MAJORITY OF RURAL VOTERS THINK GOVERNMENT SERVES WEALTHY FEW

87% of non-metro voters believe the government mostly reflects the rich and influential. 

PEOPLE OF ALL COLORS AND CREEDS CALL RURAL AMERICA HOME

Rural communities include majority Black counties in the Southeast, Latino majority counties in the Southwest and borderlands and Native American majority counties in the West and Great Plains.

IMMIGRANT AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE LIVE IN SMALL TOWNS TOO

15–20% of LGBTQ+ people live in rural areas; immigrants represent 4% of the rural population, an increase of 1 million people since 1990; and nearly 1 in 10 Black people live in non-metro communities.

DISINVESTMENT AND NEGLECT CREATE RURAL POVERTY 

1 out of 4 rural counties is a “high poverty county” compared to 1 out of 10 urban counties, and are concentrated in regions with above-average populations of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.

HEALTHCARE A TOP CONCERN FOR RURAL VOTERS

42% of rural voters identified cost and access to healthcare as a top four concern. ⅓ of rural voters identified being “extremely negatively impacted” by the current healthcare system. Millions of people must travel an hour or more to get to emergency care. 

THERE’S A RURAL HOUSING CRISIS

47% of rural households are considered “rent burdened” (more than ⅓ of income spent on rent each month), which amounts to 2.6 million people.

AGRICULTURE MONOPOLIES HURT SMALL FARMERS 

Over the last decades, mergers and corporate consolidation have led to monopoly power. By 2018 the top four firms controlled 86% of corn processing, 85% of cattle slaughter, 70% of pork packing, and 79% of soybean crushing.

We need to invest in our small towns and rural communities to build diversified economies that play to the strength of our skills, and meet people’s needs.

Helping our neighbors of all backgrounds is a rural value that we all share.

Large corporate monopolies like big agriculture, big energy and big timber have devastated rural communities with pollution, factory farms, and low wages. We need support for small farms, local businesses, and community infrastructure like schools and hospitals, not more money for the wealthy few.

Some politicians have prioritized corporate lobbyists over small farmers and local businesses. They’re trying to blame working people in other countries for the mess they’ve created, but those lies don’t get you far in this town. We see how a wealthy few try to divide us by the way we look and the way we talk, but we’re not falling for it.

From rural areas to the suburbs, working families have the same basic needs: access to a grocery store with healthy food, a place to get your prescriptions, and jobs with dignity. 

Our rural communities can lead our economy forward with modern energy like wind and solar.

Decades of corporate pollution has devastated the land and water we all rely on.

We can build healthy and resilient communities when we come together to fight for the things we all need, from small towns to big cities.

We want a farming system that cares for farmers and the land, supports strong communities, and makes healthy food available to everyone. 

A wealthy few try to blame immigrants and people with different color skin, but we know better. In rural communities, we stick together.

Black and Brown farmers and Indigenous people whose land has been systematically taken from them deserve a place to call home.

The people who grow our food deserve living wages and dignified working conditions.

For too long, certain politicians have catered to large corporations and a wealthy few, rather than the hard working families in our communities. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can come together––Brown, Black, and White––like we’ve done in the past, to demand fair wages for our work and a system that works for all of us.

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