Bridging the attitude gap

During my first year of college, I was shocked to hear one of my friends had never seen a cow in the flesh until she came to UC Davis. It was undeniable that she was a city girl, born and raised. Although Davis is not a large urban area, she nevertheless enrolled to attend UC Davis because she was attracted to the small college-town vibe.

As for me, the first time I saw a cow was when I was in kindergarten. The school had brought in cows so the students could learn more about livestock. Cows, cowboy boots, and tractors were normal, everyday sightings for me. I grew up in an agricultural town, which is best described as a rural-adjacent, suburban town. Although my hometown was not a remote rural town, I grew up with a positive attitude toward rural places. Specifically, I appreciated the labor that went into growing the produce I found on my table.

However, not everyone shares this positive attitude toward rural areas. A study from 2018 stated that 53% of urban residents do not believe rural people share the same values as them. Meanwhile 58% of rural residents do not believe urbanites share their values. Many scholars have commented on this urbanormativity phenomenon. For example, in Fulkerson and Thomas’s book, Urbanormativity: Reality, Representation, and Everyday Life, the authors discuss the perspective of urbanites toward rural residents:

[T]he residents of the swampy marsh of colonial North Carolina were widely believed to consume mud in order to survive, since farming was nearly impossible. The people of this “wasted” land were seen as sickly, stupid, lazy, and unproductive. Why else would people be content to stay in such a foreboding place?

Although cities may be an economic hub for wealth and job opportunities, urban and rural places have an undeniable link. With rural hospitals closing, many rural residents depend on urban centers to provide access to specialized medical treatment. On the other hand, urban places also rely on rural resources. A prime example is Los Angeles’ need for water from rural places:

A July 2024 report from the department found that climate change could threaten to shrink water supplies in the State Water Project — a water storage and delivery system that stretches from the western foothills of the Sierra to Riverside County — by nearly one-fourth in the next 20 years, prompting officials to call for bolstering the project’s system of reservoirs, pumps and aqueducts for the state’s future climate.

So, an important question presents itself: how can we bridge the attitude gap between urban and rural residents? Although I love to see every urban school bring livestock on campus, it is an unlikely prospect. However, urban schools can provide more educational opportunities to talk to students and increase awareness about rural places. For example, other than providing food, schools can discuss how rural areas generate energy that powers many urban cities. Hopefully, for these students, the first time they see livestock is not well into adulthood.

For more information on urbanormativity, see Coronavirus in rural America (Part LV): Urbanormativity in policy making and Metro centricity in media attitudes about the Newton County hog CAFO.