Bryce Oates, Author at 100 Days in Appalachia

Author: Bryce Oates

SNAP Cuts Would Hurt Rural Disproportionally, Advocacy Group Says

by Bryce Oates on May 2, 2018 Comments are Disabled

The House Agriculture Committee’s version of the farm bill would strip billions in nutrition benefits from American families, according to an anti-hunger group. Rural residents are more likely than metropolitan ones to be participating in the program. Conventional Beltway wisdom is that farm bills pass Congress with relative ease from a rare bipartisan coalition […]

Farm Bill Should Do More For Rural Health and Hospitals

by Bryce Oates on April 19, 2018 Comments are Disabled

Hospitals are economic linchpins for rural communities, health advocates say. The farm bill ought to sharpen its focus on preventing more rural hospital closures. Congress should ensure that the farm bill does more to address rural healthcare needs, especially shoring up the finances of struggling rural hospitals, rural health advocates say. Though the farm […]

Rural Areas More Likely to Have Independent Grocers

by Bryce Oates on March 3, 2018 Comments are Disabled

Independent grocery stores, which tend to be more prevalent in rural areas, had a tougher time dealing with the Great Recession than chain grocery stores, suffered worse during the Great Recession than chain stores, are a bigger share of the market in rural areas, While the number of chain grocery […]

‘To Say This Budget Is a Disappointment is an Understatement’

by Bryce Oates on February 23, 2018 Comments are Disabled

Political and nonprofit leaders respond to the president’s proposed 16 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget. Spoiler alert: It ain’t pretty. Out of touch. Destabilizing. Pulling the rug from underneath young farmers. Sleight of hand. This is some of the language rural advocates are using to describe […]

Trump Budget Eliminated ‘Sweat Equity’ and 10 Other Rural Housing Programs

by Bryce Oates on February 20, 2018 Comments are Disabled

Despite pushback from the House and Senate on a similar proposal released last year, the Trump administration again recommends doing away with a majority of the nation’s rural housing programs. The Trump administration’s budget and infrastructure proposals fail to meet the housing needs of low-income communities and will decrease the […]

Pockets of Rural America at Risk of Being Undercounted in Census

by Bryce Oates on January 24, 2018 Comments are Disabled

Rural African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Appalachians are the most likely to be overlooked in the 2020 census. One reason is lack of internet connectivity. Rural communities with high levels of poverty and lack of access to internet could be undercounted in the 2020 U. S. Census, according to a […]