The lure of meat processing jobs is changing the face of rural America.

In three Nebraska towns where meat processing is a major employer, longtime residents and newcomers share similar concerns about rapid demographic changes altering their communities. University of Nebraska research shows that language barriers, drug use, teen alcohol use, housing and youth education are the most common shared concerns.

A team of NU Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers is examining the industry's economic, physical and social impacts on longtime residents and Hispanic immigrants in Schuyler, Norfolk and Madison.

"It shouldn't be totally surprising that they see some of the same things but they see them from different points of view," said Family Scientist Rochelle Dalla, who headed the team. Housing is an example. Some longtime residents expressed concern that too many people were living in local houses, while some immigrants complained they lived in poor-quality housing.

Overall, the study shows that newcomers reported significantly greater economic strain and greater concern with community issues such as ethnic relations, adult education, drugs, domestic violence, childhood education and alcohol use than longtime residents. Immigrants also reported poorer diets than long-term residents and problems accessing community services such as medical care, food assistance, affordable housing and police protection.

Longtime residents consider immigrant families a mixed blessing, this research shows. Immigrants stabilize a small town's shrinking population and boost the local economy. But the population boom taxes a community's ability to provide services and rapid changes can heighten ethnic tensions.

"One of the things that was said was that in each community there are basically two communities – there's the Latino community and there's the white, non-Hispanic community," she said. "They do not interact much, if at all."

Findings are based on 90 face-to-face interviews in April 2000 and repeated in April 2001 and surveys of longtime and new residents.

Besides language and low incomes, newcomers face barriers accessing services, the NU College of Human Resources and Family Sciences researcher said. Some services are not offered locally and newcomers sometimes "might not feel comfortable seeking services" in a new community, Dalla said.

Recent U.S. Census figures highlight Nebraska's growing diversity. Statewide, the number of Hispanics increased from 2.2 percent to 5.5 percent of Nebraska's population in the past decade. This study's findings could influence policy, education and social services to help other communities as they become more diverse, she said.

Among the findings: immigrants in rural communities need nutrition education to promote better diets for laborers and their families. They also need adult education and employment training to help them land higher-paying jobs.

Certain education programs focusing on mutual community needs and concerns such as ethnic conflict, childhood education or adolescent drug use, and shared goals might bring longtime and new residents together.

"Communication stands out among everything as a barrier to intercultural collaboration," she said. "How do you bring people together when they can't communicate?"

Parents' mutual concern for their children's education can encourage greater interaction between long-term and new residents, Dalla said.

"The kids are the ones who learn the language and then are the mediators," she said.

Although some longtime residents reported fearing that immigrants are overtaking their communities, others report diversity brings advantages, such as Hispanics' strong family values, Dalla said.

Some long-term residents may be forgetting their families' experience generations ago, she said.

"It takes a lot of courage to pick up and move for the sake of a better life," Dalla said.

The study is continuing and Dalla hopes it can be expanded to other Great Plains states so IANR researchers can develop models for communities elsewhere anticipating rapid demographic change.

– Molly Klocksin

Signs along main street literally reflect the rapidly changing demographics of small rural communities where meat processing is a major employer. IANR researchers examining meat processing's economic, social and physical impacts on three Nebraska towns say newcomers and longtime residents have similar concerns about rapid changes but view them from different perspectives.