So, anyway, at least tangentially, some of the issues WV has to deal with have been noted.
--There's not much left in rural WV and to get from point A (home to point B (Ketchup packets) is hard.
The State of WV actually tries to maintain the largest road system per capita of any state (counties don't do roads and municipalities maintain about 10% of the roads
https://www.wvnews.com/statejournal/opinion/orphan-roads-a-problem-in-search-of-a-solution/article_8f2987a4-0439-5337-bf89-e3dd5ddfb3c9.htmlThe roads are a huge challenge to maintain, because, yes, WV is mountainous with extremely sharp narrow valleys (hollows) Additionally, these roads frequently have to handle coal, natural gas and logging trucks which puts a hefty demand on puny roads.
--People like being near Ketchup packets.
What little pockets of growth exist in WV are the Eastern Panhandle and I-81 and in and near Morgantown along an Interstate that runs from Baltimore to Pittsburgh. Even in places where the population declines everywhere the remaining people increasingly cling to the Interstate corridor.
The big event in McDowell Co in the last year was the completion of a building renovation (in conjunction with a teacher's union) in Welch to provide apartments with WiFi and a coffee shop (presumably with at least jelly packets) for....teachers who predominantly don't live in McDowell, but instead commute from the counties along the Interstate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/business/economy/west-virginia-county-teachers.html (paywall of course)
The workforce participation rate for McDowell is 26% so obviously many of the miners, prison guards, teachers, etc... commute in even along the winding crappy roads because they want the far greater retail and food option there that go well beyond Ketchup.
It should be noted though, that each year McDowell needs fewer and fewer teachers as the school population has dropped from 4000 in 2004 to 2500 last year. In fact, you could move all the remaining kids over to the Interstate counties and those counties would still be below their 2005 enrollments.
At least schools do get consolidated to adjust for declining enrollments (roads don't get consolidated)
--Can't they make their own Ketchup?
Well, there is very little farming in WV to begin with and judging from what I've read about efforts to get WV to eat better (tops in obesity and many negative health measures) is no. Full scale groceries in rural WV with fresh produce are rare and for many the nearest food emporium is the Dollar general. They have been non-profit efforts to get produce to the kids and adults and even to teach them how to grow, but the number of WV who grow their own tomatoes seem quite low.
In sum, the ability to get more Ketchup packets into rural WV seems like a tough lift, doing something dramatic like moving them all to where the Ketchup packets are, seems unlikely even if they'd be willing to move, so the likely outcome is status quo where the people continue to fade away and the state tries to prop up costly infrastructure for these roads without Ketchup.
Of course, there are the drugs, poor educational levels and horrible population pyramid but those are more a tale of Mustard.
