Socioeconomic trends, rural health, 'civic' agriculture covered in new books

By Susan S. Lang

Socioeconomic trends and well-being in New York state over the past half century, how living in rural areas affects health and health care and the burgeoning "civic agriculture" movement (community-based food production and distribution) are the topics of three new books written by development sociology faculty at Cornell.

The books are Socioeconomic Trends and Well-Being Indicators in New York State, 1950-2000 (New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, 2004), co-authored by Paul Eberts, professor of development sociology, and research consultant Kris Merschrod, Cornell Ph.D. '81; Critical Issues in Rural Health (Blackwell Publishing, 2004), edited by Nina Glasgow, a senior research and extension associate, Lois Wright Morton, Cornell Ph.D. '99, and Nan Johnson, professor of sociology at Michigan State University; and Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food and Community (Tufts University Press/University Press of New England, 2004) by Thomas Lyson, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Development Sociology.

Socioeconomic Trends and Well-Being Indicators in New York State, 1950-2000 offers information and insights into demographic and socioeconomic trends, such as those concerning families, health-care issues, jobs, migration and workforce development, and how these trends affect work, life quality and well-being in New York's counties and communities. The 500-page book presents most trends in graph and chart form over the last 50 years; it uses 55 indicators of well-being taken from the census and other public sources and interprets them for the different types of counties: metropolitan, suburban and rural.

The authors point out, for example, that huge changes are occurring in the distribution of jobs in various industries -- about one-third of retail and wholesale jobs were lost in the 1990s and about 50 percent more jobs were gained in the health care industries, due probably in large part to more computer use in both industries. "Such dynamics certainly affected life quality and well-being in all New York counties, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse," Eberts says.

Part of each chapter is devoted to examining the special circumstances and needs of the state's rural counties and citizens. Among the trends are the health issues addressed in Glasgow's Critical Issues in Rural Health and the marketing changes in Lyson's Civic Agriculture.

Critical Issues in Rural Health points out that more than one-fifth of Americans, about 55 million people, are considered "rural" residents. Living far from urban centers, they face social, cultural and economic disadvantages that could increase their risk for health problems. The 40 contributors to the book cover topics such as trends in rural health-care, health and health-care disadvantages facing rural residents, health disparities among rural minorities, "telehealth" and networks. The book provides an overview of the health-related challenges and opportunities confronting those living in rural regions and providing health services in these areas as well as recommendations for improving health care in rural areas.

In Civic Agriculture, Lyson discusses the renaissance of locally producing and marketing agricultural products that is countering a decades-old trend of industrialization and globalization. He shows how this trend not only promotes a sustainable alternative to conventional, large-scale agriculture but also strengthens a community's social and economic development. Forms of civic agriculture, which is a term that Lyson coined, include farmers' markets, community gardens and community-supported agriculture. Lyson traces the agricultural trends over the past century and how farmers increasingly became disconnected from their communities; he offers innovative recommendations on how food production, processing and consumption can once again become more localized.

The publications were supported by research partially funded by federal monies received from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and awarded through the Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station.