This study develops a three-stage adoption framework to measure the impact of selected factors on a student's learning experience and evaluates the effectiveness of service learning in each learning stage. The agribusiness service-learning course utilized in this study matches groups of students with non-profit agribusiness entities to identify…

During the interwar period, California's labor-intensive agriculture transitioned from reliance on diverse immigrants to preference for Mexicans. Political movements to restrict immigration, the Great Depression, and labor unrest compelled farm employers to search for labor that could be used flexibly and deported easily. To achieve this…

Quality and sustainability are both socially constructed, ambiguous terms, but they have not been heretofore linked in the rural studies literature. The "quality turn" has received particular attention from researchers for its potential to organize linkages among various forces in agrofood systems, providing more income to producers by…

A majority of 56 California agribusiness representatives surveyed were optimistic about the short-term impact of the North American Free Trade Act on agriculture. They remained concerned about trade barriers with Mexico, where little business was being conducted as yet. (SK)

The citrus thrips is a small insect pest that causes some cosmetic damage, but seldom causes yield reduction, tree kills, or lower the nutritional value or eating quality of citrus fruits. In California however, economic and marketing factors have prompted the massive, unnecessary overuse of insecticides to kill this pest. (Author/MA)

When is a farm a farm? When is rural rural? Has the issue of the rural-urban continuum returned? Decades ago rural sociology worked itself into two blind alleys: rural-urban differences and attempts to define the rural-urban fringe. Although these conceptual problems eventually were exhausted, recent developments in California raise the…

During the hearings of the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, various statements prepared for the Subcommittee on Monopoly of the Senate Select Committee on Small Business hearing on the role of giant corporations in the American and world economies were included. This appendix includes some of those statements. The statements given cover: (1)…

This appendix consists of articles and publications included in the subcommittee's hearings on farmworkers in rural America. Among these are: (1) excerpts from "The People Left Behind"; (2) "A Bountiful Tax Harvest" (reprint from the "Texas Law Review", December 1969); (3) "Farm Losses Under the Tax Reform Act of…

In 1970, the Farm Workers Health Service, which was begun in 1961, included 33 decentralized medical clinics which served 24,000 seasonal farm workers and their families in 17 counties during the peak harvest months. Seventeen clinics offered year-round general medical services, and in 12 counties free medical and dental care was available to farm…

Most of California's farms are relatively small, family run operations, and their future has been called into question by current agricultural trends. The Small Farm Viability Planning Project was initiated to identify obstacles to small farm economic viability and make recommendations to the state on policies and actions that might reduce these…

A study was conducted to identify competencies needed by workers in new and emerging occupations in agriculture; to identify occupations in agriculture that are on the decline and occupations that may no longer be needed; to work toward the elimination of sex bias in preparation for entry into occupations in agriculture; and to assess the…

On January 12, 1972, the Subcommittee resumed its hearings on the impact of agribusiness and agrigovernment on the welfare of the family farmer, the farm worker, and the rural community. Witnesses testified on such topics as: (1) problems of rural poverty; (2l some of the court litigation taking place in Fresno County; (3) the syndication of…

Based on data collected from agriculture teachers, business firms, and employees throughout the state of California, this study sought to: (1) determine the current status of education in agriculture, (2) identify the current need for employees in agriculture, (3) develop estimates of future needs for employees in agriculture, (4) identify…

In this paper we focus on mechanisms of coordination in agricultural contracts. Our approach is intended to advance understanding of social relations of production and distribution of power in agrofood systems. Through an analysis of contracts between farmers and intermediaries (e.g., processors, shippers, consignment agents) for California fruits…

On January 11, 1972, the subcommittee heard further testimony on land ownership, use, and distribution in rural America. Witnesses gave testimony on: (1) Land ownership in California and the Nation; (2) the difficulties encountered in finding out who owns the land; (3) the implications of the continuing trend toward ever-higher concentration of…