Whether we live in Manhattan or Peoria, we depend on the healthy countryside: It supplies the food we eat. So it’s welcome news that a hearty crop is taking root across the nation. Smart, young people are returning to the roots of American Agriculture — roots steeped in a tradition and culture of diversity, quality, and respect for the Earth. Full of brilliant color photographs, Youth Renewing the Countryside shares remarkable stories of young people in each state changing the world through rural renewal.

Produced by Renewing the Countryside in partnership with young writers and photographers across the country and with support from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and the Center for Rural Strategies.