Monday quick hits: Old school buses now haul crops; outwitting food deserts; are farmhouses too pretty?

Old school buses help get melons from the farm to the
table. (Photo by Edwin Remsberg, Ambrook Research)

"While traveling on Interstate 95 in South Carolina, I noticed a strange sight. . . . A virtual parade of perhaps a half dozen old school buses was headed in the opposite direction. Well, they used to be old school buses. Now they were something different," reports Heath Racela of Ambrook Research. "It turns out that the small caravan of buses I happened to pass is a somewhat hidden lynchpin in the complex process of getting food — melons, specifically — from farm fields to tables. In fact, for watermelon farmers and harvesters, used school buses seem to be the dominant way to transport their delicate fruits out of the fields."

Gas. Electricity. Flintstones footwork. There are many ways to get vehicles going, but some truckers are getting behind hydrogen. The element is "gaining a following among some heavy-duty truck operators who see it as the industry's best path toward zero-emission technology, especially for rigs traveling long distances," reports Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal. "Hydrogen offers longer trips and faster refueling than battery-cell technology, supporters say, while allowing trucks to haul heavier loads because they aren't carrying industrial-scale batteries."

Thank you American farmers.
(Photo by M. Sullivan Wirecutter)

While not singularly rural, festive cookies are loved by rural folks far and wide, and American farmers can brag that they helped make the cookies! In a nod to all the eggs, flour, sugar, and delightful dairy ingredients that flow from American farms during the holiday season, here's a list of all the loot that can help you make the best cookies.

The Mobile Farm Market gets fresh food to
grocery deserts. (ILSR photo)

Living in a food desert creates grocery challenges, especially for those lacking transportation. "When a new mobile grocery market launched in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, its first stop was Maple City Apartments, a 40-unit complex for low-income, elderly relatives. Maple City's residents have felt the region's lack of grocery stores acutely," reports Kennedy Smith for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "The county's residents can now buy groceries from a farmers market on wheels. It started when the Cooperage Project, a regional nonprofit organization, wanted to get fresh, healthy food to people during the pandemic. . . .Cooperage created Mobile Farm Market — a small, refrigerated van — to bring fresh produce, milk, cheese, and eggs to towns and neighborhoods lacking full-service grocery stores."

People with no desire to work the land are purchasing farms. (Photo by Zach McNair, AR)

Take a peek at Instagram, and "you'll be hard-pressed to escape romanticized images of farm life: rolling hills, broad wrap-around porches, oddly clean baby goats," reports Nora Neus for Ambrook Research. "The popularity of the farm aesthetic and farmhouse lifestyle is creating real estate problems among working farmers, especially younger and newer ones who already face challenges in finding affordable land across the country. . . . Farmhouse properties are so pretty, they're getting too expensive to use for agriculture."