THE OTHER
AMERICANS
PHOTO OR
AARON
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ILLUSTRATION CREDIT TK
stand what this department does.”
The administration has overseen
substantial increases in agricultural production and exports, Vilsack
said, which lead to increases in
processing and shipping and packaging jobs in rural areas. He points
to a recent analysis of the rural
manufacturing sector by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,
which notes that “rural manufacturing has rebounded with a vengeance” in the last two years.
Vilsack also said the administration has enrolled a record
number of acres in conservation,
linking that to outdoor recreational opportunities and, in turn,
HUFFINGTON
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increased jobs in contracting and
tourism. The administration has
also put a good deal of support behind domestic energy production,
including biofuels, which inevitably creates jobs in rural areas.
In an effort to drive USDA resources further into historically
disenfranchised minority communities, the agency has also
developed a StrikeForce Initiative, which seeks to connect with
community-based organizations
already on the ground and distribute USDA resources through them.
And all of this has been done, Vilsack said, in an era of stiff budget
and staffing cutbacks.
Tribal
members
who sit on
substantial
and intact
parcels of trust
land with clear
title have had
difficulty using
the holding as
collateral to
secure loans
that would
improve
their lot.