agriculture Committee.
Vertical farm start-up Plenty raises $200m
BBC.com | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Agriculture NewsPlenty, a San Francisco vertical farming start-up, has raised $200m from big-name investors that include Japanese media giant SoftBank, Alphabet's Eric Schmidt and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
Who Wants to Run That Mom-and-Pop Market? Almost No One
The New York Times | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Rural NewsAcross the country, mom-and-pop markets are among the most endangered of small-town businesses, with competition from corporations and the hurdles of timeworn infrastructure pricing owners out. In Minnesota, 14 percent of nonmetropolitan groceries have closed since 2000. In Kansas, more than 20 percent of rural markets have disappeared in the last decade. Iowa lost half of its groceries between 1995 and 2005. The phenomenon is a “crisis” that is turning America’s breadbaskets into food deserts, said David E.
Here are five key NAFTA battlegrounds to watch as negotiations get underway
Financial Post | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Federal, SARL Members and Alumni NewsU.S.-initiated negotiations to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement are bound to be long and hard. Canadian officials maintain that Mexico is the real target of President Donald Trump’s determination to renegotiate what he considers to be a bad deal for America. Nevertheless, there are a number of issues bound to spark friction between Canada and the United States. Here’s a primer on five of them:Dispute resolution mechanism, Dairy, Wine, Investment, Duty Free Cross Border Shipping.
Editorial: Rural Virginia bleeds; does the state care?
The Roanoke Times | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Rural, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe most critical commentary came from a columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. A. Barton Hinkle wondered whether state government should even bother trying to help rural communities. “If [rural residents] can improve their economic circumstances by moving to urban areas, then why not let them?” he asked.If that means rural communities depopulate themselves, so what? “You could argue that, environmentally speaking, it might be better to keep some swaths of the state unpopulated,” Hinkle wrote.
Medicaid work requirements could create additional problems in rural
Daily Yonder | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Federal, Rural NewsThe efforts of eight states to enact work requirements for Medicaid recipients could create special problems for rural participants, according to a new study. Researchers Andrew Schaefer and Jessica Carson at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire found that one in four of potentially impacted Medicaid participants already worked at least part of the previous year or were motivated to work but could not find a job.“As state policymakers consider Medicaid-related work requirements, it is worthwh
Broadband, maybe small is better
Daily Yonder | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Rural NewsWhen communities sit down to set economic goals, they should expect realistic results. Communities may get excited about attracting data centers, for example, which you can’t entice without high-speed Internet. But data centers don’t require a lot of workers, it’s easy to lose money operating them. On the other hand, such a business could generate other jobs indirectly.
Whitewater Thrills, Chills, and Sills Rejuvenate Iowa Towns
Daily Yonder | Posted onJuly 26, 2017 in Rural NewsIn the last six years, three small towns in northeast Iowa have built whitewater courses, creating an unlikely Mecca for paddling and tubing enthusiasts in the Midwest. The projects get credit for helping support local economies and reviving the region’s historical focus on waterways. In all, three towns, the courses run through the middle of downtown, which makes for a unique whitewater experience. “When you’re in the wave, you look up river to the stone bridge and through the waterfalls up river,” says Pollock.