Blog Posts & Stories

Have you heard about the Center for Rural Affairs’ Rural Food Business Growth Project aimed at five counties in northeast Nebraska? What exactly does it mean? We invite you to dream with us on a food...

Twyla Hansen grew up on a farm just outside of Lyons, and, for the first time since being appointed State Poet of Nebraska, she returned there to do a reading and presentation about the stories of her native place.

After 13 years of living in the same house, my family and I recently packed up all our belongings and moved a few miles down the road to the family farm where my husband was born and raised.

Hintz Produce is a diversified farm with row crops, cow/calf and seedstock production, produce in high tunnel production and conventional outdoors.

Pekarek’s Produce raises over 50 varieties of crops on approximately 13 acres. The harvest season begins in April or early May with radishes, green onions, lettuce, and spinach. During the summer, the main crops are cole crops; several types of peas, bulb onions, carrots, green and wax beans, zucchini, summer squash, beets, potatoes and cucumbers.

The Center for Rural Affairs Farm to School Program recently participated in the Pathways to Careers Conference held by Nebraska FFA. Both FFA advisors and students came to the Center for Rural Affairs session to learn more about Farm to School programs and resources.

I remember smelling pork or beef roasting, or chocolate cake baking in the halls of my high school. Nothing went to waste either. The leftover sauerkraut from “Build Your Own Hotdog” was used in the...

In what brings to mind the ashes-to-rebirth legend of the mythological Phoenix, statutes prohibiting corporate farming in North Dakota and meatpacker ownership of livestock in Nebraska are both fighting for survival.

The final report of a Center for Rural Affairs Task Force on Nebraska tax reform is as relevant today as when it was published in January 1992. In fact, when Traci Bruckner testified to the Nebraska Legislature Revenue and Education Committee in November on changes to the state's tax system for the Center, she referenced the task force report.

Wow, $10,335 in one week. Newman’s Own Foundation matched $10,000 of that, so $20,335 was raised for the betterment of rural America. This is the most successful online fundraiser we’ve ever held, and...

Internet access and a high speed connection is crucial in our schools. But according to a new report by Education Week, rural and small-town school districts are frequently charged 2.5 times their urban counterparts for Internet.

Calling all foodies, farmers, school food service professionals, chefs, and anyone who loves all things food related. Have you discovered Barnraiser? It's the "#1 crowdfunding community for good food & healthy living,” according to their website.

In November, the Center for Rural Affairs REAP Women’s Business Center hosted a local InnovateHER Challenge for the state of Nebraska. The Challenge, sponsored by the Small Business Administration (SBA), recognizes entrepreneurs with innovative products or services that impact women’s lives and their families.

Food trucks are a fairly new way to dine in the Norfolk, Nebraska, area. Eight years ago, Arcadio Zepeda wanted to start his own restaurant. He had been working at Michael’s Cantina, a popular Norfolk restaurant, and knew how to make food that people would enjoy eating.

The Center for Rural Affairs ranked #7 in the U.S. for the number of Small Business Administration microloans placed. The Center was #21 for the dollar value of microloans closed.

What was your least favorite school lunch growing up? Mine was salisbury steak. It was a strange textured mystery meat, coated in slick, salty gravy, and served with instant mashed potatoes- a true...

Recently a farmer in California emailed, looking for ideas for high-value crops or livestock suited to a small amount of land. I began as I normally do, with an upbeat, "Congratulations on considering...

Thanks to your donations and support, we were able to grow our Farm to School effort to reach a total of 49 districts, in Nebraska alone. Farm to School is a national movement that encourages schools to serve locally grown food from partnering farmers. You should be proud of your support.

Today, Nov 19, is National Rural Health Day. The organizers describe this as, “an opportunity to celebrate the Power of Rural by honoring the selfless, community-minded, can do spirit that prevails in rural America.” It’s also a chance to relate the unique health care challenges we face as rural citizens.

Pollinators are insects and animals that transport pollen from plant to plant to fertilize the plant so it produces fruit or seeds. There are more than 1.000 different plants grown for spices, foods, beverages, and medicine that are dependent on pollinators.