Here at the Center for Rural Affairs, we're rural nerds, knee-deep in research. We've been reporting on it for 40+ years. Last spring we came up with the Top 10 Rural Research Reports publication.

Our latest report focuses on the Earned Income Tax Credit and Rural Households. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a credit against federal personal income taxes for working people who have low to moderate income, particularly those with children.

There was a time when many rural communities supported a small meat processing plant, where farmers could get hogs or calves butchered for family and friends, or hunters could get wild game processed. These businesses also rented lockers where customers could store quantities of meat in the days before refrigeration.