ABSTRACT
Large-scale farmers more often obtain credit, insurance, and legal services in distant cities rather than buying these services locally, as smaller producers are likely to do. The socioeconomic characteristics of people living in Arvin and Dinuba reveal negative consequences of large-scale farming and positive consequences of small-scale farming. Although Arvin had a larger in-town population than Dinuba, only 9 percent of Arvin's employment consisted of white-collar workers. Dinuba had more civic pride and social participation in the affairs of the town because it had more family farmers who owned and lived on the land they worked. Large-scale farms, with absentee ownership and heavy use of farm workers, create towns with fewer economic and social services than towns surrounded by moderate-sized farms. Towns associated with small-scale farming had proportionately more elementary schools, dentists, pharmacies, and medical specialists.
