Rebuilding the Unity of Health and the Environment in Rural America Workshop Summary (2006) / Chapter Skim
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1 Environmental Health in Rural America
1 Environmental Health in Rural America
Pages 15-24
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From page 15... ...
A number of health care issues are specific to the rural environment, particularly those relating to the widening gap in health care services between rural and urban populations, because more people in rural America are uninsured, more often have inadequate access to health care services, and must often commute long distances to seek and receive such care.
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From page 16... ...
ence more often than urbanites. -- Peter Thorne Therefore, one element unique to living in rural America is the feeling of con nectedness with the land and the notion that the land is producing food for the nation, so that those who live in the rural environment are somehow connected with this process, regardless of whether or not they are farming.
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From page 17... ...
. According to Thorne, in comparison with their urban counterparts, a disproportionate number of rural citizens are poor, tend to be older, have limited access to health insurance and health care (Table 1-1)
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From page 18... ...
Data from the Be percent of American citizens live in the havioral Risk Factor Surveillance Sys rural environment, whereas 90 percent tem indicate increased rates of obesity of physicians live and practice in urban among rural males and females and areas. whites and blacks who are not Hispanic, and for all age categories (CDC, 2001)
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From page 19... ...
Additionally, the economy of the rural environment relies heavily on small businesses that often generate exposures associated with manufacturing and farming and that, in comparison with larger industries, receive little scrutiny from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, noted Thorne. Water pollutants in the rural environment are derived from nutrient runoff from fields, soil and river bank erosion, and pesticides and other farm chemicals that enter surface water and groundwaters.
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From page 20... ...
. Livestock production has changed from being very widely distributed on mostly family farms to being more of a system with an industrial design with vertical integration, in which agribusinesses bring feed from other areas of the country and process animals in slaughterhouses operated by the same company.
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From page 21... ...
Renewable energy systems are also within the scope of conservation. The Senate Agriculture Committee funded a new grant program whereby farmers and small businesses in rural America can obtain a grant for 25 percent of the cost of various projects, such as putting in small wind, geothermal, and solar energy generators or anaerobic digesters.
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From page 22... ...
Nationally, the Food Stamp Program typically requires about $27 billion per year -- and this amount is increasing -- and school lunch programs cost about $960 million per year (USDA, FNS, 2005)
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From page 23... ...
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN RURAL AMERICA 23 In conclusion, Huntoon pointed out that a strong constituency of individuals from rural areas for rural development and policy issues does not exist. Often, people go to Washington, D.C., and ask for funding for rural water programs but not for rural health programs.
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