Rural American Population Hits Record Low; Becoming “Less Relevant”?...

The Associated Press reports that only 16% of the US population lives in rural areas, a record low. In Appalachia, we are already familiar with population losses, as young people leave to find work elsewhere. But beyond the "brain drain," the population loss has other serious implications as vital services close down. Just a few days ago, the Post Office announced they are considering closing 3700 more post offices, close to 300 in Central Appalachia. Schools, medical care and transportation are all affected by declining populations. The article, posted below, states that Census data "hint[s] at an emerging America where, by midcentury, city boundaries become indistinct and rural areas grow ever less relevant." But I don't think the people living in these rural areas, who produce much of the nation's food, energy and raw materials, and provide vacation destinations for many city-dwellers, and who have their own cultures, lives and livelihoods, consider themselves irrelevant. Rural US Disappearing? Population Share Hits Low by The Associated Press WASHINGTON July 28, 2011, 12:02 am ET Rural America now accounts for just 16 percent of the nation's population, the lowest ever. The latest 2010 census numbers hint at an emerging America where, by midcentury, city boundaries become indistinct and rural areas grow ever less relevant. Many communities could shrink to virtual ghost towns as they shutter businesses and close down schools, demographers say. More metro areas are booming into sprawling megalopolises. Barring fresh investment that could bring jobs, however, large swaths of the...

Local-Food Restaurant Faces Challenges

An article in yesterday's New York Times (posted below) examines an issue facing many folks working to develop local food economies: the cost of fresh, local produce. The article below describes one man's effort to start a local-food restaurant in a small, Southwest Virginia town, to provide fresh, healthy food and to support local farmers. However, the local population hasn't entirely gotten on board. In many cases, the idea that local food from a Farmer's Market costs more is a myth, but when it comes to taking your family out to eat, a paying $10 per meal at a restaurant like Harvest Table isn't what many folks in this region can afford, especially if they can eat at McDonald's for a fraction of that price. Of course, when you look at the wider costs of eating cheap, processed food (obesity, diabetes, increased health-care costs), what seems like a better deal at first turns out to be much more expensive in the long run. If local is better – fresher, healthier and supporting local farmers and entrepreneurs – how do we build community support, dispel the myths and ensure that it's affordable for everyone? Local Food Has Been No Easy Sell in Appalachia Shawn Poynter for The New York Times Steven Hopp began a small farm to help supply his restaurant, the Harvest Table, in Meadowview, Va. More Photos » By JANE BLACK Published: July 26, 2011 Meadowview, Va.   Shawn Poynter for The New York Times WHEN Steven Hopp...

Department of Energy Funding for Nationwide Student-Focused Clean Energy Business Competitions...

Funding announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy — the deadline for proposals is August 22, so be sure to let any students you know, interested in clean energy businesses, about this great opportunity. Department of Energy: Office Of Public Affairs – Thursday, July 21, 2011 Washington, D.C. – As part of the Obama Administration’s effort to support and empower the next generation of American clean energy entrepreneurs, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced $2 million in available funding for the National University Clean Energy Business Challenge. This nationwide initiative will create a network of regional student-focused clean energy business creation competitions whose winners will compete for a National Grand Prize at a completion held at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. in early summer 2012. The funding will support  up to six regional competitions  that will inspire, mentor, and train students from across the country to develop successful business plans  to create a new generation of American clean energy companies. These regional competitions will take place before May 1, 2012. This national initiative will enable student participants to gain the skills required to build new businesses and transform promising innovative energy technologies from U.S. universities and National Laboratories into innovative new energy products that will to solve our nation’s energy challenges, spur business creation, create American jobs, and boost American competitiveness.  ”Fostering innovation at America’s universities and producing our nation's next generation of clean energy entrepreneurs is vital to ensuring our nation’s competiveness in the clean...

Build Appalachian Youth Power at the STAY Summer Institute!

From KFTC: Build Appalachian Youth Power at the STAY Summer Institute! The STAY (Stay Together Appalachian Youth) Project will host the STAY Summer Institute on August 9-12 at the beautiful Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County. Committed to having all voices and identities supported within Appalachia, and understanding that youth are often left out of spaces of decision-making, the STAY Summer Institute will bring together youth from throughout the region for a four-day workshop.  The gathering will serve to empower young people through a sense of place, promote leadership development, uphold Appalachian identity through cultural arts and storytelling, and build personal relationships to sustain each other through our efforts.  The leadership trainings will focus on organizing, popular education, grant writing, small-business skills, financial/budget management, anti oppression workshops, etc. The cost for this workshop is between $50-$150 (sliding scale) and includes room and board. KFTC will be support a delegation of young east Kentucky leaders to attend the Institute and bring the experience and training back to their local chapters and KFTC’s statewide work. If you are interested in attending as a youth or providing a youth scholarship as an adult ally, contact by Wednesday, July 27th. The STAY Project (Stay Together Appalachian Youth) is a diverse regional network of young people throughout Central Appalachia who are working together to advocate for and actively participate in their home mountain communities. This project began in 2007 at an Appalachian Studies conference, when youth participants expressed that they didn’t know...

