Cultivating California

California's climate and geography divide the state into a number of diverse and productive subregions, each with its own specialty crops, economy and cultural identity. Yet, ever since journalist Carey McWilliams coined the phrase factories in the field, students of California agriculture have largely characterized speciality crop growers in monolithic terms - as people devoid of any ideology or culture except the desire to cut costs and maximize profits. In the early years, every grower was not in fact like every other, David Vaught argues, whether one examines their labour systems, recruiting methodds, harvest needs, marketing strategies, farm size, or their relationships with their communites, unions and the state.