Each year, as we recognize the third Thursday of November as Rural Health Day, it’s important to acknowledge that mental health is the foundation of overall health for the 46 million people living in rural communities across the country. There is a mental health emergency in rural America due to inherent barriers to mental healthcare that lead to suicide rates that are 49% higher among rural residents compared to urban residents. You may not realize it, but regardless of where you live – a city, the suburbs, in the country – you depend upon the mental and physical wellness of the people living in rural America for the food you eat every day. Rural communities include those who labor to raise, harvest, process, and package the foods that fill our shopping carts and satisfy our appetites.

With the session hall packed chair-to-chair at the 156th Annual Convention of the National Grange, President Betsy Huber introduced the founder and CEO of Rural Minds Jeff Winton. Rural Minds is on a mission to be the informed voice for mental health in rural America and seeks to provide mental health information and resources. Roughly 65 million Americans live in rural areas. Rural Minds’ vision is a rural America with no more silence, suffering or stigma around mental health. November 17 is National Rural Health Day and it was an eye-opening presentation on how big of an issue this has become. Who better to partner with than the National Grange whose roots are in the heart of rural America?