Ken Ward, Jr: West Virginia’s boom-and-bust energy economy

This post originally appeared on Coal Tattoo on 7/21.  Ken Ward's follow up comments on this report, asking the provocative question "If coal is so good, why is West Virginia so poor?" are posted here on today's Coal Tattoo blog.  Both are well worth a read. West Virginia’s boom-and-bust energy economy July 21, 2011 by Ken Ward Jr. Just in time to aid in the discussion of whether the Obama administration’s new guidance to limit mountaintop removal is a “job destroyer” — as the National Mining Association claims — the fine folks at the West Virginia Center for Budget & Policy have issued a report called “Booms and Busts: The Impact of West Virginia’s Energy Economy.“ The report concludes: In the past, West Virginia counties with a concentration in mining saw their economic performance dramatically decline after an energy development boom. Today, their economies are weaker than the rest of the state, and they are ill-positioned to compete and grow. It is uncertain whether today’s energy boom, led by natural gas extraction, will bring the prosperity to West Virginia that it promises. While the potential revenues from this boom seem to be an attractive source of economic growth for communities, history shows that natural resource booms inevitably lead to busts. Among other things, the report points out: During the energy development boom in the 1970s, West Virginia counties that focused heavily on mining enjoyed an economic surge. However, when the boom went bust in the 1980s, these mining counties...

WV Center for Civic Life Encourages Dialogue, Solutions

It's easy to feel like you don't have a voice, or that the attempts to address Appalachia's challenges just end up in finger-pointing and insults. But the West Virginia Center for Civic Life hopes to change that by helping communities conduct civil, productive dialogues instead of divisive shouting matches – something our national leaders could use too. The Center, a new organization based in Charleston, promotes what they call "deliberative democracy," which "requires people to come together and talk–to deliberate about common problems in the context of a deliberative forum— instead of merely voting for candidates to represent them.  Action then follows talk…. Citizens take ownership of problems. They talk about what they can do, not what others ought to do." Recently this model was used to talk about drug addiction at the University of Charleston. The Charleston Daily Mail covered the event: Forum teaches communities to help deal with addiction By Alison Knezevich   CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Workers can't pass drug tests. Kids mimic parents who are doing drugs. Families struggle to find help for addicted loved ones. Those were some of the issues discussed Wednesday at a forum on prescription drug abuse at the University of Charleston. Ministers, teachers, community leaders and others gathered to talk about the problem. The West Virginia Center for Civic Life was training them to host community forums throughout the state.  Participants in the center's Civic Life Institute learn to moderate talks by asking probing questions while staying neutral on the issues....

Recovering Appalachia: A Transition From Coal To Solar

This post originally appeared on the Energy Collective on July 18.  The author is President of RegenEn Solar LLC, a solar panel installation company located in Louisville, KY.  What are your thoughts on Hoffman's Solar Transition plan? by Dan Hoffman I had such a great response to my recent commentary that I thought it would be worth the time to take an in depth look at the implications of the massive undertaking of transitioning Kentucky to solar.  Now that we know it’s physically possible for solar photovoltaics (PV) to supply all of the electricity needs in Kentucky by covering only 1/5th of the land already cleared by mountaintop removal (MTR) with solar panels, I think it’s important to ask the following: How quickly could we make the transition from coal to solar? How much would it cost in the short and long term? How would this transition affect coal mining jobs and how many jobs would it create? Can our economy, and our environment for that matter, afford to stick with coal for the long term? I think the only way to make a transition of this scale possible would be to spread it over many decades. In my previous assessment, I estimated that it would take a 69.1 GW solar array to provide all of the electricity needs in Kentucky today, but if this project is spread out over many years the size of the solar array would need to grow to match the expected increase in electric...

WV Food & Farm Coalition Tours Local Food Hub

From the West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition: Along with its usual mix of local produce, the Local Food Hub in Charlottesville also drew together a diverse combination of people last week, as 25 residents of West Virginia and the Chesapeake watershed toured the food hub’s distribution and aggregation center. Inside the former grocery store loading dock where the Local Food Hub receives and stores products, Executive Director Kate Collier provided a detailed, inspiring, and down-to-earth account of how the nonprofit food hub operates. After opening two years ago with a delivery of watermelon and squash, the Local Food Hub now purchases and aggregates locally grown produce from more than 50 small family farms within 100 miles of Charlottesville, VA. They sell and distribute this food to more than 100 locations, including public schools, hospitals, restaurants, institutions, and other local markets. The organization’s mission is to build a sustainable and replicable local food distribution model. So far, Kate told the group, the Food Hub has boosted local farmers’ sales by an average of 30% — and allowed many to hold onto their farms. The Local Food Hub also runs an educational farm that offers sustainable agriculture training to apprentices, high-school interns, and local farmers. An outreach program connects community groups, non-profits, low-income neighborhoods, and public schools to create greater access to fresh, local food. We learned about the Local Food Hub from a group of residents from the Eastern Panhandle interested in touring the facility, and both the WV...