How do we support what we care about? We voice our ideas. We join the debate. We influence others, and we give time, energy and financial support to organizations that work for what we believe in.

Health reform was signed into law on March 23. With its passage comes a flood of questions about how it will affect rural Americans. This is the first in a new series of articles dedicated to helping you understand what the new law means for your family, business and community.

What does renewing rural America look like through your lens? Too often, rural photography focuses on “decay.” But we know the real picture of rural America is one of renewal, so we’re hosting a photo contest to show it.

The Center for Rural Affairs has created a new group on the photo sharing site www.flickr.com to gather photos that showcase how rural communities across the country are revitalizing themselves.

To kick off the group, we’re hosting a photo contest to find photos that best show renewal in these categories: agriculture, small business and community development. Photos will be showcased in our flickr group as well as on our website and in the newsletter. The winners, in addition to winning cool prizes, will be highlighted prominently on our pages.

American democracy is afflicted by extreme partisanship; a focus on the next election rather than solving America’s problems; and exaggerated, inaccurate claims in place of thoughtful discourse. To change it, we need to work from the grassroots, and 3 principles can help.

Alabama: Butch Anthony’s 80-acre family compound puts Seale, Alabama, on the map. The compound, filled with art, attracts artsy types to the unique and wildly creative destination.

A McCurtain County, Oklahoma, jury returned a $7.3 million verdict last month against Tyson Foods.The jury found that Tyson defrauded a group of 10 McCurtain County chicken growers through verbal and financial pressure to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct new chicken houses, along with other deceptive business practices.

Last month we presented a summary of scientific knowledge on agriculture and soil carbon. We found greater opportunities to capture carbon, reduce emissions, and make our food and fiber systems resilient to the effects of climate change. Here we provide recommendations for policy makers that both achieve substantial carbon benefits and ensure that payments are effective incentives to get those benefits.

In the 2008 Farm Bill we fought for and won a 5% set-aside for beginning farmers and ranchers in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), including a new initiative to help farmers and ranchers convert to organic or add conservation to their organic operation.

Nebraska has enacted major legislation to enable private businesses to build wind turbines to generate electricity for export to other states. Now, federal legislation is needed to create a market in the nation’s urban centers for wind electricity produced in rural regions.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is working with a group of U.S. senators and representatives to introduce the “Rural Energy Savings Program Act.” Under the legislation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture would make about $5 billion in zero-interest loans to rural electric cooperatives.

Mark your calendar and plan to attend the 2010 Energy Fair in Lyons, Nebraska, on July 23 and 24, 2010. A highlight of the event is a day-long bus tour to observe and learn from numerous examples of renewable energy techniques in action.

Are crop insurance and credit systems biased against sustainable agriculture? A new two-year study funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture aims to find out. It is being carried out by Iowa Farmers Union and the Center for Rural Affairs.

After nearly two years of delay, USDA is expected to open the first round of applications for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program this month. The program will launch with $13 million in available funding for 2010, funds that will support organizations that provide loans, training and technical assistance to rural small businesses.

On May 11, 2010, Nebraska voters can change the state constitution to make it easier and more cost-effective for local communities to implement economic and community development projects. Amendment 1 will allow Nebraska charitable nonprofit organizations to partner with communities to use bonds to finance projects.

Twenty years after it began, the Center’s Rural Enterprise Assistance Project (REAP) is still thriving. Over 10,000 micro businesses in Nebraska have been served by REAP since 1990. In February, the program’s founders, Eugene Severens and Rose Jaspersen, were honored with the REAP Founders Award.