1. Rural change and sustainability: key themes - Andrew Gilg, Stephen Essex and Richard Yarwood. 2. Fordism rampant: the model and reality, as applied to production, processing and distribution in the North American agro-food system - Michael Troughton. 3. Feedlot growth in Southern Alberta: a neo-fordist interpretation - Ian MacLachlan. 4. People and hogs: agricultural restructuring and the contested countryside in agro-Manitoba - Douglas Ramsey, John Everitt and Lyndenn Behm. 5. Global markets, local foods: the paradoxes of aquaculture - Joan Marshall. 6. Alternative or conventional? An examination of specialist livestock production systems in the Scottish-English borders - Brian Ilbery and Damian Maye. 7. Agritourism: selling traditions of local food production, family, and rural Americana to maintain family farming heritage - Deborah Che, Gregory Veeck, and Ann Veeck. 8. Re-imaging agriculture: making the case for farming at the agricultural show - Lewis Holloway. 9. Stewardship, 'proper' farming and environmental gain: contrasting experiences of agri-environmental schemes in Canada and the EU - Guy M. Robinson. 10. Stemming the urban tide: policy and attitudinal changes for saving the Canadian countryside - Hugh J Gayler. 11. Vulnerability and sustainability concerns for the U.S. High Plains - Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Kansas State University. 12. Environmental ghost towns - Chris Mayla. 13. Interpreting family farm change and the agricultural importance of rural communities: evidence from Ontario, Canada - John Smithers. 14. Engagement with the land: redemption of the rural residence Ffantasy? - Kirsten Valentine Cadieux. 15. Mammoth Cave National Park and rural economic development - Katie Algeo. 16. Assessing variation in rural America's housing stock: case studies from growing and declining areas - Holly R. Barcus. 17. The geography of housing needs of low income persons in rural Canada - David Bruce. 18. Social change in rural North Carolina - Owen J. Furuseth. 19. Finding the 'region' in rural regional governance - Ann K. Deakin. 20. Corporate-community relations in the tourism sector: a stakeholder perspective - Alison M Gill and Peter W Williams. 21. Resource town transition: debates after closure - Greg Halseth. 22. Narratives of community-based resource management in the American West - Randall K. Wilson. 23. Youth, partnerships and participation - Christine Corcoran. 24. Conclusion - John Smithers and Randall Wilson.