mployed. By 1971, the figure had dropped to 4.4 percent. Schumacher does not share the opinion that this is progress. Instead, he finds that the physical isolation of farms is in stark contrast to the emotional isolation of the cities. Modern machinery made it possible for so few people to produce such large harvests, and modern machinery also made it possible for agriculture to move from being a small family venture to being a large business venture.
During this century, the size of farms has grown. Individual farmers are faced with stiff competition by agribusiness which has the capital resources necessary to employ large-scale machinery and modern production techniques. The price of food has remained fairly constant, but the price of operating a farm has steadily increased. As a result, the small farmer has been phased out and large agribusiness has replaced him.
...