Salina Journal says USDA Rural Development's goal is ‘to keep rural America alive’

"Welcome to government class," writes Michael Strand of the Salina Journal. "Today, we'll start with a pop quiz." Multiple-choice questions about funding of a health clinic, digital TV for northwest Kansas, energy-efficiency measures for rural groceries and a telemedicine project all had the same answer: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which could just as well be named the Department of Food and Rural Affairs. Most of the spending authorized by the Farm Bill is for food and nutrition, including food stamps, and Strand points out that USDA "is the go-to agency for a large share of government assistance in America's rural areas, including a range of programs that might not seem related at all to agriculture."

Chuck Banks, the Kansas director for USDA's Rural Development program, told Strand: "There are about 2 million Americans who receive farm payments, and about 1 million live on the farm -- but there are 65 million Americans in rural communities, with under 25,000 people." And that's just one definition of "rural;" under lower population criteria used by some programs, America's rural population is 90 million. Strand's take on Rural Development: "In general, the goal is to help keep rural America alive."

One little-known program helps small, rural businesses improve their energy efficiency. When Pat White, who owns five groceries in Kansas, got a letter about it, he threw it away. "I saw 'Department of Agriculture' on the envelope and thought, 'I'm not a farmer' and threw it away," he told Strand, with a chuckle. "A couple years later, I found out they had something to help grocery stores." Grants and loans from the program have helped White replace old, inefficient frozen-food cases and lighting in his Phillipsburg store, and the refrigerated produce cases are to be replaced soon.

Rural advocates say Rural Development needs to offer more grants, like those made to urban areas by other agencies. Strand quotes testimony Vernon Kelley, past president of the National Association of Development Organizations, to the Senate Agriculture Committee, "While USDA Rural Development is an essential partner for our rural communities, we are alarmed that its infrastructure, broadband and community facilities portfolio has become almost exclusively focused on direct loan and loan guarantee programs," and the Bush administration wants to cut those appropriations. (Read more)