The Decline of an American Culture: A Harder, Yet Simpler Time

This work addresses whether there has been a decline in rural America, and more so delves into the decline of a rural American culture. The contributions to this decline, and its significance, are the main issues this paper aims to discuss. These are just a few of the questions this work will address. Using interviews, memoirs, cookbooks, and many other sources, this work applies a qualitative approach with the use of some quantitative data and is organized primarily thematically to answer the above-noted questions. The decline of rural America is examined through a cultural lens, focusing on the culinary habits, amongst other aspects, of rural women’s lives in Central Illinois during the twentieth century. This work argues that although there has been a slight decline in rural America, but even more concerning is the income gap between small and large-scale family farms, the significant increase of bioengineered, pesticide sprayed food, a decrease in organic foods, along with the decline of a rural American culture.